Saudi
Arabia has benefited from its cozy relationship with the United
States for decades, receiving funding and arms despite its horrific
human rights track record. Mainstream media outlets continue to
lavish praise on the kingdom while largely ignoring its misconduct.
by
Roqayah Chamseddine
Saudi Arabia is being marketed to U.S. audiences as a
nation on the precipice of reformation. But the efforts made by
corporate-backed pundits to whitewash the country can’t hide its
wrongdoings.
Since 1933, Saudi Arabia has enjoyed a “special
relationship” with the U.S. that’s been unbreakable. The
relationship has helped the totalitarian kingdom maintain a powerful
grip on the Middle East, east Asia and parts of Africa, with weapons
and financial assistance as a bonus. During former President Barack
Obama’s time in office alone, Saudi Arabia was offered $115 billion
worth of weapons in 42 separate deals, a figure that tops any other
in the history of U.S.-Saudi relations.
But mainstream media outlets like the New York Times
rarely comment on the country’s brazen disdain for human rights.
These corporate apologists for the kingdom write prolifically about
reform being on the horizon, rarely or outright refusing to mention
horrific crimes committed by the Saudi state against women and
religious minorities, as well as people accused of misdeeds as
preposterous as sorcery.
But it isn’t just pundits who are waxing poetic about
Saudi Arabia. In a posthumous speech that can only be described as
fantastical, Obama praised the late Saudi King Abdullah for having
taken “bold steps in advancing the Arab Peace Initiative…an
enduring contribution to the search for peace in the region.”
Barack went on to say that “at home, King
Abdullah’s vision was dedicated to the education of his people and
to greater engagement with the world.” This is the same king
who oversaw the execution of nearly 600 people between 2007 and 2014
by way of public beheadings.
Saudi Arabia not only enjoys lavish military aid
courtesy of the U.S. government but has also landed a seat on the
U.N.’s Women’s Rights Commission by secret ballot. While the U.S.
may market itself as a force for good in the world, it still
continues to arm and finance a monarchy that regularly unleashes
horror on countless people.
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