Obama the "meddler"

So the great uprising in Iran was really Obama's doing after all. I guess some aides didn't get the "let's just see how it plays out" memo as they credit their boss with inspiring the uprising.

But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republic's Islamic authority in its 30-year history.

One senior administration official with experience in the Middle East said, "There clearly is in the region a sense of new possibilities," adding that "I was struck in the aftermath of the president's speech that there was a connection. It was very sweeping in terms of its reach."