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October 14, 2022

Deflection. That’s when someone tries to turn aside responsibility and shift it to someone/something else. Today’s example is the rampage by the White House and Democrats against Saudi Arabia, accusing it of cutting oil production because it is in bed with Russia against American interests in Ukraine.

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CNN correspondent Manu Raju tweeted on Wednesday [Rep.] “Ro Khanna and [Sen.] Dan Blumenthal are calling for bill in lame-duck halting arm sales for a year. Calls for NOPEC legislation. And Durbin this AM: ‘I don’t see any reason to arm them now if they believe their future is linked to Vladimir Putin in any way.’”

National Security spokesman John Kirby tried deflection as he announced the White House’s displeasure: “The Saudi Foreign Ministry can try to spin or deflect…  (but) The Saudis conveyed to us… their intention to reduce oil production, which they knew would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions… They could easily wait for the next OPEC meeting… we are reevaluating our relationship with Saudi Arabia… continue to look for signs about where they stand in combatting Russian aggression.”

The reason the White House wanted the cuts to wait until the next OPEC meeting may have something to do with America’s mid-term election. Why the Saudis would care about that is unclear. The fact is that countries make economic and security decisions based on their own interests and their peoples’ interests.

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America’s European allies certainly do — just last week, Reuters reported that the EU remains the  biggest market for Russian oil, according to the IAEA. India and China are increasing their purchases from Russia, according to the CEO of Gazprom Neft. And, while demanding that Saudi Arabia produce more, the Biden administration is considering reinstating a ban on exports of crude oil as gasoline prices rise in the U.S. Reducing oil exports to our allies would only make others look elsewhere, including to Russia, as winter approaches and their stocks remain low.

The actual cause of the Saudi decision to cut production in the face of Biden administration begging for an increase is Biden administration policy.

Even on the campaign trail, Joe Biden said he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the case of Jamal Khashoggi. Arriving in office, his policies have been a huge win for Iran and a huge loss for countries in Iran’s sights: traditional allies in the Gulf including Saudi Arabia plus Israel, as well as Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, and Kuwait.

First, the administration removed the terrorist designation from Iranian-armed and trained Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have since increased their attacks  on civilian and industrial sites in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In September 2021, the administration removed most of the U.S.-operated Patriot missile batteries from the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait, suggesting those countries could defend themselves. Concurrently, however, Biden announced a freeze on missile sales to Saudi Arabia (the missiles that were supposed to go in the Patriot system that the Saudis were supposed to use to defend themselves in our absence).

In November 2021, Houthis stormed the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, holding local staff hostage. This past February there was an attack aimed at Dubai during the visit of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.