Sullivan chiedeva a Obama di fare un intervento così:

I know why some believe that the president should speak out forcefully in defense of the resistance in Iran. I don’t have to explain why a great part of me wants that as well. But I think the impulse should be resisted for the moment. Ahmadinejad is waiting for such a statement to portray the revolutionaries as agents of a foreign power – in league with Iran’s enemies. This is standard agitprop for him, and it could hurt rather than help the resistance. […] The administration should, in my view, resist the grandstanding of the neocons – who remain almost autistic about the world they seek to remake – but insist that no violence be used against peaceful demonstrations. The truth is: if these crowds continue to grow and the regime does not massacre them, there’s a chance they could topple the regime. By focusing on government restraint, you can empower the resistance without giving Ahmadi’s thugs an opening.

Obama ha fatto esattamente un intervento così: