Biden Won't Penalize Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi's Killing, Fearing Relations Breach

[dalton99a]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/biden-mbs-khashoggi.html

Biden Won’t Penalize Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi’s Killing, Fearing Relations Breach
The decision will disappoint the human rights community and members of his own party who complained during the Trump administration that the U.S. was failing to hold Mohammed bin Salman accountable.
By David E. Sanger
Feb. 26, 2021 Updated 3:16 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — President Biden has decided that the price of directly penalizing Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is too high, according to senior administration officials, despite a detailed American intelligence finding that he directly approved the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident and Washington Post columnist who was drugged and dismembered in October 2018.

The decision by Mr. Biden, who during the 2020 campaign called Saudi Arabia a “pariah” state with “no redeeming social value,” came after weeks of debate in which his newly formed national security team advised him that there was no way to formally bar the heir to the Saudi crown from entering the United States, or to weigh criminal charges against him, without breaching the relationship with one of America’s key Arab allies.

Officials said a consensus developed inside the White House that the price of that breach, in Saudi cooperation on counterterrorism and in confronting Iran, was simply too high.

Mr. Biden’s aides said that as a practical matter, Prince Mohammed would not be invited to the United States anytime soon, and they denied that they were giving Saudi Arabia a pass, describing series of new actions on lower-level officials intended to penalize elite elements of the Saudi military and impose new deterrents to human rights abuses.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Can't Biden at least suggest to King Salmon that he have MBS spanked, or worse?

[tonedevil]

2. Why publish the truth...

then let the culprit off?

[ecstatic]

4. +1000. nt

[LAS14]

5. Would you rather they hid the truth and not own up to what's actually happening? nt

[tonedevil]

7. It might allow me...

to hold onto my obviously false hope that there might be a US leader who wouldn't choose to coddle murderous dictators. Now I'm thoroughly disillusioned and sad that our country displays no moral courage.

[JI7]

15. Because there are other ways to go after people. Hurt them through boycotts

stop business deals etc.

[tonedevil]

16. There's still such a thing...

as a strongly worded letter to The Times.

[JI7]

17. And you can reply with strongly worded posts on the internet.

[tonedevil]

18. I'd just like the US leadership...

to respond more forcefully than what I'm able to as an individual. The way that Khashoggi was tortured and killed is Nazi level evil and there are zero consequences. I think that is good people saying nothing and enabling evil.

[aocommunalpunch]

3. This seems uncool.

Mr. Biden’s aides said that as a practical matter, Prince Mohammed would not be invited to the United States anytime soon

GTFOH. Ooooooooo. He's grounded for a while? Whatever.

they denied that they were giving Saudi Arabia a pass, describing series of new actions on lower-level officials intended to penalize elite elements of the Saudi military and impose new deterrents to human rights abuses.

Seriously? This is some weak sauce. The bastard is SKATING and laughing about it.

[triron]

8. I agree. Huge mistake.

[mdelaguna]

9. Agree

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[rockfordfile]

25. I agree

That Saudi Prince is another if not worst than Bin Laden.

[stillcool]

6. I don't subscribe, but who is saying what?

did Biden or Jen Psaki, or some other someone with a name say something?

[Klaralven]

10. When do we implement regime change in Saudi Arabia? Unleash the CIA!

[mvd]

12. Well Trump kept the whole thing secret

It all came out under Biden. Media glossing over Trump’s covering it up.

I am a dove and hope something can be done without starting a major conflict.

[tritsofme]

13. I trust President Biden to act in the national interest.

[SWBTATTReg]

14. Well, it's the same as letting Putin get by w/ putting bounties on our soldiers in Afghanistan

isn't it? The waters between our Countries though, should be tainted with the 'wink wink' knowledge that each of the two Countries knows what the other did, what the other knows now. The relationship has been forever tainted, damaged, the asks and consequent gives in return have been forever altered, and S. Arabia, as long as this thug remains in power (and it looks like it will unfortunately), the relationship is damaged seriously. As it should be. I don't want to do business w/ someone that could put a knife in my ribs later if I displease them in some manner.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

19. Disappointing that he won't be penalized

but I don't think that we'll be sending them bucketfuls of arms or giving them quite the "royal treatment" that they were getting under Trump. The price and demands of diplomacy sometimes makes for less than desirable decisions.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. He campaigned on holding MBS accountable. Gross.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

21. He campaigned on holding MBS accountable. Gross.

[Mr.Bill]

22. That's alright with me.

Make it look like an accident, Joe.

[BlueLucy]

23. I'm disappointed.

Can someone tell me what the US needs from Saudi Arabia? They were never held accountable for 9/11 and now Khashoggi's Killing.

[JI7]

24. Intelligence concerning terrorist threats to the US .

[radius777]

26. Energy independence is the only way out of this.

Our entanglement in the Middle East (and concern about the balance of power thereof) is mostly about oil.

The quicker we move to green energy (which Biden is very supportive of) the quicker we can disentangle from many of these rogue actors across the globe.

[EX500rider]

27. Don't really import much oil from Saudi..

...only about 10% of our crude imports...40%+ comes from Canada.

[JI7]

28. It's not about Oil . It's about access to intelligence from the SAudis about possible threats to the

US and other things.