OPINION:
Many of us cheered when President Biden pledged that Saudi Arabia would be a pariah state under his leadership, that it would be called to account for the savage murder of kingdom opponent Jamal Khashoggi and the ruthless repression under which the royal family has ruled its people. Today, though, reality has set in as we make a sharp turn away from the original Biden plan (“Biden comes up empty-handed in Saudi Arabia, but marshals region against Iran,” Web, July 17).
The sad fact is that we need the Saudis. We seek the kingdom’s opening of the oil spigot in order to have supply meet demand and bring down the painful price of gasoline here and throughout the world. In addition, Saudi Arabia is a key country with which we must work to stem terrorism and rogue nations such as Iran, whose acquisition of a nuclear weapon would be catastrophic for the free world.
I appreciate that the president says he raised the issue of Mr. Khashoggi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during their recent meeting and that he said he believes the prince is personally responsible for Mr. Khashoggi’s killing. In the end, however, it is not going to make any difference. The United States will act as it always has, under the credo of “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” — no matter how barbaric and savage that friend has been to its people.
OREN M. SPIEGLER
Peters Township, Pennsylvania
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