https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-baffling-passivity-on-jason-rezaian/2015/10/16/14126822-7403-11e5-8d93-0af317ed58c9_story.htmlBy Dana Milbank Opinion writer October 16
The consequences of President Obama’s passive foreign policy came close to home this week.
My Post colleague Jason Rezaian, the paper’s Tehran bureau chief, has been languishing in an Iranian jail for 15 months on bogus charges of espionage. He was put on secret trial by a kangaroo court. On Sunday, Iranian state TV reported that he had been convicted.
And Obama said . . . nothing. He didn’t go to the briefing room and make a statement. He didn’t even release a written statement. On Tuesday, his press secretary, in response to a reporter’s question at the briefing, responded with what might have been described as minor annoyance with the Iranian regime.
“We’ve got a number of concerns,” the spokesman said, mentioning the “unjust” detention and “opaque” process.
Where was the demand that Iran immediately release Rezaian and the two or three other Americans it is effectively holding hostage? Where was the threat of consequences if Tehran refused? How about some righteous outrage condemning Iran for locking up an American journalist for doing his job? Even if Obama’s outrage came to nothing, it would be salutary to hear the president defend the core American value of free speech.
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