Iran vs. Tiananmen Square

Several news outlets have drawn comparisons between the current Iranian opposition movement and the Chinese students who took to the streets in 1989. Most clumsily use "Tiananmen Square" as a metaphor for "government crackdown on popular protests." Some, like THIS PIECE from NPR delve a little deeper.

In light of the virulent criticism of Obama's response to the situation (where were these proponents of "universal American values" when were were fixing electrodes to testicles?), I offer our own revolution as a lens through which to view Obama's restraint. France, easily the world's most powerful nation in 1776, waited two years before throwing its open support behind the colonists' revolt against the British crown, despite a historical rivalry with Great Britain. They waited to see if the new government and its fledgling army could stand up on its own first.

Imagine if the French had landed troops on July 5, 1776. How would that have changed global perception of the new country? How would the treaties have ended the war have been different if French intervention had been the backbone of the American army from almost the outset of the war? Domestically, how would Americans' view of their own government have been weakened by the perception that their revolution was in no small part the work of a superpower half a world away? Historically, support for France created deep divisions in the young republic. If there were even more cause to doubt the loyalties of politicians like Jefferson, how much more bitter would the infancy of American politics have been!

So take your time, Mr. President. Give the Iranians the chance our Founding Fathers had to control their destiny.