On the 2020 campaign trail, Biden had called the oil-rich kingdom a “pariah” in response to US intelligence groups’ conclusion that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Biden had resisted directly meeting MBS. But July 13-16, he’ll travel to the Middle East. He’ll visit the Saudi city of Jeddah and meet about 10 Arab heads of state and travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.
When the decision to travel to Saudi Arabia was first reported earlier in June, the trip was framed as about finding any way possible to lower oil prices while the US leads a charge against Russia, a major oil producer. But energy experts say that even with Saudi Arabia’s spare capacity and influence among other oil-producing countries in the region, there is no tap that can be quickly turned on.
Considering Biden's recent polling, this trip to Saudi Arabia could very well make him lose more support with his democratic base and giving ammunition to his opponents, taking nothing home except promises of more oil later and giving murderous MBS general pass of the murders, granting him prestige and credibility of top world leader.
As Biden used to say in disbelief to the outrageous, Come On Man!
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