Syed Talha Shah |
The leader of the ‘free world’, Mr. Donald Trump, recently released a statement regarding the burning issue of Jamal Khashoggi’s death and it has disappointed many. Whereas it may be asserted that the role of higher Saudi officials, in this case, is still not very clear, the more disappointing part of this statement is where Trump has ‘justified’ his ‘stance’! The statement began with an ironic statement “The world is a very dangerous place!”
Since the issue of Saudi involvement in Khashoggi’s death surfaced, Trump has been bragging about the ‘wealth’ and ‘financial benefits’ the Saudi has been bringing to the US. Again, in his latest statement, Trump remarked ‘The Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450bn in the United States. This is a record amount of money’ apart from the fact what the critics have got to say about these figures, here the question arises that if it were not the ‘record amount of money’, would Trump have behaved differently?
Is the ‘Great America’ so much ‘feeble’ when it comes to the oil process? Again, the question arises that if it were not the oil (aka ‘black gold’) would the matters have been different?
Trump analyzed the assessment of intelligence agencies as such ‘Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! ‘That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi’.
In contrast, Trump blasts many ‘others’ without hesitation on charges that are not ‘proven’ to say the least. For example, he has blasted Pakistan, another ‘historical ally’, for ‘knowingly hiding Bin Laden’ If Pakistan would also have ‘benefited’ (or ‘bribed’?) the US through a ‘record amount of money’, would Trump have used the rhetoric ‘maybe they did and maybe they didn’t, we may never know’ here as well?
Moving on, he remarked ‘In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’. Is he asserting that his ‘relationship’ is unconditional no matter what the case is? It sounds more like the medieval era tribal loyalties that didn’t put any moral values in consideration.
Read more: Protectionist Trump and the free world
Trump also vowed ‘It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!’ Mr. President must realize that ‘bowing’ to ‘financial gains’ and compromising ‘justice’ are not quite effective means to fight any foe, let alone terrorism. Rather, it is likely to fuel ‘strong disapproval’ for the ‘moral standing’ of the United States. Where will this take the ‘war on terrorism’, Mr. President should know very well!
Then Trump bragged about the ‘oil production’ by Saudi Arabia ‘After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil-producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests for keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world’. Is the ‘Great America’ so much ‘feeble’ when it comes to the oil prices? Again, the question arises that if it were not the oil (aka ‘black gold’) would the matters have been different?
This is a record amount of money’ apart from the fact what the critics have got to say about these figures, here the question arises that if it were not the ‘record amount of money’, would Trump have behaved differently?
Trump concluded his statement in these words ‘Very simply it is called, “America First!” Ironically, Jamal Khashoggi was an American resident and father of three American citizens – ignoring his killing doesn’t keep America ‘First’! What is the purpose of all the money if the lives of the citizens and residents of America aren’t safe? Furthermore, if the ‘moral standing’ of the US is getting ‘dictated’ by ‘financial benefits’ then is America really achieving any sort of ‘greatness’?
In the end, we are left to ask ourselves some pertinent questions: Is the ‘glitter’ of Saudi ‘black gold’ and its associated wealth really covering its obvious ‘dark spots’? Are the financial gains going to dictate the ‘moral standing’ of the ‘modern world’? Is the ‘truth’ in this ‘post-truth era’ heavily influenced by wealth and power? If the answers are inclined towards ‘yes’ then the world is indeed ‘a very dangerous place’ to live, a fact that has been aptly articulated by the Washington Post Columnist, Max Boot (author of the book ‘The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right’) in the following words:
Read more: The Khashoggi crisis: (Re)Shaping US politics and relations with Saudi Arabia
“Trump’s statement is actually a self-fulfilling prophecy: If the United States is retreating into quasi-isolationism — in which our chief concern is to sell as many weapons and other goods to other countries as we can while reducing our obligations to preserve the international system — then the world will get a lot more dangerous than it already is”!
Syed Talha Shah is a Medical Doctor and takes a deep interest in international affairs. He can be contacted on Twitter at @Drsyedtalhashah. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.