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President Should Support Freedom for Iranians

June 23, 2009 | By Nathaniel Ward

"President Obama came down off the fence and issued a statement that directly addressed the Iranian government for the first time," Heritage Middle East expert Jim Phillips reports on Heritage's blog, the Foundry.

"We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people," the President said. "The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights."

This is a welcome statement that follows the recommendations of Heritage experts, who called on President Obama to abandon his fairytale quest to diplomatically engage a brutal dictatorship and instead actively support the Iranian people's struggle for freedom.

"The Obama administration must recalibrate its Iran policy," argues Heritage Middle East expert Jim Phillips, "and take a tougher stance in support of the Iranian opposition's campaign for greater freedom."

» Check back to Heritage's Iran Briefing Room for updates on the situation in Iran.

Over the past week, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets. As many as 17 people have been killed and countless more injured, yet until the weekend President Obama's criticisms of the tyrannical regimes had been somewhat muted.

The President is rightly hesitant to inject US interests into an internal power struggle between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi. But he must not confuse such with the free world's obligation to support basic liberties.

Speaking "in support of the Iranian people's struggle for freedom," Phillips argues, "is not meddling; it is an appropriate defense of basic human rights that are being trampled in Iran."

Heritage foreign policy expert Helle Dale considers Iran's democracy movement a "golden opportunity to reach out to a population trapped in a positively medieval political system."

Technology, Dale says, can be a powerful tool for those suffering under oppression. She cites the example of the Twitter social networking tool, which Iranian protesters have used to coordinate activities and spread news outside their country. The State Department rightly asked Twitter to delay planned maintenance to allow protesters to use it--but this is only one of many measures the U.S. government could and should take.

Dale also recommends the President reinforce the need for a recount of the recent election, despite Iranian officials' incessant objections. In addition, she urges the administration to engage in broader public diplomacy and to call upon Iran's government to respect press freedoms.

Phillips notes that "voicing support for Iranians struggling to reclaim their freedom promotes American ideals and universal human rights and advances American national interests."

— Amanda Reinecker

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Other Heritage work of note

  • "In just the last month, we've seen Pyongyang conduct a nuclear test, threaten war, sentence two US journalists to prison camp and promise another long-range missile test this time toward Hawaii," writes Heritage national security expert Peter Brookes. North Korea's latest provocation, however, is a contraband-packed cargo ship sailing in defiance of a week-old UN resolution prohibiting all arms exports from Pyongyang. While the bulked-up resolution offers limited help, Brookes argues that President Obama "must take steps to prevent [the ship] from reaching its destination."
  • The recent attacks on a soldier in Arkansas, an abortion doctor in Kansas, and a security guard on the steps of the Holocaust Museum may have been politically charged, but they cannot be linked to a domestic, extremist social movement, argues Heritage domestic policy expert Jim Carafano. Some liberal commentators have begun "playing politics with the issue of terrorism," attributing such tragedies to the so-called "right-wing" media. "Rather than overreact to lone-wolf attacks, we need sustained counterterrorism programs that respect individual liberties," recommends Carafano, "but don't shy away from rooting out terrorist networks wherever they lurk."
  • Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has proposed slashing the defense budget in the name of reform. But Heritage defense policy expert Mackenzie Eaglen and the Lexington Institute's Rebecca Grant point out that "simply cancelling programs is not reform." Instead, the cuts are "more akin to recklessness," and undermine national security at a time when it has rarely been more necessary.
  • Heritage European affairs expert Sally McNamara writes in an American Spectator debate with scholar Doug Bandow that Rep. Michael Turner's NATO First Act would be an effective way to "reinforce NATO as the centerpiece of America's multi-layered European alliance architecture." McNamara challenges Bandow's "serious miscalculations" regarding NATO's usefulness in the war on terror and the preservation of freedom in Europe.

In other news

  • President Obama has signed a law granting the Food and Drug administration the power to regulate tobacco. The law, however, does not allow the agency to ban tobacco altogether.
  • French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday that burqas -- full-body veils worn by many traditional Muslim women -- are not welcome in France. He says the strict dress code is a sign of "debasement" of women.
  • Pyongyang announced that it views President Obama's reaffirmation of America's commitment to South Korea as a threat of nuclear war. Reports suggest North Korea is plotting to test-launch another missile on July 4 -- this time in the direction of Hawaii. However, the island state's newly-deployed missile defenses should provide some comfort to Hawaiians.
  • "The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to rule on the constitutionality of part of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act which sought to protect minorities in states with a history of racial discrimination," Reuters reports. The law requires southern jurisdictions to seek federal approval of changes in voting rules. 

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Nathaniel Ward is the Editor of MyHeritage.org—a website for members and supporters of The Heritage Foundation. Amanda Reinecker contributed to this report.