Stand Tall

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union held summits. Presidents visited the USSR; commissars visited the United States. The two sides negotiated arms treaties and engaged in cultural exchanges. They also blistered each other in speeches. They waged ideological war.

Throughout the struggle, the U.S. made clear its sympathies lay with dissidents. Various players debated the best way to promote those who challenged the nomenklatura from the inside, but few doubted where America stood.

After several days of observing the Iranian turmoil from an Olympian altitude (and attitude), President Barack Obama finally said some bracing words about universal rights. (A right that is not universal is not a right but an imposter.)

The U.S. has little leverage with Iran. Already the Islamist regime is blaming unrest on the West, particularly on the U.S., whose interventions against Prime Minister Mohammed Massadegh rankle more than 50 years after the fact. In instances such as these, Obama's so-called apologies have the virtue of reminding his fellow citizens that resentment against the U.S. often has real-world roots.

Yet it should be possible for the U.S. to assert (1) that there is no moral equivalence between the behavior of the competing sides, without (2) meddling in Iranian politics. Obama is an inspirational figure who enjoys global respect. His personal capital is immense. It is time for him to use it.