Should Obama Speak up about Iran?

Timothy Sandefur rails against the Cato Institute's argument that the US should stay silent about Iran. Sandefur calls for something akin to a "tear down this wall" speech: a denunciation of the totalitarian tyranny and brutal tactics of the Iranian regime, and an endorsement of freedom for the oppressed masses.

Sandefur's right that we should be friends of freedom the world over, but he may be wrong about the need for the US to speak up in the present situation. This crisis only exists in the first place because in 1953 the US backed a coup d'etat that overthrew Iran's secular democracy and installed a brutal monarchy. This memory has not faded among Iranians. Despite Obama's personal popularity in the region, America remains the object of a great deal of animus. An American endorsement of this new (potential) revolution might be its death knell. Certainly it could not but spark memories of 1953. The most effective way to be "friends" to the new movement for freedom in Iran may be to shut up and let it take its course. Obama's measured remarks so far have been apropos. He has not hesitated to condemn the regime's brutality, but neither has he outright endorsed the reform candidate or his movement.