Michael Ledeen Takes Credit for the Orange Revolution

I'm more in favor of liberalism than I am of democracy, so however Yushchenko has apparently found his way to power, I'm in favor.

My colleague Tom Palmer has run down some of the more bizarre arguments implying that Yushchenko is an American stooge, but not to be outdone, Michael Ledeen offers his own praise for the Orange Revolution by, um...taking credit for it:

The mild support we gave to the democratic forces in the Ukraine proved far more powerful than most of the experts expected. The revolutionaries required a bit of guidance in the methods of non-violent resistance, a bit of communications gear, and many words of encouragement. They did the rest. The same can and should be done elsewhere in the world (Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea...)

Methinks this overestimates the amount of credit we should be taking for the OR.  The NED offers up money and election training to all interested parties -- not just the liberals.  Moreover, Ledeen's taking credit for having fomented the OR simultaneously creates vulnerabilities for the liberals in Ukraine by lending credence to the notion that they're American stooges, as well as debasing the initiative of the Ukrainian reformers.

Of course, Ledeen's contorted argument is cast so as to imply that Ukraine can and should serve as a model for what we should be doing in Iran.  The attempt to draw an analogy is ridiculous.  The Iranian citizenry has not, as yet, started a revolt against the government.  This was a Ukrainian revolution, pure and simple.  Ledeen's grandstanding is a sorry commentary on his moral and political perspective on such matters.