By Jeff Dunetz,
Newser reported that last fall, ” President Biden warned of “consequences” headed Saudi Arabia’s way after the kingdom cut oil production (…)Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, aka MBS, was less polite about the whole matter than he appeared in public. The Crown Prince threatened “major economic consequences for Washington,” adding that he “will not deal with the U.S. administration anymore,”
Even before this angry exchange above. As a presidential candidate, Biden damaged the U.S.-Saudi Arabia relationship.
On 10/28/22, The Lid wrote, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not pleased with President Biden and was doing whatever it could to make him look foolish (even though he often does that himself)
Despite its long record of Human Rights violations, the U.S. has had a good relationship with the Saudis under previous administrations. The Saudis have great power in OPEC and are the leader of the Gulf Sunni Islam states.
The top Saudi leadership feels the Biden administration does not show them the respect they deserve and makes decisions that put them in grave danger. Respect is crucial in the Arab world.
At one of the 2020 Democratic primary debates, Biden went out of his way to embarrass the Crown Prince. Bin Salman highlighted the Prince’s role in overseeing the war in Yemen and the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment that he ordered the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. If Biden wanted to discuss these issues, they should have been made privately to prevent embarrassment. Biden went on to say;
“I would make it very clear we were not going to in fact sell more weapons to them, We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.” Biden also said there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia,” and, in reference to Yemen, said he would end “end the sale of material to the Saudis where they’re going in and murdering children.”
Giorgio Cafiero, the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, said, “Bin Salman and others in Saudi Arabia took a tremendous amount of offense to that rhetoric.”
After the meeting, Crown Prince Mohammed’s feeling of being. Being offended worsened:
In public, the Saudi government defended its actions politelyvia diplomatic statements. But in private, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman threatened to fundamentally alter the decades-old U.S.-Saudi relationship and impose significant economic costs on the United States if it retaliated against the oil cuts, according to a classified document obtained by The Washington Post.
The crown prince claimed “he will not deal with the U.S. administration anymore,” the document says, promising “major economic consequences for Washington.”
In July 2022, President Biden began his trip to Saudi Arabia by fist-bumping Prince bin Salman. The Prince responded 11 months later with a fist bump into Biden’s gut. The Prince is trying to inflict ‘major’ economic pain on America.
Not only economic pain but his relationship with the Prince hurt America’s foreign policy. Biden was trying to convince the Prince to formalize a relationship with Israel. Instead, Saudi Arabia smacked Biden across the face with an alliance with U.S. enemies China and Iran.
A spokesperson with the National Security Council said, “we are not aware of such threats by Saudi Arabia.”
You’re kidding me. It was only five days ago when:
Saudi Arabia cut oil production again amid economic uncertainty OPEC+ countries also agreed to extend oil production cuts they announced in April through the end of 2024, reducing production by more than 1 million barrels per day. Per NPR.
Nice coincidence– extending the cuts through the end of 2024. Something else is happening near the end of 2024, like the beginning of November. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman thinks he was disrespected by Joe Biden before he was elected and after he entered the Oval Office, destroying a relationship with an important ally.
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