Thread by @sarahleah1

Lotta talk about recalibrating our relationships w dictators in Middle East from @JoeBiden back when he was a candidate, lotta yang yang from @secblinken & @nedprice @ “human rights”, hold on #UAE arms, but then this:

huffpost.com/entry/biden-un…

Seems the hold on arms to #UAE had zero to do w human rights or reassessing our interests, but wheeling and dealing to extract “concessions” from the emirs: play nice on Iran! 💯 pct guarantee they won’t even do that

Meanwhile #UAE continues to wreak mayhem and conflict in region, arms and military bases in #Libya to support war criminal Haftar; 5 years of bombardment and terror in Yemen; continued proxy forces in South.

Recall this arms deal was the sweetener for UAE emirs to “normalize” w Israel as if they needed persuading, and now US taxpayers have to compensate Israel to make up for it by giving them bigger and better weapons than what UAE is getting. Oh they’re so worried about the UAE!

So what does @JoeBiden “accountability” for UAE war crimes in Yemen look like? 5 years of siege, starvation, deliberate attacks on civilians, and as many years of violating UNSC arms embargo on Libya? 10 weeks of a “hold” on weapons while we pretend to do a “review” 😉

So remind me what the difference is again btw Trump and Biden on affairs with Middle East dictators? Less love in Biden’s affairs, more angst and pain, 10 weeks of careful thinking? Reminds me of that lovely slogan, “killing and crying”.

And my friends, I called it before inauguration: “Among other small adjustments, Biden is expected to return to a more moderate, but fundamentally unchanged approach of prior administrations, which centres on close ties to Israel and arms sales that fuel the region’s arms race.”

This too: “Revealing the truth of MBS’ role will create a significant challenge for Biden, which will have to find a workaround to continue selling weapons to Saudi and preserve America’s alliance w a country led by a documented murderer. It won’t be the first time for the US.”

dohanews.co/what-would-a-b…