House Democrat Blasts Saudi Arabia For Making US Act Like ‘Suckers’: ‘Definition of an Unhealthy Relationship’
Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) called out the “unhealthy relationship” between the United States and Saudi Arabia, arguing the Gulf nation is all too often given a pass on bad behavior.
Malinowski’s comments come as OPEC+, which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE, announced it would slash oil production amid high gas prices in the United States and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The decision has incensed the Biden administration, which has as a result sought alternate sellers for oil.
Malinowski told Politico on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia will “do what we let them get away with doing. We have to stop acting like the suckers in this relationship, and reestablish that the services we provide to these countries require them to take our legitimate interests and concerns into account. And if they’re not willing to do that, then they should find another friend.”
When asked by anchor John Berman on CNN’s New Day on Friday “how the U.S. is acting like suckers,” Malinowski, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said:
It seems to me that the Saudis and their friends in the United Arab Emirates believe that they can do whatever they want to the United States, whether it’s spiking oil prices or murdering a Washington Post journalist and that we will always take it upon ourselves to save our relationship with them from the consequences of their misbehavior.
It’s the definition of an unhealthy relationship, whether you’re talking about two individuals or two countries. And I think it’s time for us to ask just a basic practical question, why do we have, for example, troops in Saudi Arabia, if not to protect their oil fields, to protect the country that is supposed to be playing a constructive role in maintaining the stability of these global energy markets. And if they’re not willing to do that, well, I would say we need those troops and that equipment elsewhere.
“You think the U.S., this administration, has given Saudi Arabia and the UAE the impression they can get away with anything?” asked Berman.
Malinowski replied in the affirmative and said it’s not just Biden that’s guilty of giving those countries a pass on their behavior:
I think every administration going back decades has given them that impression. Whenever they do something outrageous, we tend to wring our hands and say, ‘well, you know, that’s bad but there’s still some important benefits we get from these relationships so we don’t want to jeopardize them.’ I think we have to change that dynamic so that it’s the Saudis who have that conversation before they make a decision to hurt us. I mean, we after all provide a guarantee of their security.
There’s no way that they could — they can’t turn to China. They can’t turn to Russia any time soon to protect themselves. We do so much more for them then they do for us. And yet there’s this dynamic in which we act as if the relationship, the partnership we have with them is too big to fail. And that’s not healthy for us and I think that dynamic has to change.
Watch above via CNN.
