Compounding an Error
The president recently said that “there will be consequences” in his latest kerfuffle with the leader of our once-close ally, Saudi Arabia. This may be one of the few times in his tenure that he may be right/half right, since we will suffer the effects of those consequences.
As the Exponent implies (“From Fist Bump to Poke in the Eye,” Oct. 20), Biden’s statement during his campaign to make the kingdom an “international pariah” was a sound moral statement while at the same time being a very poor foreign policy one. The reason is simple: While the Saudis’ morality leaves much to be desired, its economic and political power remains vital to the Middle East’s ability to contain Iran’s hegemony in the area.
It’s long been obvious that both America and Israel need the kingdom to be part of a coalition to act as a buffer against Iranian expansion. Threatening the Saudis along with some of his other poorly conceived policies was an unforced error, and compounding it by indulging in retaliations would send the kingdom directly into the Soviet and Chinese coalition.
Steve Heitner, Middle Island, New York
