A friend of a friend is an Iranian who works at VOA and said something that got me thinking: “The great thing about this is that no one can say the Americans did it.” I may be reading more into this, but I think it points to a reason for us to stay out of the ferment in Iran that I don’t think I’ve seen. It’s not just that our involvement would give the mullahs a propaganda cudgel to use against the protesters in the battle for public opinion — the regime’s propagandists are going to accuse us of meddling no matter what we do, as Michael pointed out (though our actions can make such an accusation more, or less, credible in the eyes of the Iranian public). But more importantly, it’s the protesters themselves who need to see their movement as free of foreign influence. However much the “Great Satan” propaganda has made many Iranians sympathetic to America (remember the candlelight vigils after 9/11), they’re still proud patriots who don’t want to be seen by others — or to see themselves — as acting on the agendas of outsiders. Their victory would almost certainly be our victory, regardless of Mousavi’s specific views, but it’s a victory they have to win for themselves.