Here's What Obama Could/Should Say

By Barry Rubin

Administration policy toward America's enemies reminds me of one of the most famous jokes in radio history. Jack Benny, the comedian, pretended to be really cheap. On one of his shows, he's walking in a dark alley. A hold-up man says: "Your money or your life."

There's a long pause. The robber repeats, "I said, your money or your life!"

Benny quickly retorts: "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!"

So after he thinks about it a while longer, here's what the president should say:

The ongoing events in Iran show the true nature of the regime there. They make clear why there needs to be a broad alliance of Middle Eastern and Western states to counter Iran's efforts to expand its power and subvert neighbors. And most of all they show why the Iranian regime is the type of dictatorship which must be prevented from having nuclear weapons.

I call on America's allies to coordinate our strategy to increase the sanctions against the extremist regime and to isolate it politically and economically. Oh, and by the way, I do hope our allies don't empower such terrorist movements as Hamas and Hizballah which seek to create dictatorships in other places which would put into power a system similar to the one now repressing the Iranian people.