Iranian Days of Rage

Helle Dale / February 16, 2011

Has the Obama Administration finally reached agreement on its policy toward the Middle East uprisings? The State Department and the White House have been articulating a variety of different foreign policies on events in Egypt and Iran, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken the lead on supporting the protests in the streets and President Obama and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon pleading for stability and civility—at least until President Mubarak’s removal seemed inevitable.

At George Washington University Tuesday, Clinton again articulated a far more assertive message than the one coming from the National Security Council. She even made reference to the bloody crackdown on Iranian protestors in June 2009, an act of brutality that President Obama has avoided mentioning.

Speaking on the topic of Internet freedom, she referred to the “video taken by cell phone of a young woman named Neda killed by a member of the paramilitary forces; within hours that video was sent around the world. The authorities used technology as well; the Revolutionary Guard stalked members of the green movement by tracking their cell phones. For a time, the government shut down the Internet and mobile networks altogether. After the authorities raided homes, attacked university dorms, made arrests, tortured and fired into crowds, the protests ended.” (more…)