Kerry: This is about Iran, not America

John Kerry took to the pages of the NYT today to defend the Obama administration’s careful response to the Iranian protests.

The theme of the op-ed: This is about Iran, not America.

Kerry takes a swipe at the “neoconservatives” who are urging some kind of intervention and cautions that “words matter.”

There’s just one problem. If we actually want to empower the Iranian people, we have to understand how our words can be manipulated and used against us to strengthen the clerical establishment, distract Iranians from a failing economy and rally a fiercely independent populace against outside interference. Iran’s hard-liners are already working hard to pin the election dispute, and the protests, as the result of American meddling. On Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry chastised American officials for “interventionist” statements. Government complaints of slanted coverage by the foreign press are rising in pitch.

We can’t escape the reality that for reformers in Tehran to have any hope for success, Iran’s election must be about Iran–not America. And if the street protests of the last days have taught us anything, it is that this is an Iranian moment, not an American one.

Kerry goes on to argue that Mousavi’s credibility comes from his role in overthrowing the Shah. Anything the United States does to ally itself with Mousavi might damage his political credibility.

For a lawmaker’s op-ed, the piece is surprisingly substantive, whether you agree with it or not. But then again, I hear they have some pretty tough editors at the NYT.