The Political Fish

5…..4…..3…..2……1….. There it is everyone, the White House is starting to take a little credit for the uprising in Iran.  From the Washington Post today:

Obama’s approach to Iran, including his assertion that the unrest there represents a debate among Iranians unrelated to the United States, is an acknowledgment that a U.S. president’s words have a limited ability to alter foreign events in real time and could do more harm than good. But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republic’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history.

One senior administration official with experience in the Middle East said, “There clearly is in the region a sense of new possibilities,” adding that “I was struck in the aftermath of the president’s speech that there was a connection. It was very sweeping in terms of its reach.”

There is more don’t worry…

Obama’s advisers say the outreach may have contributed to the defeat in Lebanese elections a few days later of a coalition led by Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed party, that had been predicted to win. In recent days, administration officials have pointed to the Iranian demonstrations as further evidence of Obama’s possible influence in the region.

Asked Friday whether the administration believes Obama’s outreach to Iran and the Muslim world is affecting events on the ground, press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “You’re witnessing something that many people might not have presumed or imagined . . . just a few — even a few weeks or a few days ago.”

That didn’t take long. The arrogance of this self-proclaimed “world changer” is amazing to me. The Iranian population has stirred for a while now. The population of Iran is made up of youth, some say in the range of 65-70% of the population is under the age of thirty. These youth have grown up in an oppressive society in an age where information is available world wide. This is not a new movement in Iran. The youth of that nation have been stirring for years. There were similar uprisings in the late 90’s and the early 2000’s, the difference here is the size and gravity. These things were brought about and rallied around a blatant injustice on the part of the oppressive regime. It brought to the forefront the grievances that the populace carried against the inept governing. The current Iranian President went out of his way to irritate and provoke the West and thumb his nose at them, all the while isolating his country from the rest of the world. The Iranian youth witnessed these things as they have come of age. The election and the injustice that was served up on a silver platter to them was the straw that broke the camels back. Follow these things up with the handling of the uprising, as the Iranians were met with batons and teargas and murder and you have all the makings for a revolution. I said all that to say this. Iranians did not just learn that they lived in oppression. It wasn’t taught to them from behind the podium in Cairo. The love for freedom and the desire to go and get it doesn’t just spring up overnight. Frankly, Obama made the case in Cairo to embrace rogue governments such as the Ahmadi government. Overthrowing that government could be conceived as a rejection of that strategy. Its not, it just goes to show the flawed logic of taking credit for what is going on in Tehran.

When will the American government realize that its not always about them. At the same time that White House staff is talking about their great success in achieving this  new wave of uprising and hope, they are tamping down their statements, as not to meddle in the affairs of Iran. If you are going to take credit for it, how can you not in good faith support it with much stronger words? I for one have been on board with the somewhat muted response. He has said all the things that need to be said, support for the people, fraudulent power…all these things are the reality of what is happening. What more can really be said, other than strong demands against a government who is your sworn  enemy, and could embolden them to stronger force against their citizens. Frankly, the ayatollahs and Ahmadi really couldn’t care less what the American president has to say, it does however strengthen their propaganda.  Given Americas questionable history in the region, is this something you are willing to do? My support for that strategy dies however when I read the statements from the Post.

Since the administration has the idea in their head that they have had much to do with the Iranian uprising, let me give a counter argument. I am not going to get wordy, I am not going to research this all the way out. I will make it short and sweet.

Could the Iranian uprising be a vindication of the “hated” Bush doctrine of “planting the seeds of democracy in the region?” A democratic Iraq to the west, a democratic Afghanistan to the east. Now an Iranian population rising up against tyranny right in the middle. Just a thought, bring on the Bush-haters that want to shut that down. Both democracies mentioned are struggling for sure, but the people are largely free from the oppression they suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein  in Iraq, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Just a thought.

© 2009, The Political Fish. All rights reserved.