As this is being written, President Biden is in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage to genuflect before Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), a murderous dictator. This marks a low point in his presidency and in American diplomatic practice. Figuratively kissing the Saudi autocrat’s ring and literally fist-bumping his blood-drenched hand is cynical and beneath contempt. When he ran for president in 2020, Biden quite accurately called Saudi Arabia a “pariah.” Now he rushes to Jeddah in a desperate, disgraceful and dishonorable attempt to keep the oil flowing in hopes of lowering gas prices and thus gaining a few votes in the upcoming mid-term elections.
By crawling through the sand to pay deferential tribute to MBS, Biden is essentially saying to the crown prince: “All is forgiven–your ordering the murder and dismemberment of U.S. citizen and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi; your subjugation of women; your imprisoning women whose offense was demonstrating for the right to drive cars; your hundreds of beheadings of political dissidents, and your brutal war in Yemen in which your armies have slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians in what the UN calls the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”–that’s all water over the dam. We just want to be friends.”
Here are a few excerpts from Saudi high school textbooks approved by MBS’s government:
It is hard to accept that Joe Biden may be just another craven politician.
I expected more of Biden, much more. Especially once he soundly routed Donald Trump (his most important accomplishment). He came into office as the anti-Trump, presumably determined to right the innumerable wrongs his predecessor perpetrated during his dreadful term. Moreover, I anticipated that, in stark contrast to Trump, Biden would preside over a presidency imbued with integrity and a strong commitment to human rights. Groveling before a fiend like MBS belies that. That is Trumpian behavior.
MBS is jumping for joy at the message the photo ops associated with the president’s visit convey now that Biden has elevated him to respected status. Consorting with people like this is the wrong message for the United States to broadcast to the world. Crawling on one’s knees before a homicidal tyrant is not a good look.
Dick Hermann
July 16, 2022
By crawling through the sand to pay deferential tribute to MBS, Biden is essentially saying to the crown prince: “All is forgiven–your ordering the murder and dismemberment of U.S. citizen and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi; your subjugation of women; your imprisoning women whose offense was demonstrating for the right to drive cars; your hundreds of beheadings of political dissidents, and your brutal war in Yemen in which your armies have slaughtered tens of thousands of civilians in what the UN calls the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”–that’s all water over the dam. We just want to be friends.”
Here are a few excerpts from Saudi high school textbooks approved by MBS’s government:
- “Jihad for the sake of God is the pinnacle of Islam,”
- “The Hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews, and the Muslims will kill them until the Jews will hide behind the rocks and the trees. The rocks and the trees will say:’O Muslim, O servant of God, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him’.”
- “Hitting [your wife] is only permitted when necessary.”
It is hard to accept that Joe Biden may be just another craven politician.
I expected more of Biden, much more. Especially once he soundly routed Donald Trump (his most important accomplishment). He came into office as the anti-Trump, presumably determined to right the innumerable wrongs his predecessor perpetrated during his dreadful term. Moreover, I anticipated that, in stark contrast to Trump, Biden would preside over a presidency imbued with integrity and a strong commitment to human rights. Groveling before a fiend like MBS belies that. That is Trumpian behavior.
MBS is jumping for joy at the message the photo ops associated with the president’s visit convey now that Biden has elevated him to respected status. Consorting with people like this is the wrong message for the United States to broadcast to the world. Crawling on one’s knees before a homicidal tyrant is not a good look.
Dick Hermann
July 16, 2022
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