The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
If you want to see where President Donald Trump’s foreign policy chops beat his predecessor Barack Obama’s, look to Egypt, the scene of Obama’s most unnecessary foreign policy fail.
In 2011, during the so-called Arab Spring, Obama pressured former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign in response to spirited protests in Tahrir Square. It was a completely unforced error, born of Obama’s conceit that he could help usher in a spirit of democracy in the Arab world. Instead, the move put Mohamed Morsi, a leader in the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, in the presidential palace.
That is, Obama forced out a U.S. ally and got him replaced by an Islamist who vowed to free Omar Abdel-Rahman, the late blind sheikh then serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that killed six.
With the support of many Egyptians, the Egyptian military overthrew Morsi in 2012 — and replaced him with his military commander, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who also has a sorry human rights record and a predilection to suppress dissent. But unlike Morsi, el-Sisi has been moving Egypt in the right direction — which is why Trump has been smart to establish a strong bond with the Egyptian leader.
El-Sisi is “fighting ISIS, fighting Hamas, fighting Islamism, fighting the Brotherhood” with the necessary consistency, notes Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Egyptian and Israeli forces are working together to curb the scourge of regional terrorism. And Egypt has been moving in the right direction in terms of women’s rights — which could benefit women across the region.
But in July, el-Sisi’s government abused its good standing with the United States when it arrested Reem Mohamed Desouky, a Pennsylvania teacher with dual U.S.-Egyptian citizenship, apparently for criticizing the Egyptian government on Facebook. She has been in prison since her July arrest.
The arrest occurred when Desouky and her son, 13-year-old American-born Moustafa, landed in Cairo for a family visit. As The Washington Post editorialized, her crime was voicing opinions that “many governments would accept as normal, healthy, peaceful criticism.”
It’s time for Trump to step in, Schanzer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I hate to use the word,” he added, but “it should be a red line, for U.S. policy, that we cannot stand by while American citizens are held in Egyptian jails.”
A State Department official said in a statement: “We are aware of the detention of a U.S. citizen in Egypt. When U.S. citizens are detained abroad, consular officers seek to aid them with all appropriate consular assistance. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”
Perhaps Trump officials have been working behind the scenes on Desouky’s behalf. But it’s been two months, and if quiet tactics are being used, they don’t seem to be working.
Trump has not said a word about Desouky — which is odd, given his full-throated criticism of Swedish officials who would not free New York rapper A$AP Rocky ahead of his trial. By contrast, Desouky’s situation could not be more dire.
El-Sisi’s government has not released details as to what her crime is supposed to be. She is in prison in a country that is famous for its mistreatment of political prisoners and that is already holding at least four other dual U.S.-Egyptian citizens without due process, according to Human Rights Watch. Her American son is living in limbo and fear in Cairo, when he should be back in school in Pennsylvania.
Maybe Trump could borrow an ounce of the “#FreeRocky” outrage he vented against Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and toss it in el-Sisi’s direction. Or is Trump ever-reluctant to stand up to strongmen?
I’m an American who thinks Obama was wrong about Egypt and has supported Trump’s desire to work with this regime. But I have to wonder, what made el-Sisi think he could throw an American in prison without due process and get away with it?
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