Lieberman urges loud, clear solidarity w/ Iranian protesters. Human rights groups say low-key best.

[jefferson_dem]

Joe Lieberman weighs in. One of the first official statements from a member of Congress, via email:

hrough intimidation, violence, manipulation, and outright fraud, the Iranian regime has once again made a mockery of democracy, and confirmed its repressive and dictatorial character.

We as Americans have a responsibility to stand in solidarity with people when they are denied their rights by repressive regimes. When elections are stolen, our government should protest. When peaceful demonstrators are beaten and silenced, we have a duty to raise our voices on their behalf. We must tell the Iranian people that we are on their side.

For this reason, I would hope that President Obama and members of both parties in Congress will speak out, loudly and clearly, about what is happening in Iran right now, and unambiguously express their solidarity with the brave Iranians who went to the polls in the hope of change and who are now looking to the outside world for strength and support.

As we've noted below, several Iranian American human rights groups have urged just the opposite -- here, for example, is Trita Parsi's National Iranian American Council:

The Obama administration's approach to the election -- keeping its comments low-key and not signaling support for any candidate -- was exactly the right approach. While tempting, empty and self-serving rhetorical support for Iranians struggling for more freedoms serves only to aid their opponents. History has made Iran wary of foreign meddling, and American policymakers in particular must be sensitive to giving hardliners any pretense to call reform-minded Iranians foreign agents. That's why Iran's most prominent reformers, including Nobel-laureate Shirin Ebadi, have said the best thing the U.S. can do is step back and let Iran's indigenous human rights movement progress on its own, without overt involvement from the U.S-however well intentioned.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html

[DrToast]

1. Lieberman might be trying to screw things up

Lot of right-wingers (of which Lieberman is on foreign policy) in the US wanted Ahmadinejad to win.

[jefferson_dem]

5. Mittens was on teevee this morning also saying Obama needs to speak out in support of the protest.

Watch for this attack-line in the next day or so. Fuckers seize on any angle, however stupid, and try to make it political. Why do they hate 'merca?

[Better Believe It]

13. That's exactly what he's doing on behalf of Israel/U.S. right-wingnuts

They both want a far right fundamentalist regime and absolutely no meaningful dialogue and agreements between the west and Iran.

The fundamentalist regime needs people like Leiberman in order to create the impression that "dissidents" and "reformers" are nothing more than agents of Israel and the United States.

[flpoljunkie]

23. Sadly, Lieberman is a Likudnik.

[babylonsister]

2. Sounds like he wants it both ways. Very weird comments. nt

[Zynx]

3. In these early stages, the more we stay out of it the better.

Explicit U.S. support for the reformists will hurt them badly.

[jberryhill]

15. Yep /nt

[glowing]

4. I guess we should have taken to the streets in 2000 and 04?

[izquierdista]

6. Nah...

There was stuff to watch on TV.

[karynnj]

8. I forget who was Gore's VP?

It seems clear that the Jews in Palm Beach had their votes suppressed as did the blacks in Jacksonville and the Haitians everywhere.

I remember him more concerned with the military vote - that no one was really suppressing.

[last_texas_dem]

17. Yes

And IIRC, Lieberman's vocal support for counting military ballots of questionable legitimacy put the Gore campaign between a rock and a hard place and contributed to *'s margin of "victory" in FL.

[Douglas Carpenter]

7. either Lieberman is intentionally trying to make things worse or he is an idiot of Biblical scale

OBVIOUSLY, nothing, absolutely nothing would weaken the pro-democracy forces more and strengthen the hardliners more than making the pro-democracy/pro-reform movement appear like stooges for the United States.

Is it plausible that Lieberman honestly doesn't know that?

Or perhaps, given that Lieberman has said things to give the impression that he supports bombing Iran, he might cynically view this an opportunity to set the state for war.

Either way, he is either an idiot or he is looking for another war.

[Peacetrain]

11. He is an idiot on the biblical scale when it comes to the middle east

[vaberella]

21. idiot....he's never been sharp. n/t

[C_U_L8R]

9. That seems to be the GOP talking point of the day

and is probably the worst thing to do... it plays right
into the Hardliners' hands just as Bush's stupid policies did.
From everything I've heard, the Obama admin is playing this
exactly right.

[Peacetrain]

10. If the GOP talking heads are asking for this.. RUN!

Nothing good ever comes out of what they do. Besides, at this very moment, if we started stepping in too quickly or too loudly, it would backfire.

[OHdem10]

12. The Neocons (Lieberman) have been expert at screwing things up.

They got us into Iraq and the other messes.

Right Now Low Key. We cannot be accused of interfereing.

[Hippo_Tron]

14. I sort of half agree with Joe Lieberman

I hope Americans do show solidarity with the Iranian protesters. I hope our government stays the fuck out of it.

[FrenchieCat]

16. Righttt....having Mr. AIPAC NeoCon Lieberman on the side of the protestors is really, really

gonna help things in Iran. :eyes:

[Arkana]

18. Absofuckinglutely not.

If we even APPEAR to be interfering in foreign elections it could push the entire region into an even bigger shitstorm than it's already in.

We cannot give any appearance that Moussavi is the "American" candidate. No way, no how.

[burning rain]

19. Shit on that warmonger.

Lieberman's plenty willing to spill lots of Iranian blood and is no doubt bitterly disappointed that his buddy McCain didn't get elected so he could launch a war of aggression on Iran and get lots of Americans killed, too.

[depakid]

20. How about we just drop Lieberman into the mob

and let him mouth off from there....

[Kitsune]

22. At first I thought "holy crap, Lieberman did something decent?"

But then I looked out my window, noticed a startling lack of flying swine, and actually read the post... yeah.

That'll teach me to assume anything but the worst about him, I guess. :/