Biden on collision course with Saudi Arabia

[anatta]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-col...175851805.html

The Biden administration has already set itself on a collision course with Saudi Arabia after its director of National Intelligence vowed to declassify a report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

The push to release the intelligence community’s assessment of the murder of the dissident journalist, which is believed to implicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has the potential to trigger a major fallout with the kingdom.

Avril Haines, who was confirmed in her new role on Thursday, told Congress “we will follow the law” regarding the report, referring to the Trump administration’s refusal to release the full version for US House representatives.

The CIA is said to have concluded with a high degree of confidence that Prince Mohammed, or MBS - a close ally of the previous government - ordered the Washington Post columnist’s assassination at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. However, its contents have not been made public.

MBS, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, has denied he ordered the murder and the Trump administration publicly stood by him despite international condemnation.

[anatta]

Ms Haines’ statement is the first signal of how the Biden administration intends to potentially reset relations with the oil-rich kingdom.

Mr Biden is yet to lay out his position on one of America’s closest Middle East allies, but has previously called for Washington to drop support for Saudi’s war in Yemen and re-examine arms sales.

Mr Biden issued scathing attacks against the crown prince during his presidential campaign, saying Riyadh needed to be treated as “a pariah” and vowing to take away MBS’s “dangerous blank check.”

The release of the report does, however, risk backing the US into a corner, analysts said.

It's going to put the Biden administration in a real bind,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), which was founded in the wake of Khashoggi’s death. “How do they continue to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the report’s revelations? At the same time, there is obviously a realpolitik at play.”

While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

Saudi, viewed as the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, is a white whale in the agreement, which aims to normalise Arab relations with Israel.

Any alienation of Saudi could upset the new alliance with Israel against Iran.

“(Secretary of State nominee Antony) Blinken has very clearly said that he supports the Abraham Accords,” said Ms Whitson. “That means that he would probably be willing to spend capital to bring Saudi to the table, which even Trump couldn’t manage.”

Israel has been watching nervously as Biden officials discuss engagement with Iran and the possibility of rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal Mr Trump walked away from.

Dore Gold, a former director-general of Israel's foreign affairs ministry, told The Telegraph that
Mr Biden would be making a "big mistake" if he sought to revive Barack Obama-era Middle East policies.

"America and its closest allies need to be extremely firm with Iran," said Mr Gold, a close confidant of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "What the last two years have shown is that American policy towards Iran provided the glue that bound the Israelis and the Arabs together.

"So my hope is that as long as Iran is threatening the region with nuclear weapons development and malign activity, America will stand strong against Iran."

Turkey and Qatar may seek to mend fences with Israel as this is the only path to a strong relationship with the United States, according to Amir Avivi, a regional security analyst and former brigadier-general in the Israel Defence Forces.

[moon]

Biden on collision course with Saudi Arabia

Would that be the same Saudi Arabia that is totally controlled by just one family of despots, that is responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of Yemeni men, women and children, that slices off the heads of many hundreds of people every year, that dismembered a Washington Post journalist in its Turkish consulate and colluded with Trump to get away with it ? THAT Saudi Arabia ?



Haw, haw..........................haw.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Saudi Arabia has gotten away with despicable acts, with our tacit, if not explicit, support, for decades and decades. It is past time to hold them accountable as we would any foreign country for such actions.

[anatta]

“How do they continue to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the report’s revelations?
At the same time, there is obviously a realpolitik at play.”

While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

[moon]

“How do they continue to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the report’s revelations?
At the same time, there is obviously a realpolitik at play.”

While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

The ' Abraham Accords ' were an agreement by Trump and various Middle Eastern criminals to turn a blind eye to Izraeli criminality in exchange for immunity from American condemnation- and lots of US hardware to support American jobs.

[anatta]

The ' Abraham Accords ' were an agreement by Trump and various Middle Eastern criminals to turn a blind eye to Izraeli criminality in exchange for immunity from American condemnation- and lots of US hardware to support American jobs.

yada yada. The Palestinians had their chance -screw them.. bypass that roadblock

[Hoosier Daddy]

“How do they continue to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the report’s revelations?
At the same time, there is obviously a realpolitik at play.”

While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

trump defended the murdering saudi prince when it came to his role in torturing and murdering the Saudi journalist, despite what our intelligence reports clearly said. He has sold them deadly weapons while they commit war crimes in Yemen. and yet you are trying to give trump some credit?

[Hawkeye10]

“How do they continue to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the report’s revelations?
At the same time, there is obviously a realpolitik at play.”

While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

The Revolution has no interest in spending any time or any money in the ME...whatever is the fastest easiest route to that result would be fine.

[moon]

yada yada. The Palestinians had their chance -screw them.. bypass that roadblock

You're just frightened of the overthrow of the cowardly despot in Egypt. You know what's coming.



Haw, haw.......................haw.

[Darth Omar]

Saudi Arabia has gotten away with despicable acts, with our tacit, if not explicit, support, for decades and decades. It is past time to hold them accountable as we would any foreign country for such actions.

Part of realpolitik is accepting the reality that some regimes that are necessary to deal with in order to further your interests—are murderous. The Suadis chop heads, Iran does nasty things to their dissidents we don’t even know about. You get the idea.

The beauty of it is we can say screw all of them and just walk away because we are energy independent.

But probably not for long. When that’s over, we will be forced to deal with murderous regimes. Worse yet, it will be on their terms.

[moon]

Part of realpolitik is accepting the reality that some regimes that are necessary to deal with in order to further your interests—are murderous. The Suadis chop heads, Iran does nasty things to their dissidents we don’t even know about. You get the idea.

The beauty of it is we can say screw all of them and just walk away because we are energy independent.

But probably not for long. When that’s over, we will be forced to deal with murderous regimes. Worse yet, it will be on their terms.

Renewables are free- so stfu, 61.

https://www.justplainpolitics.com/sh...ource-of-power

[Hoosier Daddy]

Part of realpolitik is accepting the reality that some regimes that are necessary to deal with in order to further your interests—are murderous. The Suadis chop heads, Iran does nasty things to their dissidents we don’t even know about. You get the idea.

The beauty of it is we can say screw all of them and just walk away because we are energy independent.

But probably not for long. When that’s over, we will be forced to deal with murderous regimes. Worse yet, it will be on their terms.

well, we are not energy independent, why do you keep lying about that? we import 3 million barrels of oil a day from Canada alone!! Saudi gave us bin laden, al qaeda, and ISIS. primary funder, primary source of recruits. But you say that is okay? Meanwhile, Iran held our embassy guys hostage about 40 years ago and is the chief funder of Hezbollah, but we hate the shit out of them, declare sanctions on them that really only hurt their poorest citizens? When did Iran attack us, outside of the embassy takeover, where no American was killed?

[cancel2 2022]

Ms Haines’ statement is the first signal of how the Biden administration intends to potentially reset relations with the oil-rich kingdom.

Mr Biden is yet to lay out his position on one of America’s closest Middle East allies, but has previously called for Washington to drop support for Saudi’s war in Yemen and re-examine arms sales.

Mr Biden issued scathing attacks against the crown prince during his presidential campaign, saying Riyadh needed to be treated as “a pariah” and vowing to take away MBS’s “dangerous blank check.”

The release of the report does, however, risk backing the US into a corner, analysts said.


While the administration wants to be seen to be holding Saudi to account, it is thought to also be eager to build on the Abraham Accords, negotiated by Donald Trump.

Saudi, viewed as the leader of the Sunni Muslim world, is a white whale in the agreement, which aims to normalise Arab relations with Israel.

Any alienation of Saudi could upset the new alliance with Israel against Iran.

“(Secretary of State nominee Antony) Blinken has very clearly said that he supports the Abraham Accords,” said Ms Whitson. “That means that he would probably be willing to spend capital to bring Saudi to the table, which even Trump couldn’t manage.”

Israel has been watching nervously as Biden officials discuss engagement with Iran and the possibility of rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal Mr Trump walked away from.

Dore Gold, a former director-general of Israel's foreign affairs ministry, told The Telegraph that
Mr Biden would be making a "big mistake" if he sought to revive Barack Obama-era Middle East policies.

"America and its closest allies need to be extremely firm with Iran," said Mr Gold, a close confidant of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "What the last two years have shown is that American policy towards Iran provided the glue that bound the Israelis and the Arabs together.

"So my hope is that as long as Iran is threatening the region with nuclear weapons development and malign activity, America will stand strong against Iran."

Turkey and Qatar may seek to mend fences with Israel as this is the only path to a strong relationship with the United States, according to Amir Avivi, a regional security analyst and former brigadier-general in the Israel Defence Forces.

Biden is truly a braindead geriatric fucker. He is doing everything in his power to become reliant on the Middle East for oil and seem determined to piss off the Saudis, how the fuck does that make any sense?

[War=Peace]

The only important question is whether Biden will do the right thing regarding Yemen.

And the answer, of course, is that he will not.