Iran’s Green Movement

The National Endowment for Democracy awarded its 2010 Democracy Award last week to the Green Movement of Iran, those street protesters who a year ago braved the streets of Tehran in order to challenge the legitimacy of the current regime and demand liberal reforms. I attended the ceremony, which was made extraordinarily poignant by the absence of the recipients.

“What if the Obama Administration fully sided with the Green Movement?” is the subtitle of a Washington Post Saturday editorial, “Iran’s Chance for Change.” It went on to say that supporting the Green Movement would have been a good way to weaken the regime and its nuclear program. (I believed this was the way to go a year ago, during the time that Iranian protesters were most in need of help.) Alas, after a year (of diplomatic failures), “the administration has been inching in this direction.” Finally, but inching in this direction? What would it take to make them move forward and fast? What is it about all this that is difficult to understand? Could it be that some members of the Administration are simply clueless as to what a good Iranian policy entails? Or could it be that some of them are being duped by the enemies?

I wonder, had the Obama Administration fully sided with the Green Movement a year ago, would some of these street protesters have made it to DC to pick up their award?