Trump embraces another dictator. Congress has to do better.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi is orchestrating constitutional changes that will make him a de facto dictator for life, while permanently enshrining military control over Egypt’s political system. He continues to hold tens of thousands of political prisoners, including at least a dozen U.S. citizens. He has reportedly agreed to spend $2 billion to buy 20 advanced Russian fighter jets, though Egypt receives $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid, and a purchase from Russia could incur sanctions.
So how did President Trump assess Mr. Sissi when he arrived at the White House for a visit Tuesday? “I think he’s doing a great job,” said Mr. Trump. “I think we’ve never had a better relationship — Egypt and the United States — than we do right now.”
The president’s judgment might be attributed in part to ignorance; he claimed he didn’t know about Mr. Sissi’s effort to extend his presidential mandate to 2034, when he would be 80. By now, too, it has become clear that Mr. Trump is easily impressed by strongmen, from Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong Un. But the endorsement of Mr. Sissi is also part of a calculated, if crude, strategy: to blindly back Sunni Arab autocrats as guarantors of “stability” and counters to the Islamic State and Iran.
As a number of senators tried to point out to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a Tuesday hearing and in a letter, there are big problems with that policy. First, it ignores the many ways Mr. Sissi is acting against important U.S. interests, including the unjust imprisonment of numerous Americans. Second, it is wrong about stability: Mr. Sissi’s repression and his misguided economic policies are setting up his country for future upheaval — much as did the previous regime of Hosni Mubarak.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-embraces-another-dictator-congress-has-to-do-better/2019/04/12/e94e9b1c-5bb0-11e9-842d-7d3ed7eb3957_story.html
