I thought Obama was supposed to speak today at 6PM est? Did I miss something? nt

[Javaman]

[msongs]

1. more words is all you missed. don't ask, don't tell nt

[Javaman]

2. No, I thought he was going to make a statement about Iran. nt

[Cha]

8. You are doing so much

harm.

[Pirate Smile]

3. It was to the Press Pool from the Oval Office. CNN showed it. He actually said quite a bit.

[pot luck]

4. Here's the statement:

"It is up to Iranians to make decisions about who Iran's leaders will be. We respect Iranian sovereignty and want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of iran, which sometimes -- the United States can be a handy political football, or discussions with the United States . Having said all that, I am deeply troubled by the violence i have seen on television. I think that the democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent, all of those are universal values, and need to be respected. And whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, they are rightfully troubled."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html

[Clio the Leo]

5. He said....

"I am deeply troubled by the violence I have been seeing on television. I think the democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent -- all those are universal values and need to be respected. And whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they are troubled."

"There appears to be a sense of people who were so hopeful and so engaged and so committed to democracy, who now feel betrayed, and I think it's important that moving forward, whatever investigations that take place are done in a way that does not result in bloodshed, and does not result in people being stifled, in expressing their views."

"I would say to the people of Iran that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was. And they should know that the world is watching."

http://www.politico.com/politico44/wbarchive/whiteboard06152009.html

You see what he was doing with that? The US doesn't have a reason to get involved now, but he's setting up that IF there is more violence against the protestors, the US and the rest of the world WILL have an excuse. Fair warning Mr. Amadinnajacket. ;)

[babylonsister]

7. We had better not get involved. Hopefully he's just reassuring

the voters in Iran that we're all paying attention. They might not even know that. Of course, that depends on if they're able to hear his remarks.

And thanks for that; I didn't know he had spoken. Didn't see it.

[Cha]

9. Very good, Mr President..

Thanks, Clio.

[Pirate Smile]

6. Video here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html