Yet the Obama Administration has also vigorously pursed the war in Afghanistan against the Taliban.
The discovery of an offensive Iranian nuclear program combined with the suppression of dissenting voices after a corrupt election made adopting a conciliatory and more open position to Iran difficult, despite Obama's stated willingness to open talks with that nation. "I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was" (Solomon & Spiegel 2009). Even his tenuous statement that America supports all impulses towards freedom was controversial -- Iranian hard-liners used it as evidence of American interference in their internal affairs, while the president's right-wing critics at home said that it was not sufficiently strident. "Any push by Mr. Obama to overtly support Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi could make diplomatic talks more difficult, while potentially painting Mr. Mousavi and his supporters as American puppets" (Solomon & Spiegel 2009).
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