{"id":7195,"date":"2022-02-09T01:07:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T01:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=7195"},"modified":"2022-02-09T01:07:56","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T01:07:56","slug":"biden-promised-a-harder-line-on-saudi-arabia-why-cant-he-deliver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=7195","title":{"rendered":"Biden promised a harder line on Saudi Arabia. Why can\u2019t he deliver?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“Since the FDR presidency<\/a>, Saudi Arabia has been an important United States partner. It is a major energy producer and home to the two most significant sites in Islam, and for decades, America had provided security guarantees to the kingdom. In return, the US has depended on Saudi Arabia as a counterweight to Iran in the Middle East, an intelligence partner against terrorist groups, and a dominant investor with an enormoussovereign wealth fund. But MBS\u2019s ruthless intransigencehad put the relationship to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s government-in-waiting recognized<\/a> that MBS demanded a different approach. Daniel Benaim, who advised<\/a> the campaign and is now a senior Middle East diplomat, searched for a way to elevate human rights. In summer 2020, he proposed a \u201cprogressive course correction<\/a>\u201d that spelled out consequences for future malign behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benaim suggested a six-month review of policy, but it\u2019s not clear whether Biden\u2019s State Department has conducted such a reassessment. (The State Department declined to comment on the record, as did the White House.)”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Overall, the Biden administration has responded to MBS with an approach that keeps human rights concerns<\/a> behind closed doors because, advisers say, the relationship with Saudi Arabia is so integral to US policy. By balancing the concerns of human rights activists and the Washington national-security establishment, Biden\u2019s team has found that it is disappointing both, as well as supporters of the crown prince.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month into office, Biden broke with Trump by releasing the intelligence agencies\u2019 report<\/a> on Khashoggi. It showed unequivocally that MBS was responsible for the killing of the Virginia resident in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Blinken announced the new \u201cKhashoggi Ban<\/a>\u201d that would prohibit government agents who target dissenters from entering the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a good step, but Biden didn\u2019t follow through. The formal ban was implemented against 76 Saudis<\/a> but not the prince himself. Critics say true accountability would have meant putting MBS on the banned list.MBS hasn\u2019t visited the US since Trump, but that relates to an implicit policy of distancing him, not a formal declaration that he\u2019s banned. (MBS\u2019s brother, who was reportedly involved<\/a> in the Khashoggi operation, quietly visited<\/a> the White House in July.)” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the campaign, Biden said he would stop supporting the war in Yemen. More than 375,000 Yemenis<\/a> had died by the end of last year, and the devastating death toll led Obama alumni to take responsibility<\/a> for supporting the 2014 Saudi invasion. The State Department says it is working with Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last February, Biden ended \u201coffensive\u201d support for the war. Yet last month the Senate, with White House encouragement, approved a $650 million arms sale to the kingdom for \u201cdefensive<\/a>\u201d weapons to Saudi Arabia, a distinction that many experts reject.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Biden has made one big move: He won\u2019t talk to MBS directly. The president, thus far, has only held phone calls with his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. This has reportedly angered MBS. But it\u2019s an insufficient form of retribution. \u201cThe big punishment for murder and dismemberment of a journalist is you don\u2019t get to meet the president yourself? You can meet with anyone else and get all the weapons you need,\u201d said Andrea Prasow of the Freedom Initiative. \u201cThe consideration of human rights is not integrated into US policy. It\u2019s an add-on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is there so much hedging in US policy toward Saudi Arabia, even when the Biden administration has set out to shake things up?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Biden team now seems resigned to a close relationship with Saudi Arabia in order to achieve its own policy objectives, like cheap gas prices and an accord with Iran.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.vox.com\/22881937\/biden-saudi-arabia-mbs-khashoggi-yemen-human-rights<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Since the FDR presidency, Saudi Arabia has been an important United States partner. It is a major energy producer and home to the two most significant sites in Islam, and for decades, America had provided security guarantees to the kingdom. In return, the US has depended on Saudi Arabia as a counterweight to Iran in the Middle East, an intelligence partner against terrorist groups, and a dominant investor with an enormous sovereign wealth fund. But MBS\u2019s ruthless intransigence had put the relationship to the test.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s government-in-waiting recognized that MBS demanded a different approach. Daniel Benaim, who advised the campaign and is now a senior Middle East diplomat, searched for a way to elevate human rights. In summer 2020, he proposed a \u201cprogressive course correction\u201d that spelled out consequences for future malign behavior.<\/p>\n

Benaim suggested a six-month review of policy, but it\u2019s not clear whether Biden\u2019s State Department has conducted such a reassessment. (The State Department declined to comment on the record, as did the White House.)”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Overall, the Biden administration has responded to MBS with an approach that keeps human rights concerns behind closed doors because, advisers say, the relationship with Saudi Arabia is so integral to US policy. By balancing the concerns of human rights activists and the Washington national-security establishment, Biden\u2019s team has found that it is disappointing both, as well as supporters of the crown prince.<\/p>\n

A month into office, Biden broke with Trump by releasing the intelligence agencies\u2019 report on Khashoggi. It showed unequivocally that MBS was responsible for the killing of the Virginia resident in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Blinken announced the new \u201cKhashoggi Ban\u201d that would prohibit government agents who target dissenters from entering the US.<\/p>\n

It was a good step, but Biden didn\u2019t follow through. The formal ban was implemented against 76 Saudis but not the prince himself. Critics say true accountability would have meant putting MBS on the banned list. MBS hasn\u2019t visited the US since Trump, but that relates to an implicit policy of distancing him, not a formal declaration that he\u2019s banned. (MBS\u2019s brother, who was reportedly involved in the Khashoggi operation, quietly visited the White House in July.)” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“On the campaign, Biden said he would stop supporting the war in Yemen. More than 375,000 Yemenis had died by the end of last year, and the devastating death toll led Obama alumni to take responsibility for supporting the 2014 Saudi invasion. The State Department says it is working with Saudi Arabia to end the war in Yemen.<\/p>\n

Last February, Biden ended \u201coffensive\u201d support for the war. Yet last month the Senate, with White House encouragement, approved a $650 million arms sale to the kingdom for \u201cdefensive\u201d weapons to Saudi Arabia, a distinction that many experts reject.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Biden has made one big move: He won\u2019t talk to MBS directly. The president, thus far, has only held phone calls with his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. This has reportedly angered MBS. But it\u2019s an insufficient form of retribution. \u201cThe big punishment for murder and dismemberment of a journalist is you don\u2019t get to meet the president yourself? You can meet with anyone else and get all the weapons you need,\u201d said Andrea Prasow of the Freedom Initiative. \u201cThe consideration of human rights is not integrated into US policy. It\u2019s an add-on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why is there so much hedging in US policy toward Saudi Arabia, even when the Biden administration has set out to shake things up?”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“The Biden team now seems resigned to a close relationship with Saudi Arabia in order to achieve its own policy objectives, like cheap gas prices and an accord with Iran.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[390,272,355,314,780,576,578,575],"class_list":["post-7195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-diplomacy","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-policy","tag-international-relations","tag-joe-biden","tag-oil","tag-oil-price","tag-saudi-arabia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7196,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7195\/revisions\/7196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}