You may have read that OPEC, including its heavyweight, Saudi Arabia, decided to cut back on the production of oil right in the midst of energy shortage in the west due to the sanctions on Russia. This has infuriated the US, that had sent its leaderissimo Biden on a visit to the Saudi strong man, Mohamed Ben Salman (MBS), on an influence trip. I recall the media reported that Biden left Saudi Arabia empty-handed, because the Saudis declared that there was no additional production coming.
Now, both the White House and some members of the Congress are even more angry with the Saudis for going along with this cut-back and have threatened reactions, starting with the White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, who declared that «it is obvious that OPEC+ is siding with Russia».
But the most interesting event is the attempt of 3 Democrats to introduce a bill to remove US troops from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate. The 3 representatives from New Jersey, Illinois and Pennsylvania, have introduced a bill to remove within 90 days the 5000 US troops stationed in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirate, and relocate the missile defense systems used to protect oil and gas installations.
As you may already know, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, customers of US arms and weapons, so such an act is not likely to sit well with the US military industrialists, not to mention its political impact n the region. From what I was able to find out, however, such a resolution is not expected to pass, so MBS will continue getting his deadly toys, starting with yet another round of $3billion purchase this Summer (Patriot Missiles).
All of this is nice, even though it is unlikely to get far, but the real tragedy is that the US continues to supply more and more weapons to a country whose consideration for human rights and rules-based international order (a theme so dear to the US) is minimal. Furthermore, committing war crimes in Yemen (nearly half of the bombings hit civilians) and gruesome murder of activists (Khashoggi) abroad did not raise a lot of virulent manifestations from US lawmakers (although people like Bernie Sanders did try), but oil did. I guess it goes to show that human rights is a convenient tool to lambaste countries as long it is used on the ones we don’t like, not the ones that should be reprimanded.
Paris, October 10, 2022
Zeejay