Biden Caves to the Saudis

The Saudi government calculated that they just had to wait long enough and they would avoid any real consequences from Washington, and Biden has proven them right.

Akbar Shahid Ahmed reports on the Biden administration’s unwillingness to hold the Saudi government accountable for its crimes, including the crimes of the crown prince:

For now, Biden’s team has signaled that it sees the prince as a partner who is going nowhere — and whom Washington does not want to anger because he could threaten the president’s foreign policy agenda.

The Biden administration wants to make it seem as if it is making a difficult trade-off in order to achieve some other important goals, but the reality is that they are just caving to the Saudis and letting Mohammed bin Salman off the hook because it is easier than honoring Biden’s campaign promises. Supporters of the status quo with Riyadh exaggerate how important the relationship is to discourage any pressure from Washington, but it is hard to think of any significant item on Biden’s foreign policy agenda where the Saudi government is a potentially useful partner rather than an impediment or adversary. Then again, as Kate Kizer observed today, it is hard to identify what Biden’s foreign policy agenda is supposed to be now.

On Yemen, where the need to pressure the Saudis is greatest, Biden has been the most timid. Far from cutting off their weapons supplies, his administration has approved two fairly large contracts for helicopter maintenance and missiles. Asma Rassem recently called on the administration to use all leverage at its disposal to press the Saudis to end the blockade of Yemen:

Before more Yemenis are plunged into famine, the Biden administration must use existing U.S. leverage, including all forms of ongoing military support, to press the Saudis to lift their fuel blockade on Yemen’s Red Sea ports and finally allow Sana’a International Airport to reopen. Millions of innocent lives depend on it. 

Unfortunately, Biden has shown no interest in using that leverage to press the Saudis to do anything. Everything seems to have gone back to business as usual, and the Biden administration didn’t even extract any meaningful concessions from the Saudis to get them back to this point. It would be one thing if they had something to show for their accommodation with Riyadh, but as it is they have nothing.

The Saudi government calculated that they just had to wait long enough and they would avoid any real consequences from Washington, and Biden has proven them right. The amazing thing about Biden’s apparent cave-in to the Saudis is that it basically cost them nothing, and now they know that any future criticism from Washington is toothless and can be easily disregarded. Holding the Saudi government accountable for its crimes and pressuring them to halt their campaign in Yemen could have been two early foreign policy successes for the Biden administration, but instead they have refused to do what Biden promised and they have been left looking like fools.