Senator McCain Blasts Obama On Iran
In a stunning reversal of historic U.S. policy, President Obama declined to support Iranians protesting for fair elections. Obama declared that the United States did not want to be seen as “meddling” in Iranian affairs.
McCain argued that treading softly isn’t the right approach.
“People are being killed and beaten in the streets of Tehran and all over Iran, and we should stand up for them,” he told FOX News. “The way we stood up for the Polish workers in Gdansk, the way we stood up for the people of then Czechoslovakia in the Prague Spring and we have stood up for freedom in every part of the world. We’re not doing that.”
McCain is joining conservative Republicans in their call for the president to take a tougher rhetorical stand behind supporters of reformist presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. The reform candidate’s defiant backers poured into Tehran streets for a second day, protesting that Mousavi was cheated in Friday’s election.
When asked to respond to Obama’s argument that perceived U.S. meddling could cast protestors as puppets of the United States, McCain said, “You know, I heard that argument during the Cold War that if we advocated for the oppressed under the then Soviet Union, that would somehow help the oppressors. It doesn’t. It doesn’t.”
McCain also reacted to Obama’s assertion Tuesday that there wasn’t much difference between Mousavi and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“Well those that are being beaten in the streets of Tehran and around Iran obviously don’t hold that view,” he said. “So let’s not take the side necessarily of the protestors…the fact is we should be on the side of a free and fair election, and not be in favor of an oppressive brutal government.”
Almost ignored in last year’s election campaign was McCain’s frequent vow that he would maintain a tough stance against hostile regimes around the globe.
Mr. Obama argued for a new approach to Middle East tensions and mocked the McCain plan as more of President Bush’s failed policies.
Five months into Obama’s term, the net result of his ‘new approach’ has been increased hostiltiy from Iran, escalation of Taliban activity in Afghanistan and Pakistan, blatant nuclear sabre-rattling from North Korea and pressure on Israel to cave in to Hezbollah.
