How committed is Obama to human rights? Not very, it seems. Perhaps his speech in Cairo on Thursday will change one’s view of this, but the new President must be judged by actions, not merely words and noble intentions. As my friend Mike Crowley points out:
Cue much muttering about change you can believe in and all the rest of it. I thought James Traub put it rather well in the New York Times on Sunday:But when it comes to Egypt, he has already set a tone. Obama has declined to make America’s $1.8 billion in foreign aid to Egypt (our second-largest recipient) conditional on political and human-rights reform, and aid specifically for democratic programs has been slashed by more than half, from $55 million to $20 million. Hillary Clinton has spoken cautiously about Egypt’s severe political repression.
Mr. Obama has a gift for eluding antinomies: he is “both-and” rather than “either-or.”
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