Warm welcome awaits Sisi as Trump rolls out red carpet for Egypt strongman

[nitpicker]

Source: The Guardian

Warm welcome awaits Sisi as Trump rolls out red carpet for Egypt strongman

Ruth Michaelson in Cairo

Sunday 2 April 2017 10.00 BST

The Egyptian president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, is set to visit the White House on Monday, in a clear sign of the Trump administration’s willingness to firmly embrace dictatorial regimes that the previous administration spurned.

Sisi is the first Egyptian leader to visit the White House since Egypt’s 2011 revolution, as well as the 2013 popularly backed military coup that brought him to power. Unlike Obama, who refrained from inviting Sisi to Washington, Trump has had a warm relationship since meeting Sisi on the sidelines at the UN general assembly in September 2016. “He wants to use President Sisi’s visit to reboot the bilateral relationship and build on the strong connection the two presidents established when they first met,” a senior White House official told reporters on Friday.

(snip)

For Trump, Sisi’s visit provides an opportunity to tout his relationship with the leader of the Arab world’s most populous nation after a controversial travel ban targeting six majority-Muslim countries. His administration is also currently facing questions about whether policy changes have caused mounting civilian casualties in conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Trump’s choice to welcome Sisi to the White House contrasts with that of his predecessor. The US capped the aid it provides to Egypt in October 2013, shortly after Sisi seized power, reducing it to $1.3bn in annual military assistance and preventing the sale of some larger items such as fighter jets. The Obama administration also repeated demands for Egypt to refrain from the mass trials, widespread jailing of opponents and crackdown on civil liberties that swept Egypt under Sisi’s rule. While the aid cap was lifted in 2015, relations remained frosty until Obama’s exit.
(snip)

“Trump would rather stand with a strongman against terrorism and Islamism than concern himself with Egypt’s domestic challenges – or US values at stake,” said Daniel Benaim, a senior fellow with the progressive Washington thinktank the Centre for American Progress and a former adviser to Joe Biden on Middle East issues. “He praised Sisi for forcefully taking control of Egypt, essentially blessing the crackdown that President Obama had condemned,” he added.
(snip)

While Egypt’s government has employed the Glover Park Group since 2013 to massage its image, in January Egypt’s General Intelligence Service hired Washington lobbyists Cassidy and Associates as well as the PR firm Weber Shandwick. Foreign Agent Registration Act filings show that the firms will be paid a combined total of $1.8m annually, despite Egypt having accepted a $12bn emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund last November.
(snip)


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/02/abdel-fatah-al-sisi-donald-trump-egypt

[OldHippieChick]

1. I'll bet he gives this guy a

healthy handshake.

[CanonRay]

2. So he treats Angela Merkel like shit

and this tinpot dictator like royalty. What does this tell us about the man and his intentions.

[MBS]

5. Exactly. n/t

[dalton99a]

8. Evil always fears good

[lark]

3. drumpf loves dictators.

He loves the idea of anyone getting to bully their people and personally profit from it, those are his role models.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. I think Sharm el Sheikh needs one more casino/hotel.

And I know just the owner/developer/moocher to do it.

[DK504]

6. Rump is looking for tips on how to over throw our country.

If Dump is SO concerned about money why not start with Egypt. Take that $1.3 billion back and put it somewhere that helps Americans. 'Cause he is about America First. He could work his way throw allllllll these countries that we give money to every year, like Israel, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Think how much $$$$ we'd be rolling in.....partly snark

[Demsrule86]

7. Voldetrump the stupid worships dictators and or fascists.

[MBS]

9. Just saw the nauseating video clip on PBS Newshour.

Note the contrast in tone with the parallel Merkel meeting.Needless to say, no mention of human rights, something that PBS Newshour (to their credit) emphasized at length.
Completely disgusting.