The White House is on the defensive following the release on Friday of a U.S. intelligence report that finds Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) guilty of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment.
Biden sanctioned 76 Saudis involved in harassing activists and journalists and plans to recalibrate the United States’ relationship with the kingdom. He is ending US complicity in the war in Yemen and has stopped the massive sale of Saudi weapons. He is also willing to talk to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival. And the report’s own disclosure reverses the Trump administration’s acquittal of MBS.
Biden’s plight underscores the danger of great conversation during the campaign and reflects the dark terrain that US governments tread when they introduce morals into the dirty transactional business of foreign policy. But his approach also recognizes the power of a crown prince considered reckless and unforgiving in Washington – but who may soon be king of a former US ally.
Saudi Arabia is a vital anti-terrorism partner and remains the key to stabilizing oil markets that could undermine America’s economic prosperity. Abandoning it would make America’s main enemy in the Middle East, Iran, more powerful.
Should Biden confiscate the Crown Prince’s assets from the US or forbid him from entering the country? Some want Washington to signal that the succession of MBS would make close relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia unsustainable. But when was the last time that the US successfully tried to dictate the shape of regimes in the Middle East?
The brutal murder of Khashoggi exposes the uncomfortable truth that the United States’ relationship with a Saudi royal family that used oppression and financed extreme forms of Islam to remain in power has always been a kind of corrupt bargain – which reveals tensions between the founding values of America and the country it really is.
“We believe that there are more effective ways to ensure that this does not happen again and also that we can leave space to work with the Saudis in areas where there is mutual agreement – where there are national interests for the United States. it’s the appearance of diplomacy, “White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN’s Dana Bash when asked why the government is not punishing the crown prince.