The Green Rebellion

Claudia Rosett, 06.18.09, 12:01 AM EDT

In words and actions, the U.S. should do more for Iranian protesters.

With great courage, Iranians have been rising up against the tyranny of their 30-year-old Islamic Republic. This is a weak moment for Iran's terror-based regime, and democracies such as the U.S. should seize the chance to shake it further--and support the protesters in the process--by turning up the heat.

So where is the leader of the free world? President Obama has picked out a place for himself among the spectator seats. From there, speaking of and to Iran, he comments that "The world is watching." But while he has "deep concerns," especially about the violence he's been observing on television, he sees no gain in "meddling in Iranian elections."

A cynic might infer that Obama is simply waiting for the protesters to be cleared out of the way so he can carry on with his dreams of extending a hand to cut deals with the dissent-crushing, terror-drunk, uranium-loving godfathers of Tehran. More generously, one might wonder if Obama really believes Iran's people have the best chance of defanging their own despots if unarmed protesters and armed state security forces are left to hash out among themselves who's in charge.

As it is, Obama's administration has been downplaying even the minor meddling in which--to his credit--it has engaged. Earlier this week, the State Department asked the social networking site Twitter to briefly postpone scheduled maintenance in order to keep open lines of communication for the Iranian protesters. The State Department then tried to shrug off the deed, offering the self-contradictory explanation that the idea was simply to keep information flowing, not to interfere in Iranian politics.

But whatever Obama's reasons for casting himself as U.S. Couch-Potato-in-Chief while protesters bleed in the streets of Iran, he's making a horrific mistake in choosing that role. In matters vital to American security, he's passing up a prime chance to start filling those big shoes he won in America's presidential race by promising "hope" and "change."

More broadly, Obama is underscoring a sorry message to>>>