And really dumb, if indeed they support the dissidents (but since they aren't dumb, maybe they do want a crackdown and a war?). Yes, I know that "nationalism" is a dirty word on this list, but it's real. Back in the fall of 1998, as the totally unexpected happened on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, namely mass demonstrations spread by word of mouth and sms as "going shopping", Al Gore, during the APEC meet, saluted the demonstrators and, for a moment, turned the rest of the nation, fractured as it was/is, including many who were otherwise sympathetic to the demonstrators, against them. Not quite the same as with Iran -- Gore offended against "hospitality", besides seeming to provide support for regime charges that the demonstrators were being manipulated by agents of the IMF and Washington -- but potentially bringing about the same, and likely more extended, result, as there are probably deeper roots to Iranian nationalism.
kj