American media revealed that President Joe Biden began to pressure Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to tame him in light of the unprecedented tension in Washington and Riyadh relations.
The Kreindler reported that new evidence recently released indicates the Saudi government’s complicity in the attacks of September 11, 2011.
The site stated that the new evidence revealed the collaboration of the Saudi intelligence agent Omar Bayoumi and the assistance of two of the hijackers and his prior knowledge of the plans for the attacks.
This evidence comes after Biden signed a declassification of previously blocked FBI reports, which stated that Saudi government officials and intelligence officers were working and directly supporting a network of extremists involved in the 9/11 bombing.
The FBI report details how the Saudi government appointed a specialized group of American extremists to diplomatic posts at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, illustrating its support and collaboration in the attacks.
American press revealed Biden’s new insult to Mohammed bin Salman and the future of dealing with him in light of Washington’s insistence on curtailing the relationship with Riyadh.
The American Business Insider website 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.
Biden announced his nomination of Michael Ratney for U.S. 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 U.S. Special Envoy for Syria, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Qatar.”
The leaders of the House foreign affairs and intelligence committees and more than 20 other Democrats plan to press the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on Saudi Arabia, citing Riyadh’s refusal to cooperate with Washington over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a range of human rights issues.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the lawmakers issued some of the toughest criticism the Biden administration has faced from Congress over its handling of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. President Biden described Saudi Arabia as a pariah state during the 2020 campaign and promised to hold the Saudi government accountable for alleged rights abuses but has taken few concrete steps to do so.
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 that members of Congress decided to approach the Biden administration about a series of indicators about the US-Saudi relationship.
A tipping point came, the aide said, with Saudi Arabia’s “rejection of administration outreach following the Russian invasion, unwillingness to help via the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with oil production, and the absence of any clear, unequivocal public statements condemning” the invasion.”
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 U.S. president obliged to request “national intelligence estimates” about the relationship with Saudi Arabia.
These estimates are considered the most powerful 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 U.S. 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).
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.
