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As a candidate, Barack Obama pledged not to support dictators friendly to the United States. Yet despite this promise, President Obama welcomes Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the White House this week.

This unusual goodwill—the president also visited Mr. Mubarak in Cairo on June 4—is sending mixed messages to all those Americans who worked to elect Mr. Obama as a champion of change. And it is disappointing to those in Egypt, Africa and the Arab world who hailed his historic victory as the first African-American president.