On his recent trip to the Middle East, the president of the United States certainly did not act like the leader of a superpower.
Jul 21, 202212:03 AM
It was the fist-bump from hell. On arrival to the Jeddah meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council, President Joe Biden greeted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the slightly unorthodox alternative to a handshake.
Although less offensive than a ceremonial kiss, the presidential greeting legitimized someone once slated to be a “pariah” and possessing a capacity for ruthlessness, brutality, and treachery matching that of the world’s worst dictators. Indeed, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a liberty bottom-dweller, settled among the ten least free societies in Freedom House’s rankings.
The president continued to embarrass himself. Aware of voluminous criticism of his visit, he insisted that he expressed his disappointment over the murder and dismemberment of journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi to the crown prince, who naturally denied everything. (At least, that is what Biden claimed. A top Saudi official claimed the exchange never took place.) And then the meeting proceeded as planned.
Biden did promise to bring up the issue again. According to the administration’s official Fact Sheet, “The United States will continue to engage in a regular and direct dialogue with Saudi Arabia and other partners on these important issues, and raise our concerns with human rights at every opportunity.” Far from making the regime pay a price for its society-wide crackdown on even the slightest hint of dissent, this indicates that the president is all talk.
That would be bad enough if the only victims of Saudi repression were Saudi citizens, like Khashoggi. According to the Freedom Initiative, however, “the widespread and systematic campaign of arrest, intimidation, defamation, imprisonment, torture, threats, and abuse are a global experience.” Indeed, Americans are among the victims. Added TFI, “At least eighty-nine US persons or their family members were detained, disappeared, or under travel bans at some point in 2021 in Saudi Arabia.”
The issue is pure politics. The man tapped to be the kingdom’s next king, Crown Prince “Slice ‘n Dice,” does not like to be criticized. The Freedom Initiative noted that
In all but one case involving alleged ‘corruption,’ terrorism charges in Saudi Arabian courts against US persons have been issued in relation to social media statements in support of groups or individuals internationally recognized as civil society or human rights groups or their members (most prevalent are [the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association] of which the late Dr. Abdullah al-Hamid was a co-founder) or, for tweets or communication with individuals who have criticized the government. Sometimes, ‘criticism’ of government can be as simple as a complaint about the rise in taxes or high unemployment rates in Saudi Arabia. Other terrorist charges in Saudi courts against US citizens relate to obtaining US citizenship without permission from the Saudi government, sending money overseas, supporting protests, or communicating with peaceful dissidents deemed ‘hostile’ to the Saudi government due to public criticisms of their human rights record or policy.
Apparently, Biden did not mention any of these Americans. But, he insisted, he would get tough if the crown prince, known as MbS, acted up again. The president hadn’t even gotten home before news broke that the United Arab Emirates, headed by Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an MbS confidante, had detained U.S. citizen Asim Ghafoor. The latter, Khashoggi’s attorney, was arrested on a supposed conviction in absentia, previously unknown, for money laundering. How convenient.
So what did Biden get for his submissive performance? There was no triumphant arrival, since he was only met by the local governor, rather than the king or crown prince. His entry at the GCC meeting also was less than grand. Following the MbS fist-bump, the greeting by enfeebled 86-year-old King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud highlighted the president’s own ongoing physical decline.
To the good, there was no sword dance, in which an awkward President Donald Trump was featured. Nor a multilateral look into the bizarre modern version of Sauron’s transparent orb, or palantír. And no rumored business deals for Biden’s family, again in contrast to Trump. The president’s objectives, however, went largely unfulfilled. There was no election-year Saudi recognition of Israel. Riyadh agreed to allow Israeli flights over the kingdom but, contradicting the president, denied that this was a prelude to diplomatic relations. The Saudis insisted that Israel improve its treatment of Palestinians first.
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