Biden in Saudi Arabia: a ‘mortifying’ climbdown?

Visit showed White House talks a good game about human rights – until there’s something it needs

US President Joe Biden greets Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
US President Joe Biden greets Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on 15 July 2022
(Image credit: Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

So much for America’s moral authority, said Fred Ryan in The Washington Post. When Joe Biden vowed on the campaign trail to make Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) a “pariah” for ordering the murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, “the world had every reason to think he meant it”.

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