Lashing out at U.S. foreign relations, 79-year-old President Joe Biden continues to make enemies out of traditional U.S. allies, and wreck cooperative relations with U.S. adversaries. Since taking office Jan. 20m 2021, Biden has wrecked generations of working relations with Russia and China, now looks to sabotage U.S.-Saudi relations, all because his July 15 visit to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman backfired on the aged president. Biden tried to use Saudi Arabia to bail him out from his failed energy policy that’s left the U.S. and European Union with shortages and skyrocketing prices. Biden visited Bin Salman over the objections of his closest advisers all because his political strategists told him high oil prices was going to turn the House and Senate back to Republicans in the Midterm election. Biden’s trip to Riyadh was disaster with staged fist-bump with Bin Salman backfiring.
Biden was vicious critic of Bin Salman vowing during the 2020 campaign to never recognize him as the leader of Saudi Arabia. Biden blamed Bin Salman for the Oct. 2, 2018 brutal murder of 59-year-old Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul. Khashoggi went in to the Embassy but never came out, rumored murdered by Saudi agents and cut up in little pieces with a bone saw. Biden blamed Bin Salman for ordering the hit on the Washington Post journalist, vowing he would only do business with Bin Salman’s 86-year-old father King Salman. Biden knew at the time that the 36-year-old Bin Salam was the Kingdom’s de facto leader due to King Salman’s failing health. Yet Biden went to Riyadh July 15 to beg Bin Salman to ramp up oil production to reduce the cost of gasoline in the U.S. Biden has been hammered in the polls because of high gas prices.
State Department and Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said Biden wants to “re-evaluate” its relationship to Saudi Arabia, all because Biden didn’t get what he wanted to increase Saudi oil production. Shortly after Biden took his oath-of-office, he cancelled the Keystone XL pipeline, a vital link for the fracking industry, making the U.S. energy independent under the Trump administration. So, once anti-fossil fuel groups prevailed on Biden to slow the fracking industry, the U.S. went from a net energy exporter to a net energy importer. Biden’s July 15 visit to Bin Salman was supposed to correct his failed energy policy, relying only on renewables and nuclear power to meet the country’s future energy needs.. One the Feb. 24 Ukraine War started, Biden quickly embargoed Russian oil, demanding that U.S. allies no longer do business with the Kremlin on energy purchases.
Biden’s foreign policy is built around coercion, telling adversaries they must do what he wants or they get on his black list. Well, Biden has already started a proxy war using Ukrainian troops with the Russian Federation and has wrecked U.S.-Chinese relations stating loudly Sept. 18 that he would defend Taiwan with U.S. troops. Now Biden’s wrecking relations with Saudi Arabia, all because they’re in the OPEC trade alliance with the Russian Federation. No U.S. diplomacy can be built of coercion and threats, that if Bdien doesn’t get his way he’ll reevaluate the relationship. “I think the president’s been very clear that this is a relationship that we need to continue to re-evaluate, that we need to be willing to revisit,” said State Department Spokesman John Kirby. Kirby said Biden would work with Democrats, like Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction the Kingdom
Biden’s foreign policy has painted the U.S. into a corner, threatening U.S. national security. Whatever issues Bin Salman has with increasing oil output, he’s entitled to do what’s best for Saudi Arabia and OPEC. Biden can stomp his feet all he wants but it only makes the U.S. government look fecklesss. Biden “is going to be willing to work with Congress as we think about what the right relationship with Saudi Arabia needs to be going forward,” Kirby said. Biden officials have announced plans to limit the price Russian can sell its crude oil on the world market, trying to harm the Russian economy. Biden’s crippling economic sanctions on Moscow have largely backfired because Russia sells more oil and natural gas to India and China and other BRICS bloc countries, including Brazil an South Africa. Mendendez wants to freeze all military sales to Saudi Arabia.
Menendez, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urges his colleagues to “immediately freeze all aspect of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia, including any arms sales and security cooperation beyond what is absolutely necessary to defend U.S. personnel and interest.” Mendenez would drive Bin Salman into a closer alliance with Putin, much like Biden did when he boycotted the Beijing Winter Games, driving China into Russia’s arms. Biden’s approach to U.S. foreign policy, whether allies or adversaries, is to bully sovereign states into automatic obedience. Mendendez’s approach would hit U.S. Saudi relations with a sledgehammer much like Biden did with Russia and China. If Sauidi chooses to cut oil production, Mendendez should urge Biden to approve the Keystone XL pipeline and provide every incentive to the fracking industry to ramp up domestic oil production.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
