Probably the “toughest” statement that President Obama has issued since the protests began in Iran has been: “What 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.”
This is better than averting our eyes, of course. But observation without action and consequence is pretty meaningless. According to popular perception, a lot of people watched Kitty Genovese, too.