Conservatives’ Dangerous Iran Response Runs Off the Rails

Despite the almost unanimous opinion of serious Iran experts that it would be very harmful to the demonstrators if the United States were seen as directly supporting them, conservative political leaders - such as Mike Pence, Eric Cantor, and John McCain - and thinkers – such as Robert Kagan – have insisted that the United States do just that. Ascertaining the motives of these conservatives is difficult – are they so blinded by ideology that they actually don’t recognize that U.S. meddling would play into Ahmadinejad’s hands and would potentially further endanger Iranian demonstrators; or are they simply trying to score cheap political points by attacking Obama. But what is clear is that their cries, recommendations, and critiques are reflective of a conservative movement that on foreign policy has run off the rails.

Calling for the United States to directly support the protests – even symbolically – could place the demonstrators in severe danger. The Iranian regime is feverishly attempting to label the demonstrators as western agitators backed by the United States – Iranian state television even used a clip from FOX News in an effort to make this point. Therefore the calls from Pence, Cantor, and McCain are not only just unhelpful, but they are a total gift to Ahmadinejad. Furthermore, conservatives seem oblivious to their own record of failure to promote democracy under the Bush administration, as democracy failed to advance and even receded in much of the world. Aggressive sounding talk, threats of force, and an over emphasis on the mere holding of elections served only to strengthen hardliners and undermine the United States.

Iranians, Iranian Americans, journalists, and Iranian national security experts all agree that the last thing Iranian demonstrators need is U.S. interference.