I’ve been watching the results from Honduras with interest, though I will say that I am neatly shocked at how quickly the so-called “Green Revolution” has dropped off the radar of the American chattering class.
The ubiquitous green-tinted Twitter icons were little more than tying on a ribbon to show how very much you care… nevermind the fact that a changing of the guard from Ahmedinejad to Mousavi would be a mere changing of the guard within Iran. As Mousavi was the prosecutor of the Iran-Iraq War during the 1980’s, one had a difficult time convincing the change would have been anything different.
But I digress. Honduras is the new Iran.
The question is whether the United States, who showed so much restraint during the turmoil in Iran, will now lock arms with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and run roughshod over the Honduran Constitution for political advantage?.
Obama is quite wrong to claim that the removal of Zelaya was “illegal.” The Honduran president forfeited his right to rule under Article 239 of the Honduran Constitution, which bans presidents from holding office if they even propose to alter the constitutional term limits for presidents. And the Honduran military, which acted on orders of the Honduran supreme court, expressly had the right to remove the president for seeking to alter the constitutional term limit, under Article 272 of the Honduran Constitution, as even left-leaning commentators have now admitted. The Honduran militarys role in enforcing the court order does not make it a “coup” anymore than federal troops role in enforcing the court-ordered integration of the Little Rock public schools in 1957 constituted a military occupation or takeover.
The entire article is worth reading for a clear perspective on what is happening in Honduras. It is readily apparent that there is about as much support for former President Zelaya in Honduras as there was for President Ahmedinejad in Iran… yet somehow, we take sides in a move respecting the rule of law in Honduras, but vacate those principles in Iran?
Odd… and yes, I’m aware that politics ends where the water’s edge begins in America, but I would be a lot more wholehearted about it if I (and the rest of the American public) clearly understood what Obama’s foreign policy truly entailed.