The Last Time a U.S. President Encouraged a Middle East Uprising

The chest-thumping of Republican chickenhawks like Newt Gingrich, Eric Cantor, Lindsey Graham, etc. these past few days regarding Iran reminds me of the last time a U.S. President encouraged a popular uprising in the Middle East. For those who don't recall, that was George HW Bush in 1991, urging the people of Iraq to take matters into their own hands and overthrow the dictator, Saddam Hussein. The only problem was, the United States didn't stop Saddam from using his helicopters, armored personnel carriers, etc. to brutally suppress the resultant Shi'a uprising. The end result: tens of thousands of people murdered, Saddam Hussein still in power, one more war yet to come. As the Bushes like to say, "Mission Accomplished!" Thank goodness we have Barack Obama, someone who understands that words have consequences, especially when they come from a U.S. president, in the White House now.