Commenting on Glenn Kessler’s Washington Post story subtitled “Obama seeks way to acknowledge protesters without alienating Ayatollah,” Paul Mirengoff at Power Line says, “it’s shocking that [Obama] believes he can talk his way around the non-false choice presented by the unrest/uprising in Iran.”
If Obama is looking for a precedent, however, perhaps he could dust off Bush 41′s infamous “Chicken Kiev” speech. In 1991, as the Soviet Union was heading toward its eventual demise and the Ukrainians were considering declaring their independence, Bush warned the Ukrainian legislature against a “suicidal nationalism” and told them “freedom is not the same as independence.”
For the U.S. to choose between the leader of the Soviet Union and the “independence-minded leaders” of its Republics was, Bush said, a “false choice.” Instead, the U.S. would maintain “the strongest possible relationship with the Soviet Government” while striving for “improved relations” with the Republics.
He told the Ukrainian legislature that “You have to give [the people] hope” – a word he used six times in the speech.
