Our Friend Saudi Arabia (thanks West Wing)
“Who will rid me of this meddlesome Priest?” – Henry II of England, speaking of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Four of his knights then murdered him.
“Here we go again – guilty until proven innocent” – President Trump about Saudi involvement in the Jamal Khashoggi murder
So the Saudi “re-write” of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is coming out. Now his torture, death, and dismemberment is being blamed on “over-achieving” subordinates of Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, MBS. MBS plotted to have Khashoggi drawn back to Saudi Arabia earlier in the summer, probably to be held in custody. Since Khashoggi wouldn’t fall for those inducements to return to Saudi Arabia, the unofficial word now is that the Prince’s subordinates took it to the next level, without his knowledge.
Turkish authorities have released the names of the fifteen Saudis who arrived on two separate private jets the morning Khashoggi disappeared. Eleven are listed as members of Saudi security forces or the Saudi Royal Guard. One, Khalid Aedh Alotaibi, has travelled with MBS and other top members of the Saudi Royal family on past US trips. Another, Muhammed Saad Alzahrani, is a direct bodyguard of the Prince.
We are now to believe that the elite guards of Prince Monhammad bin Salman, took it upon themselves to commit international murder of a US resident and Washington Post columnist without the knowledge of their boss. And we are also to believe that the “poor” Prince has been in a deep depression since the killing.
It’s Saudi Arabia, and if necessary, heads will roll, literally, to keep the reputation of the Prince intact. The cover story is coming together, and like the famous opening lines of the Mission Impossible franchise, “…should any of your force be caught or killed, the Prince will disavow any knowledge of your actions.” Only the victim was killed so far, but the international outrage that resulted may require a “full disavowal.”
The next question is what will the United States do? Secretary of State Pompeo was sent by the President to “go talk to Prince bin Salman,” but the images that came back from that conversation looked more like a pleasant conversation with a photo op. And the President himself has been a driving force in the cover story; the first to release the idea of the “rogue agents” acting alone, and already is building excuses for the Prince.
The rest of the Republican leaders are trying to provide the “moral cover” for the Party. Lindsey Graham said about MBS:
“This guy is a wrecking ball, he had this guy murdered in a consulate in Turkey, and to expect me to ignore it, I feel used and abused.”
But don’t expect Graham and others to act on their statements; as soon as the cover story is fully in place, they will condemn MBS for not controlling his subordinates, then let relations with Saudi continue on their “merry way.”
That’s about jobs and money, American jobs and money. While the President has vastly overstated Saudi commitments to buy US weapons, saying the deals have been made for $116 billion (the actual number is closer to $30 billion,) as he says, Boeing, and Lockheed (or Lock-heeyeed,) and Raytheon are depending on Saudi contracts. What’s the murder of one Saudi citizen, who happened to live in Virginia and write for the Post, compared to that?
It’s also about the Trump/Kushner “grand plan” for Middle East security. Jared Kushner, who has developed an extremely close relationship with Prince bin Salman, sees Saudi as the Islamic pillar of his peace plan, cooperating with Israel to counter-balance the force of Iran. The US arms sales are to build Saudi up to compete with Iran, ultimately pushing the Iranians back out of Syria and Iraq, and reducing their influence with extremists in Lebanon and Palestine.
All of this sounds persuasive: a master plan to rebuild the Middle East, based on the power of US and Israeli arms and the strength of Saudi Arabia. The problem with the strategy: Saudi Arabia historically has been a “transactional partner” with every nation. They make the best deal they can at the time, but that deal does not mean any kind of long-term commitment. If the next deal from someone else is better, they go with that. To sink billions of dollars of weapons into Saudi may be a good short term US economic move, but does not guarantee Saudi loyalty to a future Middle East vision.
What it does do is show that the United States is no longer a nation dedicated to principle. We are willing to allow “our friends” to violate international law, and even murder those who are under an umbrella of US protection, as long as the “price is right.” Our international standing, long based on the “City on a Hill” image of the US, is now based on cash; a transactional one, like the Saudis.
No wonder they get along with the Trumps.
