The true US record on democracy in the Middle East

"To date, the U.S. has played into the hands of oppressive regimes trying to cling to power. Vice President Joe Biden insisted that Mubarak was not a dictator, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton characterized Syrian President Bashar Assad as a reformer, undercutting and demoralizing brave Egyptians and Syrians as they risked their lives for democracy.    The Arab media have mocked the Obama administration's self-described policy of "leading from behind." Coming from the world's only superpower, this lacks credibility. Democracy advocates found bitter irony in how Obama pushed Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) to resign after Weiner tweeted suggestive pictures of himself, but then waited so long to call on Assad to step down even after he had killed hundreds of his own people. Media in the region have also noted our eerie silence as the Bahraini monarchy, which hosts a large American naval base, brought in Saudi troops to savagely crush peaceful democracy demonstrations.  This month's brutal crackdown in Tahrir Square came on the heels of a visit to Washington by a high-level delegation of Egyptian generals to discuss the future of U.S. military aid. In the past, assurances of continued U.S. funding also have led quickly to brutal crackdowns on dissent. For example, in 2005 and again in 2006, the regime arrested thousands of activists from the democracy movement in the weeks after House appropriators overrode concerns about Egypt's human rights record."