"ForIran, the approach might be compared to the approach the United States and other democratic states took toPoland in the 1980s," said David Frum, President Bush’s formerspeechwriter, who is credited with coining the phrase "axis of evil," in an April 5 presentation at AEI."In Poland, as in Iran, an economically incompetent authoritarian regime ruled over an increasingly angrypopulation. In Poland, as in Iran, a mass opposition movement rose up against the regime: Solidarity inPoland, the student democratic movement in Iran. Back in the 1980s, the United States and its allies neverconfronted the Polish communists directly. Instead, they imposed stringent economic sanctions on theregime--and contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for its covert newspapers and radio stationsand to support the families of jailed or exiled activists…as the regimes economy disintegrated, the Polishcommunists were compelled first to open negotiations with Solidarity, next to permit Solidarity to compete insemi-free elections, and finally to step aside for a Solidarity government. Fourteen years later, Poland is ademocratic state and a staunch NATO ally."