Many people are condemning President Donald Trump’s continuing support for the Saudi Arabia government and its Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Critics note the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, the Saudi-led war on Yemen, and widespread rights abuses in Saudi Arabia as reasons to oppose the Trump administration’s support for the Saudi government and bin Salman.
Yet, as Glenn Greenwald explains in an intriguing Wednesday The Intercept editorial, Trump’s commitment to Saudi Arabia is in line with a long history of United States presidential administrations, both Republican and Democrat, supporting governments around the world — including the Saudi Arabia government — that have been doing horrible things, while basing that support, including the providing of military and intelligence assistance, on nebulous claims of “national security.”