If the Threat of the Great Satan doesn’t exist, it is necessary to invent it.
“Iran election: Barack Obama refuses to ‘meddle’ over protests,” by David Blair in the Telegraph, June 17 (thanks to James):
Barack Obama, the US president, is refusing to “meddle” in the disputed Iranian elections, despite mass protests over the result which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power….
President Obama said: “It’s important to understand that, although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised.
“Either way, we were going to be dealing with an Iranian regime that has historically been hostile to the United States, that has caused some problems in the neighbourhood and has been pursuing nuclear weapons,” he told CNBC television.
He said he hoped Iran’s leaders responded to outrage over an election that pro-reform activists say was stolen by Ahmadinejad, not with violence but by respecting the right to peaceful expression.
“Am I optimistic that that will happen? You know – I take a wait-and-see approach. Either way, it’s important for the United States to engage in the tough diplomacy around those permanent security concerns that we have – nuclear weapons, funding of terrorism,” he said….
“It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling – the US president, meddling in Iranian elections,” Mr Obama said….
But he might as well meddle, for all the good will his circumspection has won him in Tehran. From “Mousavi calls Iran rally to mourn dead protesters,” by Ali Akbar Dareini and Nasser Karimi for Associated Press, June 18 (thanks to abscedere):
The Iranian government accused the United States on Wednesday of meddling in the deepening crisis. State media blamed Washington for “intolerable” interference.
Funny how all those conciliatory overtures seem to have amounted to absolutely nothing, eh, Mr. President?