Say more Mr. President

President Obama was told that Iranian protestors think he hasn’t said enough about the uprising.

Obama: “...the last thing that I want to do 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.”

While I can understand the President’s position, it seems too much of a bad gamble. The Iranian Mullahs have been using the U.S. as “a foil” for anti-western sentiment for years. We are the “great Satan” in Iran—at least officially. Anti-westernism is a standard government line. Being guided by conern for that seems, well, misguided. We have a big opportunity here. Amongst Iran’s youth—70% of the country is roughly below 35 years of age—the U.S. is quite unofficially popular. It’s the crusty older religious guys who hate America and the West. We need to capitalize on the pro-Western sentiments in that country. And we need to do it while the momentum is swinging in our direction.

The toppling of the current Iranian regime could mean an entire change in direction for Iranian politics and Middle Eastern politics in-general. Stopping Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and having the the regime that's the world’s largest supporter of terror go belly up, are both in America’s best interest. Of course there's no guarantee a new regime will be “pro-Western” per se, but there is a good chance a new regime will be less of a threat than the current one. It's the moderates waiting in the wings to take over.

This opportunity may not come again anytime in the near future. The Mullahs are becoming desperate and the military crackdown is probably coming soon.

I realize the forces at play here and the balancing act Obama is trying to maintain. But he needs to openly lean more forcibly toward those in the streets. Let's not miss this chance.

President Obama needs to say (and behind the scenes do) more in support of the protestors in Iran.