Bash plays Biden campaign promise to Psaki: Why haven't we seen this? (CNN)

[ItsjustMe]

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the Biden administration's decision to not directly sanction Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the brutal death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying there are "more effective ways" to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the killing.

[efhmc]

1. Yeah, that is a hard line to edge along.

Being a candidate is not always the same as being the President.

[mezame]

2. Did You Ever Get The Feeling,

...even after 9-11, and Syria, and Yemen, the Saudi's seem to have another hold on the U.S somehow? Is our alliance with them somehow designed to 'stabilize' the area, or act as a 'buffer' between us and Putin? Why do we put up with this? More effective ways...yeah yeah...sanctions only seem to exacerbate and they certainly harm most those who cannot fend for themselves. What's so special about the Saudi's, other than their oil...was Robert Redford right when we'd do anything to put an abundance of gas in our tanks, whenever we wanted it? Even put up with sanctioned murder?

That must've been some phone call Joe had with the King.

[Ferrets are Cool]

3. "the Saudi's seem to have another hold on the U.S somehow?"

Saudi Arabia - 12.3 million barrels per day (BPD)

[Mr.Bill]

4. And don't forget they are a huge customer

of our military industrial complex.

Sell guns to both sides and sit back and watch the show.

[erronis]

5. But I thought we had removed that dependency via shale oil and, hopefully

much larger use of renewables (solar, wind, hydro).

The way the petro oligarchs in the US and around the world have played this, we may be pumping and paying for oil just to line their coffers - no benefit for anybody else.

[Ferrets are Cool]

6. Yeah, I thought we were importing more from them than we are

Since 1977, the share of U.S. total petroleum and crude oil imports from OPEC has generally declined. In 2019, OPEC's share of U.S. total petroleum imports was about 18%, and its share of U.S. crude oil imports was 22%. Saudi Arabia, the largest OPEC exporter, was the source of 6% of U.S. total petroleum imports and 7% of U.S. crude oil imports. Saudi Arabia is also the largest source of U.S. petroleum imports from Persian Gulf countries. About 11% of U.S. total petroleum imports and 13% of U.S. crude oil imports were from Persian Gulf countries in 2019.


We still export a LOT of that shale oil.