Clinton Unconvincingly Urges Democracy in Egypt

The Obama administration's support for a democratic transition is mere rhetoric

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday said the US expects Egypt’s military authorities to fully transfer power to a democratically elected civilian government, following the country’s high court decision to dissolve the newly-elected parliament.

“There can be no going back on the democratic transition called for by the Egyptian people,” Clinton said, declining specific comment on the recent court ruling, which also included giving old regime members a green light to continue his bid for Egypt’s presidency.

But Clinton’s statement is nothing more than empty rhetoric. In order to accept it as genuine, one has to erase recent history which saw extensive US support for the former dictator Hosni Mubarak over the course of several decades. It was only after it was clear Mubarak would be ousted, that the Obama administration sided – at least rhetorically – with the people and asked for Mubarak to step down.

Of course, the very next move was to advocate and push for the preservation of as much of the Mubarak regime as they could, namely suggesting Mubarak’s brutal vice president, Omar Suleiman, replace the long-standing US puppet.

The US is still sending billions of dollars in aid to Egypt and continues to arm the military rulers, even as they have brutalized peaceful protesters and inhibited a swift return to civilian rule. Washington’s support has remained with the military junta from the beginning.

Author: John Glaser

John Glaser writes for Antiwar.com.