Talk is very, very cheap

So much for democracy.

One of the things that always broke my heart growing up was that the US said one thing but then did another (as my dad always reminded me). They always talked about high ideals like human rights and democracy but then when it came to it they would support a dictator like Noreiga or Pinochet and even sell the dictator in question the pliers to pull out the nails of union leaders or human rights lawyers. Made with pride in the USA.

At some point I gave up on the US. All children must grow up after all. How many times must you be disappointed before you abandon your fantasy? Talk is very, very cheap.

And now an agent of the state laid bare the US position on the peaceful Egyptian revolution. The Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg declared the position quite honestly. Whatever government emerges in Egypt in the future must "honor Egypt's historic peace treaty with Israel," he said.

"We are committed to ensuring that political changes on Israel's borders do not create new dangers for Israel or the region," he said in prepared testimony (you'd better believe it was prepared) to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

"By working for orderly transitions, we believe we can help ensure Israel's long-term security just as we can support governments that are more responsive to their people."

Now I'm sure one of the Congressional Representatives asked specifically about Israel since he or she probably gets a lot of money from pro-Israel groups and is worried about his benefactor. But the response is telling about the US commitment to democracy. Let's do our jobs and provide some analysis.

• Future Egyptian governments are forbidden by the US from making national decisions such as who to make peace with or not. Imagine a state dictated the US in the same way? Egypt can never walk away from a peace treaty with Israel. A veiled threat.
  
• Egypt is referred to as being on "Israel's border" not existing in its own right.
• "New dangers" are raised but never substantiated. Democracy in Egypt therefore could be a danger (especially since Israel has nuclear weapons).
• Israel's security comes well before supporting "governments that are more responsive to their people". Notice that he didn't say fully accountable to their people. Just more representative, perhaps a demi-democracy is in the cards. Israel comes before democracy.
  

Really with such a biased actor as the US, none of this should be surprising. The only kind of democracy allowed anywhere in the vicinity of Israel must defer to Israel at all times. Sounds like a miserable situation and just the kind of chauvinist rhetoric that will actually lead the outcome the US and Israel claim to dread.