She Said What?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Nairobi on August 6 (State Dept.)

Did Secretary Clinton make another gaffe, or am I blowing it out of proportion?  Iranian news publications certainly seem to be talking about it.  What are they talking about?   Secretary Clinton’s quote when discussing US involvement in Iran’s post election.

“Behind the scenes we were doing a lot…as you know one of our young people in the state department got twittered “keep going.”  Despite the fact that they had planned for a technical shutdown.  So we were doing a lot to really empower the protesters without getting in the way and we continue to speak out and support the opposition.”

If one decides to peruse the Iranian publications what we see is a play on Secretary Clinton’s words…For instance in Kayhan, a conservative publication with massive distribution, yesterday’s headline reads Clinton: We Did a lot to Support the Riots. In Raja News, a paper associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, a conservative military group with massive political and economic power, the headline reads Confessing to the Behind the Scenes Support by the American Government of the Tehran Rioters. Finally, Fars News Agency’s headline reads Clinton Confirms America’s Widespread and Secret Support of the Rioters.

The situation in Iran is in no way over, and the government continues to conduct “show trials.”   Clinton’s quote can only be used as ammunition to delegitimize the movement- evidenced in the newspaper headlines.  The Obama administration has until now, directly avoided addressing the situation in Iran, so that in Clinton’s words, “the leadership would not try to use us (the United States government) to unify the country against the protesters.”  So, Clinton’s most recent statement is in fact a direct contradiction of the Obama administration’s stance on Iran.  The question now is:

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