Biden’s West Asia tour which was his first trip to the region in his capacity as the president of the United States was accompanied by controversies and Biden-style mistakes and blunders, some of which caused a lot of laughter on social media and some others drew criticism based on their background, sensitivity, and US claims on human rights.
One of the cases criticized the most these days was Biden’s meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman whose direct link to the assassination of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden had made comments on the issue during his presidential campaigns, calling for prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators. However, this faded into oblivion over time and diplomatic meetings with Riyadh were resumed.
The global public opinion, the American people, and the Khashoggi family, in particular, expected Biden to behave differently during his trip to the KSA due to his previous comments on the murder. However, the media coverage bespeaks that the issue of the murder has been sacrificed for US’ deliberations on oil price appreciation due to sanctions imposed against Russia in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Following the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States, Moscow slapped its own sanctions, including on energy, against the Western nations in a tit-for-tat. This has made the West wary of the continuation of conflicts in Ukraine and reciprocal sanctions, as the cold season is approaching and Europe import 40 percent of its gas needs from Russia. An “ice age” is then predicted in Europe.
The US Treasury Department waived some anti-Russian sanctions on Friday, following the surge in energy prices in this country and Europe and the pressure on the people of these countries, preparing grounds for social protests and street riots. However, since Russia has the upper hand in both field and economic wars and the Russian gas pipeline to Europe (Nord Stream-1) is being repaired, it seems Moscow will continue until it achieves all its goals, especially in the military and economic scenes, and proved its superiority.
In this context, a goal of Biden's regional trip to Saudi Arabia is to ask Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to increase energy production and export more oil to Western countries to neutralize Russian sanctions. And Riyadh, especially MBS himself, aware of the problem in the West – called "begging for energy", tries to solve some of its problems in the light of the West’s need. One of these problems is the murder of Khashoggi in which MBS is directly involved and is a threat to his political future and ascension.
In this regard, an NBC News reporter who accompanies Biden on his trip to Jeddah wrote on his Twitter account that he asked MBS about Khashoggi's murder at the end of the crown prince’s meeting with Biden.
He said that the Saudi crown prince “slightly smirked” before one of his aides grabbed the reporter’s arm tightly.
During his visit to occupied Palestine on Thursday, Biden refused to announce that he would raise the issue of the Washington Post columnist Khashoggi's murder during his Saudi Arabia trip.
He stated that he had never been silent on human rights, adding that he has always raised human rights issues and he has clearly expressed his opinion regarding Khashoggi's murder.
The Fox News channel affiliated with the American Republicans reported on Thursday that the White House avoided answering questions regarding the issues, although Khashoggi's wife said that the American government had promised her to raise the issue during the Saudi Arabia trip.
Washington's double standards on human rights are not unprecedented and this is not the first time human rights issues are victimized when US interests are at odds with cases like Khashoggi’s murder. At the end of the day, Washington prioritizes its interests over anything else and now, oil and energy are a priority.
At the end of the day, Washington is faced with a host of questions in this regard, but it justifies instead of giving a clear answer regarding what could be called the "Khashoggi for Oil" deal. Now, all US officials are scrambling to find a way out of linking “begging for energy” with “following up Khashoggi’s case”.
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