Interesting...

Or, it could just be that they didn't want to seem like they were complying with American-backed threats. In the last few years, no nation has ever just put up and shut up when requested; it would make them look weak.

Have you had a chance to read "Madame Secretary" by Madeline Albright? I just finished it (and David is just starting it). She came and visited campus, so I decided to give it a read. The first half is about her life and how she got where she was going (and was a fairly good read, with issues interspersed very rarely to prove a point or explain something...such as the Communist revolution playing into her parents fleeing to first London and then America). The second half of the book, however, is something I think you'd really enjoy. She details carefully what she sees as the major players in the world of International Relations with sections for "Migraine Hussein" as she calls him and China, Russia, North Korea, et all. She has an entire chapter devoted to the play by play of Camp David talks between Syria and Israel (and their failure) which she uses as a backdrop for compare and contrast for her play by play of talks between Ariel Sharon and Barak of Israel in a later chapter. It seems insightful and meaty reading.

They're just buying themselves time. They have no intention of bowing to American pressure.