Money Can Buy My Love
Yep, I altered a Beatles title! –
To make it up – here’s the boys: Money Can’t Buy Me Love
The Trump Administration is drawing closer to admitting it: Muhammad bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the brutal butchering and murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Turkish Consulate in Istanbul. The evidence has been mounting; from the Turkish audio of the murder (too “hurtful” for the President to listen to,) to the advice of the “forensic expert” (wear headphones to drown out the screams,) to the CIA’s report with highest confidence that bin Salman ordered the deed.
The execution puts the United States in a difficult position. The Administration has placed its prized foreign policy goals, protecting Israel and isolating Iran, squarely with the Saudis. From President Trump’s first foreign visit to the Kingdom, replete with sword dances and mystic ball ceremonies; the Trumps’ have placed their individual trust as well as that of the nation, on our friend, Saudi Arabia.
In addition, the Trump Administration played a small hand in choosing the next king of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman. The young prince, thirty-one years old, out maneuvered thirty-four relatives with a claim to the throne. Quietly supporting him: a “prince” of the American Presidential family, thirty-seven year old Presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. Kushner spent the week with bin Salman just before the Prince consolidated his power by imprisoning his rivals for the throne. It’s reasonable to assume bin Salman acted with the tacit consent of the White House.
So the Trumps have invested, staking their plan for Middle East order on Muhammad bin Salman. They have even been willing to accept bin Salman’s ugly war in Yemen, fighting elements of al Qaeda while starving and killing civilians.
It’s not just about saving face, or even loyalty. It’s about the plain thinking of the President of the United States. The “rap” on Trump is that he is transactional; every decision is based on a “balance sheet” with the benefits determined in “real” terms: in this case, dollars. Long term US moral standing in the world doesn’t have a line item on the balance sheet, therefore, it isn’t taken into consideration.
I take the President at his word when he says that he won’t denounce the Crown Prince. Trump claims hundred of thousands of jobs and $450 billion worth of contracts are at stake. Those tangible items completely outweigh his concern for the morality of Saudi actions. The President has accepted the word of the Saudis:
“This is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi.”
He did have the Treasury Department sanction seventeen Saudi citizens, including several with direct connection to the Prince, for the murder of Khashoggi. But those sanctioned, and those that are being held for murder by the Saudi government, look to be the “underlings” who followed orders; orders that could only have come from the Prince. The CIA has reached the same conclusion, but the President denies that outcome.
So what lesson are we teaching the world about current US behavior? What are the Russians, and the North Koreans, and the Turks and Filipinos and the other nations governed by authoritarian regimes learning? It’s not about morality, right or wrong; it’s about the cash value of the offending nation in pure dollar and cents terms.
So what if President Trump is overvaluing the future Saudi contracts by $300 billion (the actual number is closer to $110 billion.) So what if he exaggerates the number of US jobs to be created by multiple thousands. He knows there’s money in Saudi, and he can read a balance sheet. He wants it to stay that way, regardless of the moral cost.
The President is treating Muhammad bin Salman the same way he treated Scott Pruitt at the EPA and Mike Flynn as National Security Advisor. Yes they may be violating some “policies”, but they are doing a “great job.” Bin Salman, well he may have gotten carried away with Khashoggi, but he’s really doing fine in dealing with the US.
Maybe money can’t buy love for Paul McCartney and the Beatles, but it sure can buy the President.
“He don’t care too much ‘bout murder, ‘cause money will buy his love.”
