Democrats Are Belatedly Realizing Saudi Arabia Is Not An Ally

This blog has long argued that Saufi Arabia is no ally to America or the rest of the western world.  In addition to the horrific human rights abuses witin its borders, Saudi Arabia has been the leading financial underwriter of Islamic extremism which it has helped export around the world. Plus, let's not forget that 15 of the 19 terrorist hijackers on 9-11 were Saudis.  Despite this reality for too long America has treated the horrible kingdom as an ally in opposition to Iran and because of American dependence on oil.   With Saudi Arabia's decision to aid Vladimir Putin and to reduce oil production so Russian oil revenues can increase, some Democrats in Congress have belatedly awaken to the fact that Saudi Arabia is and enemy and no ally.  Unfortunately, it took this lates slap in the face to make people open their eyes to the truth of the kingdom's opposition to American values and strategic goals.  A piece in Politico looks at movement in Congress to cease all arms sale to the kngdom and to redeploy American military assets out of the kingdom.  Here are article highlights:

A top Democratic senator is vowing to block all future weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and urging the Biden administration to “immediately freeze all aspects” of U.S. cooperation with the kingdom in response to its decision to cut oil production amid a global energy crisis set off by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The message from Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who has veto power over foreign arms sales, comes amid the West’s outrage at OPEC+ for slashing its oil output — a move that the U.S. and other allied governments saw as a gift to Moscow as it suffers significant losses on the battlefield in Ukraine.

U.S. officials were quietly urging Saudi Arabia to ramp up its oil production in order to boost the global supply and lower prices for consumers in the U.S. and Europe who have been hit hard as their governments moved to cut off Russian energy. Russia’s intensifying assault on Ukraine has tested the resolve of European nations that had previously relied heavily on Russia for their energy needs.

In a statement on Monday, Menendez said the decision helped to “underwrite” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

“As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I will not green light any cooperation with Riyadh until the Kingdom reassesses its position with respect to the war in Ukraine,” Menendez said in a statement first obtained by POLITICO. “Enough is enough.”

In addition to Menendez’s authority as chairman of the powerful Foreign Relations panel, Congress as a whole can vote to block certain weapons sales.

“There simply is no room to play both sides of this conflict — either you support the rest of the free world in trying to stop a war criminal from violently wiping ... an entire country off of the map, or you support him,” Menendez added. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chose the latter in a terrible decision driven by economic self-interest.”

Energy is a top source of revenue for Russia, and Western nations have tried to starve funding for Putin’s assault on Ukraine through biting sanctions and other extraordinary measures aimed at cutting off the Kremlin. Saudi Arabia was under intense pressure to boost its output to make up for the shortfall in the global oil market caused by those sanctions.

It wasn’t just Menendez fuming at the Saudis. The Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, on Thursday charged that the Saudi kingdom “has never been a trustworthy ally of our nation,” citing Saudi Arabia’s abysmal human-rights record.

“From unanswered questions about 9/11, the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the exporting of extremism, to dubious jailing of peaceful dissidents and conspiring with Vladimir Putin to punish the U.S. with higher oil prices, the Saudi royal family has never been a trustworthy ally of our nation,” Durbin said. “It’s time for our foreign policy to imagine a world without this alliance with these royal backstabbers.”

And Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already said several legislative responses are under consideration, including a bill taking aim at OPEC for price-fixing and antitrust violations. The legislation, referred to as NOPEC, cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year in a 17-4 vote.

Lawmakers are also calling for a drawdown of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia as a consequence of the oil production cut.

Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) have unveiled legislation that would force the removal of U.S. troops and equipment from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates within 90 days.

The move would include the removal of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot missile and air defense batteries. The bill calls for relocating forces and weapons to other Middle Eastern nations with the aim of protecting U.S. troops.

Saudi Arabia’s standing on Capitol Hill has plummeted in recent years, even as former President Donald Trump sought to deepen U.S. security ties to the kingdom. Trump repeatedly advocated for arming the Saudis and sought to use its government as a way to counter Iran in the region.

Democrats, though, have mostly remained skeptical of the Saudis, and President Joe Biden’s decision to travel to Riyadh over the summer was met with outrage among some of his allies on the Hill. They’ve argued that the U.S. should not overlook democracy and human rights in countries that benefit from U.S. support.