Un-American speech in Saudi Arabia [View all]
Right Turn
Opinion
By Jennifer Rubin
May 21 at 2:52 PM
... The most noteworthy aspect of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia was not his and his followers’ jaw-dropping hypocrisy. Sure, had President Obama received a gaudy medal, danced with the Saudis, diminished the important of human rights, called Saudi Arabia “sacred land” and lavished praised on an autocratic regime that trampled on human rights, Trump and his cultlike following would have gone bonkers ... No, what was most striking and troubling was how little Trump understands about America and its long-term interests ...
One tool, a critical one, the United States has against repressive regimes such as Russia, China, Iran and Cuba, is that we can undermine their legitimacy by appealing to universal values and exposing their cruelty, corruption and repression. We give hope to the oppressed and whittle away at despots’ grip on power by excoriating them for human rights abuses. When, however, we not only ignore but also give unqualified praise to autocratic allies, we leave ourselves open to charges of gross hypocrisy ...
Trump and Saudi royals hit it off. They no doubt share a love of ostentatious wealth, impatience with democracy and unfamiliarity with the rule of law ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/05/21/trumps-un-american-speech-in-saudi-arabia/?utm_term=.e59d6ff59a84
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