What President Obama Should Say

What is president Obama talking about when he says he does not want to meddle in Iranian politics? With all due respect, my President, our President, has been meddling in every area since coming to an office:  Banks, Cars, Energy, Health Care and Israeli settlements.  So, it is all right to intervene and advise in these areas when the opposing entity is the free market or the only liberal democracy in Middle East? Yet, it is wrong to intervene when a brutal, terrorist regime holds sham elections, and then kills citizens; their crime, having the audaciousness to rise up and peacefully demonstrate.

President Obama should have made this statement:

The United States stands with people of Iran, who desire: freedom, justice and a legitimate government; a government through consent, not oppression.  We recognize the fundamental truth:  freedom is a gift from God, not of a government. The people of Iran, like their predecessors in Poland, Ukraine and Lebanon are taking their first steps on a journey to liberate their country out tyranny and into freedom.  As president, I welcome the opportunity to take my place alongside with leaders past:

In 1961, President Kennedy’s inaugural address addressed the forces of freedom: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

In 1981, President Reagan addressed the Solidarity movement in Poland:

The Polish nation, speaking through Solidarity, has provided one of the brightest, bravest moments of modern history. The people of Poland are giving us an imperishable example of courage and devotion to the values of freedom in the face of relentless opposition. Left to themselves, the Polish people would enjoy a new birth of freedom. But there are those who oppose the idea of freedom, who are intolerant of national independence, and hostile to the European values of democracy and the rule of law.

Two Decembers ago, freedom was lost in Afghanistan; this Christmas, it’s at stake in Poland. But the torch of liberty is hot. It warms those who hold it high. It burns those who try to extinguish it.

In 2005, President Bush addressed the people of Lebanon: “The United States can join with the rest of the world, like we’ve done, and say to Syria, get out - not only get out with your military forces, but get out with your intelligence services, too; get completely out of Lebanon, so Lebanon can be free and the people can be free,”

Also, in 2007 addressing a rally in Georgia: “Now across the Caucasus, in central Asia and the broader Middle East we see the same desire of liberty burning in the hearts of young people,” …”They are demanding their freedom, and they will have it.”

Today the people of Iran are not alone in their desire to be free. America stands with you, the people of the world who live in tyranny and desire to be free.  We hear your cries in Sudan, North Korea, and China, and we stand with you in your desire to be free.  We realize that your path has been, and continues to be long and painful, but through acknowledgement followed up by peaceful engagement we can and will strengthen your cause.  That is why I have called together the leaders of the free world to join me in my recognition of the people of Iran.  It is why I say the true authority lies with the people Iran not with the ruling regime.  The legitimacy of their government does not lie in the ability for those in power to repress your movement, but rather, in their halting of violence and immediate release the peaceful demonstrators.  We do not recognize these elections as fair or legitimate.

To the charge that we are meddling in your affairs, I declare that freedom is not an American issue, but an issue of human rights.  You have a choice between legitimacy:

An election that is open, transparent and free. In which, the field of candidates is determined by popular support; not government selection. Where the international community is invited in order to monitor the process, and detail the results. By taking these steps, you can peacefully transition into a country that is governed by consent, and not oppression.

Or, you can choose the path of isolation and decline; inevitably ending up in the dust bin of history with other human rights violators. The choice is yours to make…

Thank you. May God Bless the people of Iran, and the people in the world, who desire to be free.