Another reality check

What America did to Guatemalans in the 1940s is indeed reprehensible.  An apology is appropriate.  This is how the White House apologized:

President Obama this afternoon spoke with Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom to “express his deep regret” and “extend an apology to all those infected” following the revelation that the U.S. Public Health Service conducted a study from 1946 to 1948 in which near 700 prisoners, soldiers and patients with emotional and mental problems were purposefully infected with syphilis.

[snip]

“Obviously, this is shocking,” said White house press secretary Robert Gibbs. “It’s tragic. It’s reprehensible.”

Earlier today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius issued a statement calling the sexually transmitted disease inoculation study “clearly unethical. Although these events occurred more than 64 years ago, we are outraged that such reprehensible research could have occurred under the guise of public health. We deeply regret that it happened, and we apologize to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices.”

My question:  does the White House — and, more specifically Obama himself — sound more exercised about this than it/he did about the Christmas Day bomber?