Michael Ledeen reminds us that the Iranian regime is weaker than it seems:

This debacle coincides with an amazing confession of weakness from the highest level of the regime:  Ali Saeedi is the supreme leader’s representative to the Revolutionary Guards, and since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei commands the Guards, Saeedi’s words are authoritative.  Asked why Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi–the two Green Movement leaders who have been held in isolation for more than ten months—Saeedi publicly stated that it can’t be done, because the two have such powerful support. The opposition leaders can’t be prosecuted, he said,  “because they have supporters and followers” as well as “a few turban-heads [clerics] who continue to back elements within the sedition.”

This is a key development. When the regime can no longer destroy its enemies for fear of public backlash, it has effectively lost initiative. The question of why our President, who committed bombs to the destruction of Khadaffi, has not done more to remove the greater foe hangs in the air.

Of course, if Obama really is hoping for a nice quick war sometime this year to plump his electoral chances, we may soon find out.