RUSSIAN FM ASKS US NOT TO ENCOURAGE MIDEAST PROTESTS

Here's another example of a foreign politician who's making more sense than an American one:

LONDON — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that the US and Western allies should not stir up pro-democracy protests in the Middle East following the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

After meeting with members of Britain's government, Lavrov warned against any attempts by other nations to fuel public dissent.

In recent days Iran's opposition has taken to the streets of central Tehran, while demonstrators have held protests in Bahrain and Yemen.

"We are convinced that calls for revolutions are counterproductive. We have had more than one revolution in Russia, and we believe that we don't need to impose revolutions on others," Lavrov told reporters. "We don't think that we need to tighten the screw, or take sides."

They could do a little bit better by making clear that we don't need to take the side of the Islamists, that's for sure. This is exactly why they're not pro-democracy protests, and if the demonstrators in Egypt, for example, have signaled anti-Israelism, that too should be telling something.