By celebrating them, Trump gives green light to dictators

Watching President Donald Trump recently accuse Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of stabbing him in the back prompted me to Google a simple question: How many Canadians were killed or wounded since April 2002 fighting alongside Americans in Afghanistan? The answer: 158 killed and 635 wounded.

Think about that: America, not Canada, was attacked on 9/11. Nevertheless, our ally to the north sent thousands to Afghanistan to help us destroy the forces of al-Qaida that attacked our cities — and 158 Canadians gave their lives.

And yet, when their prime minister mildly pushed back against demands to lower Canada’s tariffs on milk, cheese and yogurt from the U.S., Trump and his team accused Trudeau of “betrayal,” back-stabbing and deserving of a “special place in hell.”

That is truly sick.

But it tells you all you need to know about how differently Trump looks at the world from any of his predecessors. Everything is a transaction: What have you done for ME today? The notion of America as the upholder of last resort of global rules and human rights is over.

“Trump’s America does not care,” historian Robert Kagan wrote in The Washington Post. “It is unencumbered by historical memory. It recognizes no moral, political or strategic commitments. It feels free to pursue objectives without regard to the effect on allies or, for that matter, the world.”

Mind you, I can support Trump verbally cozying up to North Korea’s murderous dictator, Kim Jong Un, if it actually does reduce the prospects of war and lead to a process of denuclearization.

But what’s terrifying about Trump is that he seems to prefer dictators to our democratic allies.

While this approach may buy us some time with North Korea, it is hurting us and our friends in many other places — because it’s being taken as a free pass for dictators not just to crush their revolutionaries or terrorists but even mild dissenters. It leaves no space for even loyal opposition.

Take Egypt. On May

31, Human Rights Watch reported that the Egyptian police had “carried out a wave of arrests of critics of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in dawn raids since early May 2018.” Those arrested included Hazem Abd al-Azim, a political activist; and Wael Abbas, a well-known journalist and rights defender; as well as Shady al-Ghazaly Harb, a surgeon; Haitham Mohamadeen, a lawyer; Amal Fathy, an activist; and Shady Abu Zaid, a satirist.

I got to know some of these young people during the Arab Spring. They are not violent, radical Islamists. They are wonderful, peace-loving, rule-oflaw-seeking Egyptians.

“In America, we’re going to survive Trump,” says Michael Posner, director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern. “But places like Egypt, Turkey or the Philippines are fragile states where activists for decades relied on the U.S. to stand up and say, ‘There are consequences for your relations with the U.S. — trade, aid, military, investment — if you crush peaceful dissent.’ Today, we have a president who congratulates leaders on their fraudulent elections and seems to endorse their bad behavior.”

These leaders are not repressing violent radicals, Posner adds; they are literally “criminalizing dissent and debate.” And their citizens now think that we’re OK with that.