The just-concluded visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif to New York as head of the Saudi delegation to the 71st session of the UN General Assembly came at a time when the Kingdom is facing serious challenges on several fronts in its long relationship with the US.
We have been the Americans’ most loyal ally in the Middle East and yet ever since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the US, this relationship has been under assault. In what is clearly an act of trying to garner more votes ahead of the elections in November, the US Senate has vowed to overturn President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act before they head out of town for campaigning. This bill will allow US citizens to sue foreign governments in American courts, including the Saudi government. While the US government has stated that there was no evidence whatsoever that Saudi officials helped the 9/11 hijackers, legal experts believe that the so-called “proof” presented by families of 9/11 victims will not hold up in a court of law.
The danger for the US government is that this new law will open up US officials and military personnel to lawsuits in other countries. With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, bombing of Libya in 2011 and the ongoing bombing of terror suspects in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen by American drones, the law will open up US officials to a slew of lawsuits in many countries, and possible arrest of them.
A few US senators, including Chris Murphy and Rand Paul, were also campaigning to have a new $1.5 billion sale of American tanks and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia blocked. But the US Senate voted on Wednesday to approve the arms sales to Saudi Arabia. What the two senators seeking to block the arms sale did not understand is that Saudi Arabia faced a serious threat from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who want to take over the country as lackeys of Iran and who constantly launch missiles against cities and towns in the southwest of the Kingdom. Riyadh will not sit quietly by and allow this to take place.
Murphy unfortunately believes that the Kingdom has not shown the US enough reasons to continue the special relationship we have with them. “But if your goal is to create a more functional relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia then occasionally you have to say no … I think the Saudis need to show us something in return, and I don’t see a lot of evidence over the last five years for that to be the case,” he said.
But where has the senator been? The Kingdom’s fight against terrorism both at home and abroad has been ramped up since the 9/11 attacks and we have been sharing vital intelligence with the US and various other key countries that has stopped several big attacks from taking place. In addition, we have contributed $110 million to the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Center since its founding in 2011.
The crown prince also reminded the world on Monday at a UN summit on refugees about the Kingdom’s efforts to help refugees around the world for the past several decades. He noted that the Kingdom currently hosts 2.5 million Syrian refugees and more than a million Yemeni refugees, and that unlike other countries does not like to keep them living in tents in refugee camps.
“Saudi Arabia is keen not to treat them as refugees or put them in refugee camps but to offer the Syrian and Yemeni nationals’ access to the labor market, in addition to the provision of free medical and educational care and services,” he added.
The Kingdom provides free education to 141,000 Syrians and to 285,000 Yemenis, pointed out the crown prince, adding that the Kingdom had already spent $42 million to help Yemeni refugees in Djibouti.
After the bombing of a 31-truck UN aid convoy in Syria late on Monday, it is now more important than ever that the UN plays its crucial role to protect and aid civilians in conflicts, and help broker permanent peace deals to end wars. Although doubt of the UN’s ability to manage conflicts is now higher than ever, the Kingdom can help the UN overcome this obstacle and return to its important role.
Saudi Arabia as one the UN’s founding members can show the world that cooperation and providing aid can help ease the pain of injured and displaced refugees, and hopefully bring the bloody and disruptive five-year Syrian civil war to an end.
We have been the Americans’ most loyal ally in the Middle East and yet ever since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the US, this relationship has been under assault. In what is clearly an act of trying to garner more votes ahead of the elections in November, the US Senate has vowed to overturn President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act before they head out of town for campaigning. This bill will allow US citizens to sue foreign governments in American courts, including the Saudi government. While the US government has stated that there was no evidence whatsoever that Saudi officials helped the 9/11 hijackers, legal experts believe that the so-called “proof” presented by families of 9/11 victims will not hold up in a court of law.
The danger for the US government is that this new law will open up US officials and military personnel to lawsuits in other countries. With the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, bombing of Libya in 2011 and the ongoing bombing of terror suspects in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen by American drones, the law will open up US officials to a slew of lawsuits in many countries, and possible arrest of them.
A few US senators, including Chris Murphy and Rand Paul, were also campaigning to have a new $1.5 billion sale of American tanks and other military equipment to Saudi Arabia blocked. But the US Senate voted on Wednesday to approve the arms sales to Saudi Arabia. What the two senators seeking to block the arms sale did not understand is that Saudi Arabia faced a serious threat from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who want to take over the country as lackeys of Iran and who constantly launch missiles against cities and towns in the southwest of the Kingdom. Riyadh will not sit quietly by and allow this to take place.
Murphy unfortunately believes that the Kingdom has not shown the US enough reasons to continue the special relationship we have with them. “But if your goal is to create a more functional relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia then occasionally you have to say no … I think the Saudis need to show us something in return, and I don’t see a lot of evidence over the last five years for that to be the case,” he said.
But where has the senator been? The Kingdom’s fight against terrorism both at home and abroad has been ramped up since the 9/11 attacks and we have been sharing vital intelligence with the US and various other key countries that has stopped several big attacks from taking place. In addition, we have contributed $110 million to the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Center since its founding in 2011.
The crown prince also reminded the world on Monday at a UN summit on refugees about the Kingdom’s efforts to help refugees around the world for the past several decades. He noted that the Kingdom currently hosts 2.5 million Syrian refugees and more than a million Yemeni refugees, and that unlike other countries does not like to keep them living in tents in refugee camps.
“Saudi Arabia is keen not to treat them as refugees or put them in refugee camps but to offer the Syrian and Yemeni nationals’ access to the labor market, in addition to the provision of free medical and educational care and services,” he added.
The Kingdom provides free education to 141,000 Syrians and to 285,000 Yemenis, pointed out the crown prince, adding that the Kingdom had already spent $42 million to help Yemeni refugees in Djibouti.
After the bombing of a 31-truck UN aid convoy in Syria late on Monday, it is now more important than ever that the UN plays its crucial role to protect and aid civilians in conflicts, and help broker permanent peace deals to end wars. Although doubt of the UN’s ability to manage conflicts is now higher than ever, the Kingdom can help the UN overcome this obstacle and return to its important role.
Saudi Arabia as one the UN’s founding members can show the world that cooperation and providing aid can help ease the pain of injured and displaced refugees, and hopefully bring the bloody and disruptive five-year Syrian civil war to an end.
