To the Editor:
Re “Obama Condemns Iran’s Iron Fist Against Protests” (front page, June 24):
Sometimes you have to come out swinging. Did President Obama really believe that if he moderated his condemnations of Iran, then that regime would hold the United States blameless for the mass protests after the election?
And if, in fact, the United States was not on the short list of countries Iran most vociferously challenged for their loud protests of the election and its aftermath, at the end of the day, would we rather be on this list or absent from it?
The United States is the leader of the free world, and President Obama’s measured tone in response to the Iranian atrocities was a mistake. He should not have waited for the murder of a young woman protester to take a stand.
If it is mutual respect that President Obama wishes to achieve with Iran, he won’t find it by compromising our principles.
Philip M. Berkowitz
New York, June 24, 2009
