How should the United States deal with protests in Iran?
With protests worsening in Iran over the weekend, many are wondering if the United States should step in already and help.
President Obama has only made comments about protests instead of taking any action. According to the BBC, he said:
I am deeply troubled by the violence that I’ve been seeing on television. I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability for folks to peacefully dissent, all those are universal values and need to be respected.
Obama has also explained why he does not want to take action in an interview with CBS’ The Early Show last week according to an Associated Press article:
The last thing that I want to do is to have the United States be a foil for those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. We shouldn’t be playing into that.
But those statements were made before police began attacking protesters with tear gas and shooting live bullets in the air over the weekend. The death toll also rose sharply. A total of 13 protesters were killed on Saturday according to Iranian State Media reports on Sunday bringing the death toll to 20 since the protests began, according to a Times Online article.
There’s even been a video posted on YouTube of a woman getting shot during the protests.
Despite the growing violence, Iranian leadership doesn’t want any help.
According to Fox News, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned the United States and Britain yesterday to stop meddling in Iran’s internal affairs. He said:
Definitely by hasty remarks you will not be placed in the circle of friendship with the Iranian nation. Therefore I advise you to correct your interfering stances
They (Western countries) want to portray as small the great and powerful position that has been created for the Iranian nation inside and outside after the recent election, by which of course they made a mistake and they showed they still do not know the Iranian nation.Definitely recent events will add to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s greatness and might.
Should the United States disregard the comments made by Iranian leadership and interfere anyway for the sake of protestors? How much worse do the protests need to get for the United States to have a duty to interfere? What could be a consequence of interfering? And if we should interfere, how should we do it?
I think support should come from America through the internet, directly to the people. It is the internet that has these young people fired up over there now. Without the internet, they would not have had the information they have on the stolen election…a new revolution is on the horizon in Iran.
Do nothing more than what has already been done. Absolutely NOTHING.
as usual, we should funnel in weapons via the CIA to help protesters overthrow their government….Then we should ignore the new regime while it turns into even more of an evil empire than was there before. That is our usual M.O.
How should we handle it?
Dear Barack,
Surely you’ve heard about a guy named Ronald Reagan and also a Polish revolutionary, Lech Walesa.
See how they worked together for freedom in the early 1980’s. You’ll find it fascinating. It actually worked.
Good luck, we’re all counting on you.
Signed,
Mensa_Underground
Ummm…Visible - I don’t think Visible is going to come clean, if indeed he/she plagiarized it. Frankly, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to crib such a rambling, non-communicative screed. It reads like an original, to me.
But if you know it to be a knock off, please give us the source. I’ll make sure to avoid that author. . .
Although I have a concern that the Iranians are protesting to the point that people are being killed and stuff but overall, the USA cannot fix this. We are not a popular entity there anyway and frankly have little to gain or lose either way.
This is an incredible reaction to democracy and makes you wonder if we had gone crazy in 2000 over the dangling chad incidents that anyone country would intercede our protests. I don’t know about this but think that perhaps we should let Iran’s destiny take its course. I am sure after a while all of the protesters will be converted and or killed and the turmoil will be over and thinks will be getting back to their terrorist ways. Give them time, things will calm down over there.
Concerning outsiders; only a FOOL would react and jump into the middle of this. It is their fight and they can handle it and if extreme human rights violations occur we need to get the UN involved and come together AS A WORLD and condemn it! This cowboy mentality of reacting without much thought by few Americans, mainly in the Republican Party MUST STOP!
It is ugly but certainly no worst than our own “Black Civil Rights Movement” of the 50’s and 60’s and also no uglier than the Jack-In-The-Box parking lot executions or any of the other everyday unjust cop killings of Blacks in this country on a regular basis that are completely unjust and not justified killings.
Some Americans just need to stop with all the self-righteous attitudes because just as unjust treatment of citizens do not bring a country respect or admiration neither does
Hypocrisy and this country reek of both. We are doing better now in this country and I hope that it continues but we still have our own UNJUST demons in this country that we must overcome and cease being tolerate of.
To attempt to use this Iran situation as political points by certain Republicans is one of the most devious and low things that I have ever witnessed.
To attempt to use this Iran situation as political points by certain Republicans is one of the most devious and low things that I have ever witnessed.
— D. Walker
12:31 pm June 23rd, 2009
Kinda like the democrats using soldier deaths in Iraq to score political points, right DWalk?
Obama is in a tight spot. Six months ago, he was ready to sit down and talk with the leadership of Iran. Now that same leadership is killing it’s citizens. Tight spot indeed….
Amazedbythelunacy,
Much different! It is different because such wjat these Republicans are doing can bring even more danger and death to those Iranian people. Now, concerning our soldiers the issue was also the life of people and loved ones. Now can you tell me why it is that you can’t see the differences?
Amazed,
Also, yes, Obama still should be willing to talk to them if you think dare have the nerves to believe that we are worthy of speaking with.