Obama Defends Iran Policy, Takes On Familiar Foe

(CBS)

As the tension over the contested Iranian elections and subsequent grass roots protests continues to simmer, President Obama took the opportunity to hit back at criticism from Republicans that he was being too soft on the mullahs and hard-liners in Iran over the apparently rigged election and brutal crackdown on protesters. The president’s words come a day after his own electoral foe hit the Sunday circuit to bash the administration’s handling of the burgeoning Iranian crisis.

A taped interview with Obama appeared on this morning’s CBS Early Show, allowing the president to seemingly thwart attacks from the right launched on the weekend talk fests and start off another important week with his own talking points making the headlines.

While other topics were touched on by Harry Smith, foreign policy dominated the conversation, and the president wasted little time in forcefully defending his reaction to the latest world crises.

Obama insisted that  the United States cannot foment “distractions” that would take away the “voices” of the Iranian protesters. Instead, the president delivered his familiar refrain of chastising the Iranian clerics by reminding them that “the world is watching” and to act thoughtfully in dealing with the election unrest.

“The last thing that I want to do,” the president said, “is to have the United States be a foil for — those forces inside Iran who would love nothing better than to make this an argument about the United States. That’s what they do. That’s what we’ve already seen. We shouldn’t be playing into that. There should be no distractions from the fact that the — Iranian people are seeking to — let their voices be heard.

“Now, what we can do is bear witness and say — to the world that the, you know, incredible demonstrations that we’ve seen is a testimony to — I think what Dr. King called the — the arc of the moral universe. It’s long but it bends towards justice.”

Mr. Obama also delivered a message to the regime in Tehran, noting to Smith that, “The world is watching. And how they approach and deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to — be heard — will I think — send a pretty clear signal to the international community about — about — what — Iran is and — and is not.

” … This is not an issue of the United States or the West versus Iran. This is an issue of the Iranian people. The fact that they are on the — the streets under pretty severe duress — at great risk to themselves — is a sign that — there’s something — in that society that wants to open up.” 

While his name was never directly mentioned by either Smith or the president, the rebuttal described above lends itself to a comparison with harsh barbs and accusations leveled at President Obama and his administration by John McCain on Sunday’s “Face the Nation.”

Obama’s old electoral foe carried on his public lashings of the president’s Iran policy by questioning whether Obama wants the country to be on the “right side” of history in dealing with Iran and taking a skeptical view of “America’s conscience” under him.

 Appearing on CBS’ Face The Nation, the Arizona Republican said the U.S. has had a long history of defending disenfranchised citizens across the world, and that the violence apparently inflicted by a government upon its citizens makes this a “human rights issue.”

“America’s position in the world is one of moral leadership,” the senator said. “It’s not about what takes place in the streets of Iran. It is about what takes place in America’s conscience.”\

In a bizarre twist, McCain also grabbed some credit by praising “American technologies” for their role in aiding communication between Iranian dissidents and the rest of the world, an obvious reference to Twitter and other social networks.

“The fact is, America has been and will be the beacon of hope and freedom,” McCain said. “We are on their side as they seek freedom,” he said of the protestors. He also spoke proudly of how American technologies such as Facebook and Twitter have been influential in allowing protestors to communicate.

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