WH criticized for not directly sanctioning Saudi Prince MBS for role in Khashoggi murder

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The Biden administration is facing criticism over its decision to thus far not directly punish Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite the declassification of an intelligence report which clearly implicated the prince for the brutal murder of a Washington Post journalist.

Detractors have equated the White House's response as effectively the same as that of the Trump administration, with then-President Donald Trump seeming to defend bin Salman, known by his initials: MBS.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national and columnist for The Washington Post living in the United States, was entrapped and killed in a Saudi consulate in Instanbul in 2018.

The State Department has issued 76 visa restrictions on Saudi nationals who Secretary of State Antony Blinken said are "believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-criticized-not-directly-233017112.html

[Politicub]

1. It was bizarre to release the report and then do basically nothing to sanction the person

who is responsible for what happened to Khashoggi.

I don't get it.

[triron]

6. They don't go after the ringleaders; I cite Jan 6 insurrection.

[Politicub]

19. It's so frustrating and infuriating.

[abqtommy]

2. I'd say that Biden is somewhere between doing nothing and dropping a low-yield nuke

directly on MBS. I don't know all the reasoning behind it but to use a sports analogy you
make your move and see if the other guy blinks. There's plenty of time for serious sanctions and this is nowhere close to being over yet.

[Budi]

4. Yup.

He released the report.
The world read it.
He humiliated MBS by ignoring him & going straight to the King.
That in itself is a humiliating blow to MBS in the succession of Saudi royals.

AND that's just to get the Biden nuke loaded.

President Biden handled the international situation as he should have, short of creating an majoe conflict.

Foreign policy is Biden's strength. He knows what & who he's dealing with & it's pretty stupid of any journo to demand a thing from President Biden on this matter without having the Classified Policy in their hands as they fall over each other to take a cheap jab at Biden, as tho THEY have a smidge of a clue what was discussed, between the President & the King, or what the next step is in Biden's arsenal.

These headlines make the journos look like fools since they are not privy to Biden's classified foreign policy matters.

I'll trust President Joe Biden more than anyone who isn't one of his very confidential foreign policy team.

It was the murder of Jamal Khashoggi that gave the world the powerful Magnitsky Act.

Why any Senator would vote against this act of protection is beyond me.
Maybe THAT's a better story to chase.

[ZonkerHarris]

5. The Magnitsky act pre-dated the murder. Biden should sanction MBS

[Budi]

12. Magnitsky act was enforced more often globally because of Khashoggi's murder.

And we have absolutely NO IDEA nor should we be privy to, what President Biden has in his plans to right this wrong.

From Putin to Saudis, he is no lightweight to foreign affairs.
If only we were privy to the delicate maneuvering through this issue that is required.
Then we may or may not have the right to demand another approach.

There are ways beyond all out war to make a point.
That requires the skillset of President Biden.

[tirebiter]

3. Going back to the primarys

People could not see Biden’s brilliance at timing.

[Budi]

8. Precisely.

This is our stealth Senator Joe Biden on Foreign Policy.
(He's still the same guy) 👍💙

Never Ever Doubt nor Prematurely Second Guess Joseph R Biden.

[superpatriotman]

9. But money

He has a lot of it and we want it.

[SoonerPride]

11. I am torn on this. But ultimately I trust in Joe.

It was clearly MBS and i was outright state sponsored assassination.

Of an American-resident journalist.

On the one hand I can advocate for immediate, swift, and punishing sanctions on MBS directly and/or the Saudi state writ large, and while we would be justified in meting out such punishments, on the other hand it may indeed cause more problems in the region than it solves.

Ultimately, I have to place trust in Joe.

Because at least unlike Donny Dumbfuck, Joe isn't in love with dictators and mass murdering psychopaths. If he acts it will be appropriate and if he doesn't act there are damn good reasons to keep his powder dry.

[Budi]

18. K & R Thank You!

"Ultimately, I have to place trust in Joe.

Because at least unlike Donny Dumbfuck, Joe isn't in love with dictators and mass murdering psychopaths. If he acts it will be appropriate and if he doesn't act there are damn good reasons to keep his powder dry."

Perhaps Biden seeks more info as to who else was involved before making these sanctions.
Perhaps he's looking for Jared Kushner's role, if there was one, & what unauthorized deal Jared may have made with MBS.

So Joe & the King maybe discussed the 2 rougue dealmakers that neither were authorized to make.
Hope the King gets Joe the goods on Kushner & an international shit-show is prevented.

I'd prefer that option.

[mvd]

13. Well, I want to see myself as consistent

As a dove, I not only don’t want air strikes - I wouldn’t want actions that could de-stabilize the region. The Saudis are terrible and I am glad Biden exposed them, unlike Trump.

[Dem4Life1102]

14. Exactly what could he do?

[hunter]

15. Saudi Arabia is propped up for the same reason North Korea is.

If either nation failed it would be a human catastrophe as millions of clueless refugees flooded into neighboring nations.

Poorly educated people raised in harsh authoritarian cultures do not quickly adapt to the cosmopolitan 21st century world economy.

What's worse, many nations will not accept people displaced by political upheaval and climate change.

Such displacements have occurred even within the borders of the U.S.A..

During the Great Depression victims of the Dust Bowl were not welcome here in California.

"Okie" was not a term of endearment.

[SoonerPride]

17. Will Rogers on the migration.

“When the Okies left Oklahoma and moved to California, it raised the I.Q. of both states.” - Will Rogers

[sarcasmo]

16. Trump bragged about protecting MBS "I saved his ass."

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-mbs-saved-his-ass

[BannonsLiver]

20. I absolutely agree

Trump should have absolutely done something to sanction MBS when the incident happened...on Trump’s watch. It’s a damn shame he didn’t.

[JimGinPA]

21. This Just In...

Had Biden "sanctioned" MBS to the full extent available to him, he would have been criticized for that too.

It's easy to find fault when that's what you're looking to do.

[Xolodno]

22. Biden is between a rock and a hard place here.

Should MBS be sanctioned? At the least! Or an FBI/Interpol warrant for murder. But you are also looking at the probable leader of the House of Saud and you need them, at least for now.

Shit, their spread of Wahhabism, human rights abuses, crucifixion's as a capital punishment, etc. should be enough for us to give them the North Korea treatment. But we fucked up in Iran and still need, well I wouldn't call them allies, but relationships of convenience, for the time being.

And Iran can't exploit this and move closer to the west because it would bring down the Theocracy. And also, they made us the great Satan since the fall of the Shah.

No good choices here, like Syria, its a turd sandwich.