What Should the President Do About Iran?

There is a fierce debate on what the US should be doing in response to the situation in Iran. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has come out strongly stating that President Obama has been "tepid" in his response to the situation and that the US needs to come out and denounce these elections as a fraud and demand the truth to be shown.

On the other side, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) explained earlier today in an op-ed that the US could do more harm by speaking out than by remaining silent. He also criticized Sen. McCain directly in this sense. Describing the situation in the New York Times, Sen. Kerry lays out a great past and present day history of Iran.

But this still leaves the question though, who is right? What should the President do? What we see in Iran are the largest protests since the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the world is watching. What we are seeing in Iran is a true grassroots and organic democratic growth in Iran. Democracy is something which must be organic and homegrown to the state it will represent. Although these systems may not the the "American" democracy many would like to see, it works though for the people. This is why democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan have trouble in taking hold because they have been set up under the eyes of the United States.

Is the President being cautious in this situation, of course he is, and its the smart thing to do. We do not know the facts yet due to the misinformation which has been spread by the Iranian government. Right now there is a dark room with plenty of obstacles that the President has yet to enter yet and to rush into it would be disastrous. We must not mistaken caution with weakness. This is the change in Washington policies he was elected for and not meddling in Iranian affairs is allowing this to grow to be something which can benefit both Iranian and American interests.