Biden Won't Penalize Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi's Killing, Fearing Relations Breach

[Jose Garcia]

Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Biden has decided that the price of directly penalizing Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is too high, according to senior administration officials, despite a detailed American intelligence finding that he directly approved the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident and Washington Post columnist who was drugged and dismembered in October 2018.

The decision by Mr. Biden, who during the 2020 campaign called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state with “no redeeming social value,” came after weeks of debate in which his newly formed national security team advised him that there was no way to formally bar the heir to the Saudi crown from entering the United States, or to weigh criminal charges against him, without breaching the relationship with one of America’s key Arab allies.

Officials said a consensus developed inside the White House that the price of that breach, in Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism and in confronting Iran, was simply too high.

For Mr. Biden, the decision was a telling indication of how his more cautious instincts kicked in, and it will deeply disappoint the human rights community and members of his own party who complained during the Trump administration that the United States was failing to hold the crown prince, known by his initials M.B.S., accountable for his role.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html

[50 Shades Of Blue]

1. Damn. :(

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. How about halting arms sales and blocking Mnuchin's Saudi investment fund?

Surely there could have been some measures taken rather than doing absolutely nothing.

[sinkingfeeling]

20. Biden put a freeze on that arms sale at the end of January. Don't

know if it's been made permanent.

[Turbineguy]

43. Mnuchin's fund

may very well turn out to be punishment.

[JT45242]

3. A dress rehearsal for something more sinister

Whenever we have these 'peace in our times' moments the would be dictator oand international criminal who gets away with the illegal acts is emboldened to commit more and more heinous activities.

The US can bully Syria and Iran but refuses to hold Saudi Arabia responsible.

The consequence of "NO CONSEQUENCES" will be MBS will do something equally as bad somewhere else. The victim may not be a US resident but he has been given the green light to literally have someone chopped apart while alive.

This is why Trump looks up to these guys -- no consequences.

[Mme. Defarge]

4. "directly"

Is this the operative word in the announcement?

[Cha]

11. Could be.. before anyone

jumps the gun.

[Mme. Defarge]

19. Greetings from a former Anarchist Jurisdiction!

[niyad]

42. I caught that as well. No telling what is going on behind the scenes.

[PSPS]

5. I trust Biden. He knows what he's doing.

Notice the use of the term "directly," referring to Prince Bone Saw.

He did impose visa restrictions on 76 Saudi individuals whom he said are "believed to have been engaged in threatening dissidents overseas, including but not limited to the Khashoggi killing."

[choie]

16. oooh visa restrictions..

I'm sure they're shivering in their boots

[inwiththenew]

6. Same as it ever was

The Kingdom does what it wants and the White House just shrugs its shoulders and says "What do you want me to do about it?". It's been the official US foreign policy position for decades now.

[PSPS]

7. Read the story carefully. There was action taken, just short of PBS (prince bone saw)

[Mike Nelson]

8. Don't agree with the...

... decision, although I do not have all the info Biden does... while we can consider the Prince a partner in some endeavors, he is NOT a a friend or ally. There should be some consequence.

[Fullduplexxx]

9. Hey what's a little insignificant murder between friends

[Omnipresent]

10. What if there's a "next time this happens"?

Our government really should have contingency plans in place, to not just protect journalists, but to perhaps keep the capital safe.

[uppityperson]

12. K&R for more disappointment

[yaesu]

13. Well, okay Mr President but just make sure Jamal Khashoggi is given the Congressional Gold Medal

posthumously for giving his life in service of the country + the option of an Arlington National Cemetery burial with full honors and a nice pension for his family.

[choie]

14. More lack of accountability

b/t

[KPN]

15. Well, this pretty much guarantees a "next time"

though it’s hard to imagine another journalist ever putting themselves in the position Kashoggi placed himself, just by investigating and reporting facts and then visiting the region. So lesson learned ... bu the journalists.

[tirebiter]

17. Not fear

A judgement call.

[yaesu]

18. I'm sure the Prince has learned 'a pretty big lesson'

[Polybius]

21. He can't, there's way too much politics involved

Anyone that expected him too was just being silly. All Administrations kiss Saudi ass.

[Bayard]

22. Agreed

What else was Biden supposed to do? Sanction Saudi Arabia? Try to arrest him if he came to the U.S.?

It is a bitter pill to swallow, but we need them.

[LymphocyteLover]

30. why do we need them?

[Magoo48]

34. To prevent climate crisis, we must stop suckling at the middle east oil nipple.

Now is as good a time as any to stand up and walk away on principle, thereby resulting in a harder drive towards sustainable energy.

[LymphocyteLover]

49. Agreed!

I see they claim we need to Saudi Arabia to deal with Iran and terorrism but I don't buy that. A bigger factor may be how much of our debt they own.

[Magoo48]

55. I hadn't thought about the debt. Thanks.

[Bayard]

58. The main reason we need them

Does not pertain to oil. They do help in maintaining a measure of peace and stability in the region.

[LymphocyteLover]

59. They do? They've engaged in war crimes in their war on Yemen.

[John F. Kennedy]

41. What if the decapitated person were related to you?

And please don't give me a dishonest answer.

[Miguelito Loveless]

23. Way to cede the moral high ground

Refuse to punish a murderer.

[DallasNE]

24. Count Me In The Camp Of Those That Are Disappointed

Turning the cheek on an ordered murder is being soft. Yes, I am aware that Putin has been courting him and other consequences but some kind of rebuke is in order. It also means that he will do it again.

[DallasNE]

52. Seems This Report Got It All Wrong

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/us-slaps-sanctions-on-elite-saudi-unit-over-khashoggi-murder-14292466

[Karadeniz]

25. I'm with the disappointeds.

[rickyhall]

26. When we finally get off the oil teat the Saudis will pay.

[ZonkerHarris]

27. Good to know Saudi Arabia can murder anyone living in the US and nothing will be done

no matter who is in power.
Fucking bullshit.
I hope they bone saw MBS in the Arabian revolution someday.
That will be fun to hear about.

[Jose Garcia]

28. He was killed in Turkey, not the US

[ZonkerHarris]

29. I did not say he was killed in the US. Do not misquote me.

I said living in the US.
He was a US resident traveling for personal business.
Thanks for playing.
NEXT!

[Jose Garcia]

32. If he wasn't a US citizen and he wasn't killed in the US, what business is

of the US?

[MontanaMama]

35. He was a US resident who worked for an American newspaper

and had 3 children, all American citizens. I think it’s our business.

[rockfordfile]

62. Actually they tried to kidnap others in the U.S. In Canada they arrested the terrorist.

[LymphocyteLover]

31. one of the most evil regimes in the world and this is the best we can do?

I know we have a long complicated history with them but we really need to show we expect real improvement from them.

[LymphocyteLover]

33. at least we are changing our stance on the horrible Yemen war

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saudi-arabia-yemen-united-states-biden-houthis-khashoggi-report/

[bucolic_frolic]

36. Saudi Arabia is our ally for many decades

This didn't happen on Biden's watch, nor on Obama's. We can't roil everything for accountability. Politics and national sovereignty make for occurrences not everyone likes, or would look the other way in real time. This in my view is one of those things.

[John F. Kennedy]

40. What would happen to me if I decapitate someone?

Not that I'm going to decapitate anyone because I'm not a crazy psychopath like the Saudi Prince.

[John F. Kennedy]

37. If a poor person decapitates someone, he/she goes down for life

The key do not being punished is to have a lot of oil.

[Evolve Dammit]

38. US relations with House of Saud has been untouchable for 50-70 years. Needs to change but it won't.

Goes back to the Bush/ Bin-laden relationships over products; oil/concrete it's all transactional.

[LymphocyteLover]

50. we don't need oil from them anymore

doubt we need concrete from them

[Evolve Dammit]

60. Precisely. There are alliances, agreements and pacts we don't know about. I remember after 9-11,

when NO aircraft was flying, the Bin Laden family members here in the US were allowed to board aircraft and leave. There is so much "We" don't know. But we certainly don't need their oil at this point and are just supporting a brutal regime. Middle East balance of power carries the day. Biden inherited it all.

[jalan48]

39. Butchered the guy and took him out of the embassy in pieces. This calls for a sternly worded letter.

[Journeyman]

44. Must have happened on الجادة الخامسة (Fifth Avenue) . . .

Mohammed been Sawing survives to cut again.

[erronis]

45. There are far more subtle and effective remedies to MBS that can be done behind the scenes.

Don't expect some headline grabbing action but watch over the next couple of years what happens to SA if MBS is still allowed to have any control.

[PoliticAverse]

46. "Nothing would fundamentally change" n/t

[MicaelS]

47. MBS just might be in poor health and not know it.

Strokes can strike without warning.

[Tarc]

48. That's not cool, Joe

[angrychair]

51. Rich people walk

Poor people die.

Unfortunately its the way of the world. We exist for rich people to kill for their pleasure.

[reader1]

53. Mean while in Orlando

a white supremacy former president of the U.S.A, who is responsible for the death of tens of thousand of U.S citizens, having a convention plotting how to overthrow the US government.

[burrowowl]

54. Yup! We are not out the woods yet!

[tavernier]

64. Thank you.

I was thinking the same thing. Don’t we have enough murderous crazies of our own to fight, many serving in our congress?

[twodogsbarking]

56. It sucks

but I trust Joe to make the correct decision. Stay tuned.

[George II]

57. As pointed out elsewhere (not on DU, however), Biden DID and will penalize Saudi Arabia....

While the Secretary of Defense was talking to the son, Biden spoke to the King himself, and will implement sanctions and "punishment" as time goes on. This is the way monarchies are dealt with and how international diplomacy works.

Biden doesn't act in a kneejerk fashion, he does things methodically and in a way to minimize pushback. Let's be patient and see.

[LymphocyteLover]

61. Yes, it's not as bad as it seemed initially

this piece lays out what Biden did

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1365699309761687560.html?fbclid=IwAR0EpDtFyUN9hHjHNUFi6QtALVNEMbQo0zeroXpOWPAH1IqMqN-kL_i7LDE

[murielm99]

63. I was looking for a post from you.

I knew you would be a voice of reason here.

MBS is being punished.

[George II]

65. Thanks. Many of us have forgotten how international diplomacy should be conducted after...

...the last four years of yelling, screaming, and violent overreaction.