Mark Landler silly piece

He said: "So it is proceeding gingerly, balancing the democratic aspirations of young Arabs with cold-eyed strategic and commercial interests."  Where is the evidence of this balance? A balance requires attending to both sides of the equation but I fail to see how the US administration is supporting even gingerly the democratic movements against Arab dictatorships? Where and when? Worse, he dares to cite Elliott Abrams to promote the false notion that the US did promote democracy during the Bush years? Well, yes: just like the Obama administration, they promoted it in Iran and Syria and in any country that does not go along with the US wishes.  Did the Bush administration bother with support for democracy say, in Libya, after the Libyan dictator switched sides in his foreign policies?  Not once. Did you the Bush administration bother with the tyranny that is Saudi Arabia? Read the Bush's book on his meeting with the Saudi King to get the answer.  Wait. The White House did express its sentiments about Egypt:  "Asked whether the United States still supports Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Egypt remains a "close and important ally."  "We are monitoring closely the situation in Egypt," he told reporters traveling with U.S. President Barack Obama aboard Air Force One."