This Is What Soft Power Looks Like II

Julian Sanchez makes a good point:

[The Obama administration would] probably have more instruments for gentle pressure if we weren’t already totally disengaged from Iranthe trouble with making a big show of utterly shunning bad regimes is that you’ve got nowhere to go when there’s a propitious occasion to give them a nudge in a healthier directionbut for all we know they’re doing other similarly subtle, unobtrusive stuff behind the scenes. It’s almost as if they’re more concerned with what actually contributes to human rights in Iran than with what provides the best fap-fodder for hawks at home. Crazy.

There has been speculation that this uprising will produce a windfall of information and defectors for the CIA should the government crack down further. There is much that can be done in the shadows.