Iranian Protestors: "Obama, Either with Them or Us!"

Thousands of Iranian dissidents appeared again on the streets of Tehran today to counter-protest the mass rallies organized by the Persian government to mark the 30th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran by Iranian students during the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The protestors, frustrated by the restraint of the current U.S. administration, chanted for the first time:

"Obama, either with them or us!"

Obama, however, is still reaching out to Ahmadinejad, as evidenced by his statement yesterday:

"Thirty years ago today, the American Embassy in Tehran was seized. . . . This event helped set the United States and Iran on a path of sustained suspicion, mistrust, and confrontation. I have made it clear that the United States of America wants to move beyond this past, and seeks a relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. We do not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-iran

Both in Iran and Afghanistan, Obama is showing himself to be a chief executive who cannot make hard decisions, but why should anyone expect otherwise from someone who voted 130 times "present" in the Illinois state senate? The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

In a nutshell, Obama is no John F. Kennedy, and the dissidents in Iran will need to go it alone to effect the "change" that they are seeking.