On Friday, President Obama commented on the Iranian election:
We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran. Whoever ends up winning the election in Iran, the fact there has been a robust debate hopefully will advance our ability to engage them in new ways.
Powerline aptly describes his remarks as “criminally useful idiocy.”:
Obama should not have lauded the election, much less characterized it as advancing our ability to engage Iran in new ways, until he was satisfied that the election was honest. A fraudulent election in which the existing, intransigent regime claims a landslide victory will not advance our ability to engage in Iran in new ways.
A senior official of the Obama Administration remarked: “The administration will deal with the situation we have, not what we wish it to be” — prompting Weekly Standard‘s Stephen Hayes to note the inconsistency between Obama’s tepid response and his Cairo speech.
On Meet the Press today, Vice President Biden expressed his doubts about the legitimacy of the election, but concluded “we have to accept for the time being” Ahmadinejad’s claim of victory.
June 15th, 2009 | 1:47 am
“criminally useful idiocy” indeed! Ever wish our President would actually say something? as opposed to putting one fine word in front of another with some elongated pauses, a preachers cadence, and almost meaningful inflection?
First off, what issues were robustly debated???
Second, precisely which new ways of engagement does he have in mind???
Third, what reason does he have for hope??? I mean real hope, not pie in the sky wishes…
He then went on to offer this clear statement of policy: “Obviously after the speech that I made in Cairo, we *tried* to send a clear message that we *think* there’s the *possibility* of change.”
Mr. President, it’s not so obvious, and not so clear, and not any sense of what that change might entail. But engage at all costs! Anchors Aweigh!
June 15th, 2009 | 10:32 am
What complicates matters, it seems to me, as to fradulent elections is that Islam believes in deception if it causes Allah’s cause to advance and Allah is said in the Koran to be a deceiver:
http://www.muslimhope.com/DeceptionInIslam.htm
Click on the details in the above link but scroll down a bit first as to the Koran on Allah.
Thus the religious leaders in Iran could order a fradulent election and see it as the right thing which again, they do not have to reveal to all the world due to the same principle of deception.
June 15th, 2009 | 11:18 am
According to the quotes, the president lauded the debate, not the election.
Not only do we see a decline in the ability to write, but the reading comprehension of some conservatives could use some third-grade renewal.
June 16th, 2009 | 8:28 am
“We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran,” Obama told reporters when asked about the Iranian election during an event at the White House. “Whoever ends up winning the election in Iran, the fact there has been a robust debate hopefully will advance our ability to engage them in new ways.”
I think the editors of Powerline explain themselves quite clearly:
This was an extremely foolish comment for at least two reasons. First, the debate in Iran was circumscribed. The candidates were screened by the mullahs. Four were permitted to run; hundreds were deemed insufficiently in tune with the “Revolution.” And there appars to have little or no debate on the issue of primary concern to the U.S. — Iran’s nuclear program. Ahmadinejad’s main rival, Mir-Hossein Moussavi, was in full agreement with the regime on this matter.
Second, there was always a strong possibility of election fraud. Robust debate, even had it existed, would be meaningless in the face of a fraudulent election. Thus, Obama should not have lauded the election, much less characterized it as advancing our ability to engage Iran in new ways, until he was satisfied that the election was honest. A fraudulent election in which the existing, intransigent regime claims a landslide victory will not advance our ability to engage in Iran in new ways.
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