When Silence Is Golden

I'm going to disagree with Jonathan regarding Iran. Some critics of Obama are praising him for finally indicating more clearly that he's "outraged" by the violence by the Iranian government -- as if he was previously indicating that he was heartened by it. I've written at greater length on the issue here.

But let's remember that much of that nation is pro-government. If violence continues, we'll soon have martyrs on both sides (if we already don't), and martyrdom is a powerful force in a nation such as that. The more that we talk now, at a moment when talk means nothing, the more someone will accuse us later of having "blood on our hands." Right now, it's the Iranian government that has blood on its hands. And when an opponent is destroying himself, why get involved? That only turns a suicide into a homicide.