TRUMP AND IRAN – AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  Have you noticed that there's a rebellion brewing in Iran?  You know, there were big demonstrations in the streets last week, until they were put down by the thugs.  You can be forgiven for not knowing because the mainstream media hasn't exactly headlined the story.  How important could it be compared with an anti-Trump book by a New York gossip reporter?

But there is still simmering tension in Iran.  And we can assess the reaction of foreign leaders to the call for democracy coming from the dissenting groups.   The great Andrew Malcolm gives Trump high grades, which, in my view, is the correct call.  From McClatchy: 

If you’ve got a minute to pause from our collective obsession with a gossipy book of dubious veracity, here’s an issue of compelling importance that reveals another side of this president and his administration: Iran and how Donald Trump addresses the deadly anti-regime demonstrations now convulsing that historic land that clearly is the linchpin of any future regional stability, or the opposite.

The last time such nationwide protests erupted there — the Green Revolution of 2009 — Barack Obama was painfully reluctant to involve the U.S., even rhetorically. His tardy and limp comments about peaceful demonstrations came only after congressional resolutions and John McCain’s Senate tongue-lashing for their absence.

Hillary Clinton later admitted, “We were too restrained in our support of the protests in June 2009, and in our condemnation of the government crackdown that followed.”

Though there’s little media attention these days, there’s no confusion this time. “Oppressive regimes cannot endure forever,” Trump has said. “The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime.”

Vice President Mike Pence gave a lengthy interview to Greta Van Susteren for Voice of America to broadcast in Farsi: “We're going to continue to send, from the very outset of this effort on the streets of Iran, an unambiguous message that the American people stand with freedom-loving people in Iran and around the world.”

In a Washington Post op-ed Pence wrote, “We stand with the proud people of Iran because it is right. And because the regime in Tehran threatens the peace and security of the world.”

Obama’s abiding reluctance to confront Iran on anything was tied to his consuming desire for the coveted nuclear pact he sought with Tehran, a leaky pact Trump has now declined to certify Iran is obeying.

Any president, especially one like Trump not known for nuance, walks a tightrope in these situations. He must make clear America’s support for a people’s democratic strivings without creating false hopes of direct U.S. intervention, as arose during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, ultimately squashed by Soviet tanks.

COMMENT:  Read the whole thing.  Andrew Malcolm gives us a thoughtful view of a shrewd president who thinks clearly, acts strategically, and is far from nuts.

January 9,  2018