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US President Joe Biden continues to fail his promise of 'recalibrating' relations with Saudi Arabia
Arnav Jha
14 Jul 2021 21:14:PM
Beyond being a close advisor to Saudi Arabia Crown Prince MBS, Prince Khalid bin Salman is also known to have been personally involved in the plot to brutally murder Jamal Khashoggi (Image source: AFP)
Biden recently rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Deputy Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman just months after he and his brother Mohammed bin Salman were implicated by US intelligence in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
It would seem that US President Joe Biden's rhetoric of 'recalibrating' US relations with Saudi Arabia was just that, rhetoric without any significant follow-up in reality. A clear proof of just how hollow this promise was can be observed in the fact that the US last week played a gracious host for the visit of Prince Khalid bin Salman. Khalid bin Salman is not just the Deputy Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia but more importantly, is a brother to the kingdom's de-facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
MBS, as may be recalled, was directly implicated in the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi with a US intelligence report unambiguously stating the prince's involvement in the whole affair despite Saudi Arabia's insistence that 'rogue elements' were responsible.
On the campaign trail last year, Joe Biden had taken a tough tone against MBS and Saudi Arabia. He had, among other things, vowed to make the leaders of Saudi Arabia "the pariah that they are."
He was tough on the kingdom's human rights record and struck a decidedly different tone as compared to then-President Donald Trump who publicly defended MBS for fear of losing Saudi oil and cooperation.
When he came to office, Biden moved to declassify the US intelligence report that implicated MBS in the murder of Khashoggi. He also made a show of ignoring MBS and directly talking to his father, King Salman who is still the actual leader of Saudi Arabia.
In short, he raised hope that despite his power and influence, the US may bring MBS to justice, failing which, it could at least marginalise the Crown Prince on the world stage and make him a 'pariah' as promised.
But none of that happened. Biden blinked and all that came out of the entire exercise was a few more sanctions, a promise to continue pursuing the killers and a damaged relationship with Saudi Arabia.
There were factors of course. Reports say Biden was persuaded to not act against MBS and his power base for a few reasons. First, it would be hard to adequately 'punish' the Crown Prince under any legal framework the US had considering his status as de facto head of state.
Second, even if the US had to 'punish' MBS despite his position as head of state, it would have to do so knowing that it would significantly damage its relationship with Saudi Arabia in the process.
While it can be debated that the US is no longer reliant on Saudi Arabia for oil, it cannot be denied that the US still needs Saudi Arabia and its position at the head of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to keep oil prices stable.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia is a significant military partner to the US in protecting US interests in the area, the most significant of which is keeping a check on Iran.
For better or worse, Biden in his pragmatism was not willing to sacrifice his relationship with Saudi Arabia for one murdered journalist even if the whole situation made him look indecisive. But that is politics at work.
What makes the whole situation worse is that Biden now appears to be rolling out the red carpet to get the US relationship with Saudi Arabia back on track. Biden hosting Khalid bin Salman is not just bad because the prince is quite close to his brother MBS. It is worse because Khalid bin Salman was directly involved in the plot to kill Khashoggi as he is known to be the one who talked the journalist into going to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was tortured and murdered.
In his former capacity as Saudi ambassador to the US, Khalid bin Salman was caught lying to the world that the reports of Khashoggi being murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul were "absolutely false and baseless." The prince was literally forced to leave the US after being disgraced as a liar when evidence of Khashoggi's murder emerged.
Now he has come back as VIP, courtesy of the Biden administration. The prince was invited to a series of meetings with the national security advisor, secretary of state and defence secretary.
With a line-up this important, it is hard not to see this as a major victory for MBS whose attempts to mend damaged relations with Washington and its circle of power seem to be paying off.
The only saving grace is that Biden himself has not spoken to MBS yet though this is only for the moment. It must also be noted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has, in fact, spoken to MBS many times in recent months.
Just where is the scope for justice in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi? The answer is that it is buried under politics and the US need to continue its chain of alliances across the world even if it must go to bed with authoritarians on more than a few occasions.
To be clear, Biden is not unique or alone in doing this. Making such decisions that go against the principles of US democracy is a very significant part of America's foreign policy traditions.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Associated Broadcasting Company Private Limited (ABCPL) and its various platforms. ABCPL does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same
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