Clinton in Baku

Here's an interesting report from the Secretary of State's meeting with a group of democracy activists in Baku today:

Though seriously, I don't think that Madam Secretary is a kind of person who can buy this argument. Neither she is the one who invented it. The argument is betraying its creators.

Then there is only one answer - we, the pro-democracy forces are perceived so weak (or we are really so weak?) - that Mrs Clinton doesn't bother to find an argument to answer us, but repeats the one already heard in meetings with Azeri officials or read in a memo penned by a bureaucrat in Azeri MFA.

Yesterday, a friend Vafa rebuked me in Facebook for being overly optimistic regarding this meeting. She said if I went there with high hopes, I would be disappointed.

Actually, I am not disappointed, because I didn't have any high or tall hopes. Vafa had just misunderstood me. To repeat what I wrote to Vafa yesterday - the real change in Azerbaijan has to come from its people only. And the Americans, they are pragmatic people. If they see that we, the pro-democracy forces are strong in Azerbaijan, they will surely support us. As long as we are weak, they will support the current authoritarian government. So simple.

I am just saddened that all we had been doing wasn't worth a flawed argument about Iran.

Much more at the link -- and another reminder of how important our liberty really is.