During Donald Trump’s presidency, the Democrats devolved from being a political opposition to unhinged deranged compulsive contrarians
Whatever
stand Trump took, they had to take the opposite. This wasn't about principles,
it was petty, personal, and childish. If Trump had found a cure for
cancer, the Democrats would have condemned him for causing harm to the
healthcare industry and rendering minorities unemployed.
From
the start of his presidency, Trump
cultivated Saudi Arabia and its leaders such as the crown prince
of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Trump made the kingdom one of the
key players in his Middle East policy. Trump managed to somewhat
normalize relations between Islamic middle eastern countries such as Saudi
Arabia, the UAE,
Trump
also worked with OPEC whose de-facto leader is Saudi Arabia, to manage oil
production and pricing under control.
Simultaneously
Trump encouraged and boosted oil production within the US to make it among the
leading energy exporters. Thanks to the fracking boom, oil production increased from about 5 million barrels
a day in the mid-2000s to more than 13 million barrels a day under Trump. Trump
broke the almost 75 years of continued US dependence on foreign oil.
In
the midst of a pandemic, Trump pulled off another energy coup: He convinced the Saudis and
the Russians to voluntarily cut production for, at least for a short
while. The US energy industry supports more than 10 million U.S. jobs, including lots of
highly paid, blue-collar workers. The coronavirus pandemic would have reduced oil demand if the Saudis and
Russian continued oil production resulting in US workers either being
furloughed or terminated.
Under
Trump, the US and Saudi Arabia signed a weapons deal
worth nearly $110 billion in 2017 and $350 billion over 10
years. This was a remarkable achievement and a boon for American
businesses. It was in keeping with Trump's 'America First' pledge.
In
October 2018, the CIA
alleged that crown prince Salman had ordered the killing of Saudi
journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Salman denied
any role in the murder.
But
Democrats saw this as their opportunity. They pressured Trump to condemn the
Saudis. Many Democratic
leaders in the legislative branch demanded that Trump sever severe
US-Saudi ties.
When
Trump refused to dance to their tune, the Democrats accused Trump of being soft
on authoritarian leaders. They even attempted to fuel a whisper campaign that
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Prince Salman were parties to some
nefarious and shady business dealings.
While ‘campaigning’, Joe
Biden vowed to punish Saudi Arabia and make them a pariah for the US over
the Khashoggi murder. The Biden administration said that
“human rights will be the center of our foreign policy” and went
on record that Khashoggi was murdered at the prince’s direction.
It
was expected that Biden would lead the world in their campaign to ostracize
Saudi Arabia.
But
times had changed, under Biden the US is no longer an exporter of oil.
How
did Biden manage that?
Firstly,
Biden and the Democrats support various ‘green’ policies that place impediments
on oil extraction and refinement.
Secondly,
Biden halted oil and gas leasing on federal lands and placed
restrictions on fracking, which was a significant source of oil extraction.
Thirdly,
Biden revoked permission for the construction
of the 1,200-mile Keystone XL Pipeline that was supported by
Trump. The pipeline would have moved up to 830,000 barrels or 35 million
gallons of crude on a daily basis, connecting in Nebraska to other pipelines
that feed oil refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Biden
severed business ties with Russia following the conflict in Ukraine, hence OPEC
is the only choice left for Biden.
Biden
could no longer afford to make the Saudis a pariah.
In July, Biden traveled to Saudi
Arabia to meet crown prince Salman and OPEC leaders and urge them to
increase the production of oil to combat the rising gas prices.
In a bid to be cordial, Biden even
shared a fist bump with Prince Salman. It looked award and desperate and
drew ridicule.
The
Wall Street Journal also revealed that desperate Biden administration
officials urged Saudi Arabia to delay the OPEC+ vote to cut
oil production until the group's next meeting in December i.e. after
the midterms. Biden’s handlers knew that high gas prices were on the mind
of voters.
But the pleadings failed.
OPEC+ allies
announced a massive cut to oil production by 2 million barrels per day which
caused a spike in the price of crude oil, and a further rise in U.S. gas prices
is expected to follow.
The Saudi authorities released a
statement rejecting the Biden administration's claims and warned that "any
attempts to distort the facts about the Kingdom's position regarding the crisis
in Ukraine are unfortunate, and will not change the Kingdom's principled position."
How did Biden attempt to fix the mess?
More appeasement.
Recently
the Biden administration determined that Crown Prince, Salman, should
be granted immunity in the murder case of Khashoggi filed by Khashoggi’s fiancée.
A
court filing was made by Justice Department lawyers at the request of the State
Department because bin Salman was recently made the Saudi prime minister and as
a result, qualifies for immunity as a foreign head of government, the request
said.
https://twitter.com/ragipsoylu/status/1593500020774420481
Amnesty
International reacted with anger saying the US government “should hang its head in
shame. This is nothing more than a sickening, total, deep betrayal.”
Khashoggi’s fiancée
was also gravely disappointed.
https://twitter.com/mercan_resifi/status/1593467080782872576
Democrat mouthpieces such as The Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN Politico, and MSNBC slammed the Biden administration.
Even lawmaker Democrats were angered.
Since the mid-terms are over, they can
afford to be a bit honest.
This is just another mess that Biden
presided upon.
When Biden was inaugurated, the D.C.
experts had claimed that the adults were back in the room and there would be
smooth sailing both nationally and internationally.
It has been a little less than two
years, and the rebukes, insults,
and open displays of contempt
and hostility have been coming from all over
Months ago, Saudi State TV mocked
Biden by running a satirical skit that depicted Biden’s cognitive decline and
President Harris desperately trying to manage him. It has to be remembered that
every program that appears on Saudi State TV is approved by the rulers of the
Kingdom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx3NBiQhQxQ
But Biden cannot
afford to be indignant or proud. He needs OPEC to produce oil and control the
skyrocketing fuel prices. Hence Biden is doing his best to placate Crown Prince
Salman which includes granting him immunity and haplessly swallowing rebukes
from OPEC and insults from the Saudis.
Also appears on American Thinker
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