Biden promised to hold MBS accountable. Now he is accused of letting him get away with murder

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The White House is on the defensive following Friday’s release of a US intelligence report finding Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) guilty of the murder and breakup of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Biden has punished 76 Saudis involved in harassing activists and journalists, and plans to recalibrate the US’s relationship with the kingdom. He puts an end to US complicity in the war in Yemen and puts a massive Saudi arms sale on hold. He is also ready to speak to Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran. And by releasing the report itself, the Trump administration reverses the absolution of MBS.

Biden has disgraced Riyadh and it is inconceivable that we will see MBS in his Oval Office. But he is now being criticized for withdrawing from a vow to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over human rights violations. The New York Times columnist Nick Kristoff said that by not personally punishing the Crown Prince, Biden had “suffocated” and “let a murderer walk.”
Three names have been mysteriously removed from Khashoggi's intelligence report after initial publication

Biden’s predicament highlights the danger of widespread talk on the campaign trail and reflects the murky ground US governments are treading when introducing morality into the dingy, transactional affairs of foreign policy. But his approach also recognizes the strength of a crown prince who is considered reckless and ruthless in Washington – but who could soon become king of an old American ally.

Saudi Arabia is a vital anti-terrorist partner and remains key to stabilizing the oil markets that could undermine the US’s economic prosperity. By dumping it, America’s greatest enemy in the Middle East, Iran, would become more powerful.

Should Biden seize the Crown Prince’s US assets or ban him from entering the country? Some want Washington to point out that the succession of MBS would make close US-Saudi relations unsustainable. But when was the last time the US tried to successfully dictate the shape of regimes in the Middle East?

Khashoggi’s brutal murder exposes the inconvenient truth that the US’s relationship with a Saudi royal family that has used oppression and funded extreme forms of Islam to stay in power has always been a corrupt bargain – a bargain that tensions shows between the basic values ​​of America and the country it really is.

“We believe there are more effective ways to make sure this doesn’t happen again and also to leave room to work with the Saudis in areas where there is mutual agreement – where there are national interests for the United States. diplomacy looks like, ”White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN’s Dana Bash, when asked why the government is not punishing the Crown Prince.

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