Just as the thugs on Iran’s Guardian Council were confirming Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, Barack Obama and his top officials were unveiling the administration’s Iran policy. From a news conference and a series of Sunday-talk-show appearances we have learned that the Obama plan is this: Speak loudly and don’t carry any stick.

It began on Friday at Obama’s joint press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel. First came the hot air: “The violence perpetrated against [the Iranian people] is outrageous. . . . We see it and we condemn it. . . . What’s happened in Iran is unacceptable . . . and we call on the Iranian government to uphold . . . international principles.”

The obvious follow-up question was this: Given that the Iranian government never had any interest in upholding the “international principles” you mention — such as “universal rights to assemble, speak freely, and have their voices heard” — what impact will that government’s actions have on your administration’s Iran policy?

  

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