Funding cut on Iranian human rights watchdogs.

Note the plural: while this Boston Globe article primarily references one organization (Iran Human Rights Documentation Center)…

For the past five years, researchers in a modest office overlooking the New Haven green have carefully documented cases of assassination and torture of democracy activists in Iran. With more than $3 million in grants from the US State Department, they have pored over thousands of documents and Persian-language press reports and interviewed scores of witnesses and survivors to build dossiers on those they say are Iran’s most infamous human-rights abusers.

But just as the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center was ramping up to investigate abuses of protesters after this summer’s disputed presidential election, the group received word that – for the first time since it was formed – its federal funding request had been denied.

…it goes on to note that there are reports that more Iranian human rights groups have been defunded by an administration looking for a less… confrontational… relationship with the current Iranian regime.  This is more the White House’s speed:

The Obama administration has emphasized other forms of assistance, such as aid for software programs that help activists communicate on the Internet anonymously. It also has continued funding for exchange programs. In the coming months, for instance, the administration hopes to bring Iranian lawyers to major cities in the United States, including Boston, to talk with American lawyers about their concept of law.

The current Iranian regime’s ‘concept of law’ permits punishing homosexuality with death and excuses the rape of protesters.  I fail to see why we need to hear their excuses for that.

(H/T: Hot Air)

Moe Lane

PS: Note, though, that we had money enough to try to get the Olympics for the Daley Machine.

PPS: In case it isn’t obvious: now would be a good time for the administration to start in motion the process where all of this becomes a regrettable misunderstanding that obviously does not reflect a change in American foreign policy with regards to Iran.

Crossposted to RedState.