One US senator seems angry about the scandal engulfing close ally Saudi Arabia since its alleged murder of a journalist – but for all the wrong reasons.
Far from the brutality of the alleged killing, it’s the effect the media scrutiny will have on Washington’s ability to interfere elsewhere that seems to be worrying him. As one journalist commented on the video of Senator Marco Rubio:
Watch moral paragon Marco Rubio condemn Saudi Arabia's reported murder of Jamal Khashoggi, not for the inherent depravity of the act, but because it undermines the US's ability to impose its will on Russia and Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/rIZeU6jspz
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) October 15, 2018
In short, the hard-right senator wants to take action against Saudi Arabia largely because failing to do so would harm Washington’s legitimacy as a global police force.
But the truth is that Washington needs absolutely no help in undermining its ‘moral authority’.
Now you think Saudi Arabia’s bad?
As many analysts have pointed out, there were numerous reasons to end the US-Saudi alliance long ago; including the Saudi dictatorship‘s:
- Devastating war in Yemen, which has caused the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and potentially the Earth’s worst famine in a hundred years.
- Longstanding role in spreading the ultra-chauvinist Wahhabi ideology behind the planet’s most infamous non-state terror groups; and Saudi links with those organisations.
- Key role in the destructive escalation of the Syrian conflict in recent years.
- Human rights abuses and repression of dissent at home.
When Bernie Sanders called on fellow senators to end US support for the Saudi-led war on Yemen earlier this year, however, Marco Rubio was among the senators who voted against the resolution. So he clearly didn’t feel like the above reduced Washington’s ‘moral authority’ in the world.
The list continues…
It’s not just the Saudi alliance that undermines US moral authority, though. Because the record of Washington’s international double standards is long, bloody, and crystal clear. It includes:
- Countless CIA operations in the 20th century, supporting coups and brutal right-wing dictatorships.
- The International Court of Justice finding the US in violation of international law in the 1980s for a vicious campaign of destabilisation in Nicaragua.
- Numerous illegal US invasions; most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya.
- The murder of civilians via drone strikes in countries including Pakistan and Yemen.
And it includes:
- Billion-dollar support for Israel; in spite of its apartheid system, brutal occupation of Palestine, massacring of civilians, and alleged war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
- Support for NATO ally Turkey; in spite of its alleged war crimes and ethnic cleansing, position as “the world’s biggest prison” for journalists, support for terrorists, alliance with neo-Nazis, fuelling of Syria’s civil war, looting, and lying.
- Sanctioning and attacking Latin American neighbours it disagrees with while supporting highly problematic and repressive political orders in countries like Honduras, Colombia, and Mexico.
- Supporting and turning a blind eye to the actions of oppressive allies around the world; from Egypt to Bahrain, and from the Philippines to Rwanda.
In fact, most of the world’s worst countries for workers’ rights are US allies.
‘Profit over people’ policy exposed
Rubio is perhaps right to be scared. Because more and more global citizens are waking up to just how hypocritical and profit-centred US foreign policy is, and how little it truly cares about human rights. And the more they do, the less likely they are to fall for its lies in the future.
That could deal the US interventionism that Rubio loves so much a killer blow. And it won’t be missed.
Get Involved!
– Read more from The Canary about US imperialism, human rights, and the arms trade.
Featured image via screenshot
