U.S. President wise to stay out of Iran protests

I'm sorry Charles Krauthammer ["Iran: Change we should believe in," Opinion, syndicated columnist, June 20], but I believe President Obama is absolutely correct in not meddling in the latest election protests.

What good does it do for the U.S. to side with the protesters? All we do is amplify the hard-liners' hatred for us and make it that much worse for the protesters.

The more the protest comes from within the more likely it actually might make some serious headway. I certainly don't recall the U.S. taking an active role in the Tiananmen Square uprising, yet their internal battle did make some, if not complete, democratic gains.

As much as we love our democracy and freedom, we cannot force it down the throat of other countries. Real change seems to have much better success if it comes from within. As much as we'd like to scream out our support for the protesters, we have to bite our tongue and let the enlightened people lead the charge for change.

This president knows we cannot force our ideals on others. This way, we might actually leave the door open for some possible negotiations and discussion.

-- Bill Boyeson, Kirkland