David Cameron Fails his Persian Exam.

Iain Dale, however, thinks Cameron passed with flying colours. I suppose it was merely a matter of time before the “Why Won’t Obama Come to the Aid of the Protestors?” meme spread to this side of the Atlantic and now, courtesy of the good* Mr Dale, it has. And apparently Gordon Brown and David Milliband havel also failed to help the Iranian regime by offering sufficiently forceful denunciations of their behaviour. That’s not what Iain wants, but it’s what would have happened if the President, Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary had followed his advice.

Iain’s post is headlined “What Would Thatcher & Reagan Have Done About Iran?” which is itself a giveaway in as much as any time you see that question asked you know that dubious historical analogies and desperately simplistic, knee-jerk assumptions are bound to follow in swift order. Sure enough, Iain’s post is no exception. Here’s his commentary:

Over the last week I have been perplexed, and a little appalled, at the response of both the British and American governments to what has been going on in Iran.