Thread by @astroehlein

The White House said it was “disappointed” by the decision of the OPEC Plus energy cartel, led by Saudi Arabia & Russia, to cut oil production to try to raise prices.

Biden’s “fist-bump diplomacy” with Saudi leader MBS failed…

Surprise! 🙄

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nytimes.com/2022/10/05/bus…

It was part of US and EU efforts to limit Moscow’s ability to use energy as leverage over third parties after Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine.

But no one, least of all the White House, should be surprised if MBS didn’t keep his word.

When Biden went to Jeddah in July to ask MBS for oil favors –that cringey fist-bump– the Administration surely should have understood who they were dealing with.

hrw.org/news/2022/07/2…

Since MBS became the de facto ruler of #Saudi Arabia in 2017, citizens have experienced the worst period of repression in their modern history.

Waves of arrests have targeted political dissidents, public intellectuals, and human rights activists.

hrw.org/report/2019/11…

Under MBS, people in #Saudi Arabia have been subjected to:

⚠️ torture

⚠️ prolonged arbitrary detention

⚠️ asset confiscation without any clear legal process

The #Saudi regime engages in extraterritorial repression, too, most notably the brutal murder of journalist Jamal #Khashoggi, in which US intelligence itself suspects MBS’s direct involvement.

hrw.org/news/2021/03/0…

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If you make a deal with someone you suspect of a brutal murder, can you really be surprised when he fails to honor his side of the agreement?

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