COMMON SENSE ON IRAN – AT 11:53 A.M. ET:  Voices from the Obama administration are already out in the media advising that we remain silent about the Iranian protesters.  You know, do just what Barack did when Iranians revolted in 2009...as if that were somehow successful.  (To liberals, nothing succeeds like failure.)   

Benny Avni, a true veteran observer of the Mideast, sees it quite differently, as does President Trump.  From the New York Post: 

Like New Yorkers, Iranians were out on the streets over New Year’s — except rather than braving ever-dropping temperatures, they faced tear gas, nasty riot cops and bullets.

Think we’ve seen this before? Wrong.

The ongoing days of rage (five and counting) are remarkably different than the failed protest in the aftermath of the rigged 2009 Iranian election.

They may signal the start of an evil regime’s downfall and reshape the entire Mideast.

But Iranians need our help.

And...

They chant, “No Syria, no Gaza, we’d die only for Iran.” And “Reformists, traditionalists, you’re all the same.” Even “Down with the dictator,” accompanied by the destruction of posters of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

This, in other words, is about regime change.

And there’s another crucial difference between 2009 and today. Back then, President Barack Obama was secretly planning to launch talks with the regime. When the Green Revolution threatened to undermine his overtures, he mostly stayed mum.

And guess what? Over the weekend Philip Gordon, an architect of Obama’s Mideast policies, wrote in a widely echoed op-ed we should “do nothing” now, too.

His argument: Iran’s leaders would claim a US-Zionist plot. Let’s exercise some humility. This is about Iranians, not us.

Yet, Cold War dissidents like Natan Sharansky say President Ronald Reagan’s encouragement helped them survive the Soviet regime. Now as the veteran Farsi-language broadcaster Menashe Amir tells me, the current uprising needs international, and specifically American, encouragement to survive the regime’s onslaught.

And...

Do nothing? Absurd. America should amp-up encouragement to protesters. Europeans, so quick to jump on any human-rights bandwagon but decisively quiet about the rights of Iranians, should be shamed into joining in.

And this is no time for a regime lifesaver. Rather than ease sanctions, America should reiterate to Europeans, Asians and others that they can either do business with the clerical oppressors or with us, but not both.

Regime change has always been our best option for dealing with Iran’s America-hating genocidal dictators bent on possessing nuclear weapons.

Rather than doing nothing, we should side with those in Iran who share that goal.

The Islamic Republic may not fall tomorrow, but as in the Cold War, oppressive regimes rarely last forever no matter how stable they look to outsiders.

And just like then, we have an important role as catalyst in their demise.

COMMENT:  Right on.  I think Benny nails it.  I would trust Trump's instincts on this, remembering that all the "experts" urged that Ronald Reagan never utter the words, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"  He ignored those "experts" and the wall came down.

January 2, 2018