Biden Grants Saudi Crown Prince Immunity
Michael Shellenberger dissects Biden's quiet grant of immunity to Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Saltan over the murder of former Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It's a must read
No American president has ever condemned Saudi Arabia more harshly and consistently than President Joe Biden has. In a 2020 presidential debate, a moderator noted, “The CIA has concluded that the leader of Saudi Arabia directed the murder of US based journalist, Jamal Khashoggi,” and asked Biden if he would punish senior Saudi leaders. “Yes,” said Biden, without hesitation. “We are going to make them pay the price and make them the pariah that they are.” And, last month, in response to Saudi decision to cut oil production, Biden told CNN, “There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done.”
But late last night, the Biden administration quietly gave Saudi Arabia’s Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, immunity from a lawsuit for the murder of Khashoggi, who had criticized the crown prince's policies in Washington Post columns. Saudi agents in October 2018 killed and dismembered Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. "Jamal died again today," said Khashoggi's ex-fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, on Twitter. "We thought maybe there would be a light to justice from #USA. But again, money came first.”
The White House defended the decision as apolitical. “This is a legal determination made by the State Department under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law," said a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. "It has nothing to do with the merits of the case."
That’s nonsense. “Under Saudi law, it's very clear that, in fact, the king, in the absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia, retains all authority,” noted one expert. “This is not like the United Kingdom where the Prime Minister actually has powers as head of government. I don't think there would have been much of a stretch under international law to not grant immunity and just to stay silent on the matter.”
It’s clear that the Biden administration intervened in order to appease the Saudis and get them to produce more oil so that the U.S. doesn’t. Shortly before the mid-term elections, Biden made clear that he is deliberately shutting down domestic oil production wherever he can. “No more drilling,” he shouted at a New York campaign rally. “There is no more drilling! I haven't formed any new drilling.” As such, Biden has put the sectarian demands of US environmental activists ahead of human rights and national security.
You can read about Khasoggi’’s gruesome murder - and how his body parts were allegedly found on the grounds of the Saudi consulate in Turkey - here.
The Washington Post (excerpt):
Khashoggi’s fiance, Hatice Cengiz — who waited outside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul while Khashoggi went inside to obtain documents needed for their marriage — and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) sought unspecified punitive and compensatory damages under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act. Khashoggi was killed inside the diplomatic mission by Saudi agents, who dismembered his body. His remains have never been found.
DAWN Executive Director Sarah Leah Whitson said the administration’s decision “not only undermines the only effort at judicial accountability for Khashoggi’s murder; it signals that our government will ensure impunity for a tyrant like MBS … no matter how heinous his crimes and embolden him further.” Mohammed is widely known by his initials, MBS.
Saudi Arabia convicted a number of its officials for the murder, while denying Mohammed had any knowledge of their activities.
But the CIA, in a classified assessment just months after the murder, concluded that Mohammed “approved an operation in Istanbul to capture or kill” the Saudi journalist because he was perceived as a dissident whose activities undermined the monarchy.
Khashoggi wrote columns for The Washington Post and other outlets that criticized the crown prince, who, as de facto ruler even before his father made him prime minister, carried out harsh crackdowns against rivals and dissidents.
President Donald Trump refused to declassify the report at the time, although its contents were widely leaked. Biden ordered its declassification and release weeks after taking office last year.