Ronald Reagan's statement on Poland's 1981 declaration of Martial Law.

"All the information that we have confirms that the imposition of martial law in Poland has led to the arrest and confinement, in prisons and detention camps, of thousands of Polish trade union leaders and intellectuals. Factories are being seized by security forces and workers beaten. These acts make plain there’s been a sharp reversal of the movement toward a freer society that has been underway in Poland for the past year and a half.

Coercion and violation of human rights on a massive scale have taken the place of negotiation and compromise. All of this is in gross violation of the Helsinki Pact, to which Poland is a signatory. It would be naive to think this could happen without the full knowledge and the support of the Soviet Union. We’re not naive.

We view the current situation in Poland in the gravest of terms, particularly the increasing use of force against an unarmed population and violations of the basic civil rights of the Polish people. Violence invites violence and threatens to plunge Poland into chaos.

We call upon all free people to join in urging the Government of Poland to reestablish conditions that will make constructive negotiations and compromise possible. Certainly, it will be impossible for us to continue trying to help Poland solve its economic problems while martial law is imposed on the people of Poland, thousands are imprisoned, and the legal rights of free trade unions — previously granted by the government — are now denied.

We’ve always been ready to do our share to assist Poland in overcoming its economic difficulties, but only if the Polish people are permitted to resolve their own problems free of internal coercion and outside intervention.

Our nation was born in resistance to arbitrary power and has been repeatedly enriched by immigrants from Poland and other great nations of Europe. So we feel a special kinship with the Polish people in their struggle against Soviet opposition to their reforms. The Polish nation, speaking through Solidarity, has provided one of the brightest, bravest moments of modern history.

The people of Poland are giving us an imperishable example of courage and devotion to the values of freedom in the face of relentless opposition. Left to themselves, the Polish people would enjoy a new birth of freedom. But there are those who oppose the idea of freedom, who are intolerant of national independence, and hostile to the European values of democracy and the rule of law.

Two Decembers ago, freedom was lost in Afghanistan; this Christmas, it’s at stake in Poland. But the torch of liberty is hot. It warms those who hold it high. It burns those who try to extinguish it."

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Obama yesterday reacted to the uprising in Iran by saying:

"It's not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."