After snubbing Israel for two days in favor of paying homage to the Palestinian Authority, President Biden left the Holy Land for Saudi Arabia on Friday, where the tables were turned, and the Saudis snubbed the President of the United States.
“The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake,” Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post told the BBC. “It was shameful. It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking.”
In what was clearly an attempt at saving face, Biden raised the issue of Kashoggi at his first meeting with Prince Salman. The prince responded with a challenge, raising several humanitarian questions. He asked why the US was not pursuing justice in the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. The prince also emphasized the torture of prisoners by US troops in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison.
The main mission of the meeting seemed to have failed as the Prince reportedly informed the president that his country was already producing oil at maximum capacity but may be able to increase from 12 million barrels per day to 13 million by 2027. In a speech attended by Biden, the prince added that Biden’s agenda to entirely eliminate the use of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy was destructive and counterproductive.
“Adopting unrealistic policies to reduce emissions by excluding main energy sources will lead in coming years to unprecedented inflation and an increase in energy prices, rising unemployment, and a worsening of serious social and security problems,” Prince Salman said.
The Saudi Foreign Minister added that his country’s “requirements for peace” with Israel are “a two-state settlement with a Palestinian state in the occupied territories with east Jerusalem as its capital.”
No comments:
Post a Comment