Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Don't Hold Your Breath

The Iranian mullahs continue their crackdown on those who demonstrated against their fraudulent election. Today they announced that Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American scholar and an American citizen, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison:


Iran ignored appeals by Hillary Rodham Clinton and even rock star Sting and sentenced an Iranian-American academic to 12 years in prison Tuesday for his alleged role in anti-government protests after the country's disputed presidential election.


Even rock star Sting? Wow, that's amazing. Until now, has Mr. Sumner had great success in springing dissidents from Islamist prisons? Maybe I missed those news stories.

Can the administration work up a similar level of concern for an apparently innocent American citizen who has been made a pawn by Iran's extremist leaders? We'll see. It would be a departure for Obama's administration to actually try to advance American interests or defend American citizens.