A new insult from Biden to Muhammad bin Salman
The American media highlighted that President Joe Biden blew a new insult to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in light of Washington’s insistence on curtailing the relationship with Riyadh.
The Business Insider stated that Biden’s appointment of Michael Ratney as America’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia is considered an insult to bin Salman because he chose someone from a non-military background.
The website indicated that this appointment was made contrary to what most American ambassadors in the Kingdom have been for decades and indicates that Biden is not concerned with the security of the Kingdom.
It pointed out that Biden’s selection of a person from a non-military background means the beginning of America’s shift towards disinterest in protecting Saudi Arabia’s security because most of the former ambassadors in the Kingdom are politically appointed and have deep military ties.
Last Friday, Biden announced his nomination of Michael Ratney for US ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
The White House said, in a statement, that “Ratney speaks Arabic and French, and he recently worked as Chargé d’Affairs at the United States Embassy in Jerusalem.”
The statement added that “Michael Ratney served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Levant, Israel and the Palestinians, and was the US Special Envoy for Syria, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Qatar.”
And recently, American media revealed a message from representatives in Congress calling for a re-evaluation of the US-Saudi partnership and a review of US policy towards the Kingdom.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the parliamentary letter cited a range of concerns about Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record, including the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the imprisonment of opinion activists and human rights defenders, and the Yemen war.
According to the newspaper, the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees and more than 20 other Democrats plan to pressure the Joe Biden administration to take a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia.
They pointed to Riyadh’s refusal to cooperate with Washington in the file of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a range of human rights issues.
According to the newspaper, a senior foreign policy aide in the House of Representatives stated, “Members of Congress have decided to communicate with the Biden administration about a series of indicators about the US-Saudi relationship, and it is considered the turning point; With Saudi Arabia’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion, and its unwillingness to assist in oil production.”
Washington is convinced that US-Saudi relations are at their worst state since September, and the majority agree that the recklessness of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his political disasters are the main reason for this deterioration.
The continued presence of Mohammed bin Salman in his position constitutes the biggest obstacle to any attempts to institute institutional reforms in the relationship between Washington and Riyadh.
Observers highlight that the deteriorating relations between Saudi Arabia and the United States exceeded the crisis of the September events after the Kingdom’s leadership adopted policies based on transparency and reliable cooperation and because the rogue group responsible for the hijacking of the planes did not represent the Saudis.
As for the current deterioration in relations, the responsibility for which is a rogue emir hijacked Riyadh’s decision-making, which is a real dilemma.
This dilemma made the US president obliged to request “national intelligence estimates” about the relationship with Saudi Arabia.
These estimates are considered the most potent American intelligence tool to assist the president in making difficult political decisions and indicate that the US-Saudi relations have reached a critical and critical stage.
The content of these estimates is highly classified. All US intelligence agencies (18 agencies) participate in their preparation under the Director of National Intelligence (the one who concluded MBS was involved in the Khashoggi assassination).
According to the American Intercept website, Mohammed bin Salman is one of the topics on which the estimates focused, at the request of Biden.
Also, the request by the Democratic House of Representatives leaders of the Biden administration to provide a briefing on the results of the review of the US-Saudi relations that he ordered and their pressure on Biden to take tougher measures towards Riyadh is new evidence of the deterioration of relations to an unprecedented level.
