Richard Cohen gets it

His WashPost editorial makes a terrific point: there's nothing more immoral than egging Iranian protesters on to be slaughtered when we're not going to back them up. Cohen:

The sins of omission [in American foreign policy] are less well-known. They include the failure to redeem the hollow promises to various subjugated peoples -- the Hungarians of 1956, the Shiites of 1991 -- that America would come to their aid. In Iran, the Obama administration is intent on not adding to this list. ... [T]he worst thing the United States could do at the moment is provide the supreme leader and the less supreme leaders with the words to paint the opposition as American stooges -- or, even worse, suggest to the protesters that some sort of help is on its way from Washington.