On Sunday, in the UK, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about the democracy protesters in Iran that the regime is preparing to execute for protesting against the regime and the rigged elections this past June:
How do you keep faith with the democracy supporters, while at the same time engaging with Iran to get what you want, which is the end to their nuclear program?
Secretary Clinton answers the question with a series of statements that not only make little sense, they certainly aren't what you expect to inspire democracy supporters anywhere, let alone in Iran:
....we know that decisions about the future of Iran are up to the Iranian people...[we] are watching very closely as to what is happening, and standing on their side when it comes to their willingness to take great risks on behalf of the kind of future that they would like to see for their country.
Where to begin? Does Secretary Clinton not know that Iran is governed under the iron fist of a theocratic tyranny that crushes the liberty and freedom of the Iranian people? Iranians most certainly cannot choose the future of Iran. Unfortunately for freedom-aspiring Iranians, the Secretary wasn't "accidentally off message." President Obama himself coined this statement as early as June 15, days after protests broke out in Iran. Since then, it became part of the standard response by the Administration when asked uncomfortable questions about the torture, rape, and murder of Iranian protesters.
Secretary Clinton also said "we are watching." Great. Haven't we been told that the Administration has been watching since June when President Obama said "[the Iranians] should know that the world is watching?" Like the story of the Good Samaritan, merely watching someone being beaten and robbed, whether it's money or liberty, is not going to cut it.
But is the Administration really watching? If actions speak louder than words, it would seem that President Obama really doesn't want to watch or keep a record of the abuses the protesters suffer under at the hands of the regime he is desperately trying to make nice with. A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the President decided to cut off funding to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center--precisely at the time when the Center was ramping up efforts to investigate and document the abuses of the protesters. We are still waiting on an explanation for that one.
If this is what the Obama Administration means when it says "we stand on their side," it reminds me of that old saying: "With friends like these..."
- Trey Hicks
