The Khashoggi sanction – WSJ

News of the classified report leaked at the time, in part to embarrass Donald Trump. The former president viewed the crown prince known as MBS as an ally and did not want to jeopardize Saudi-US relations. He accepted MBS’s refusal without qualification or moral condemnation, which was his custom. President Biden is downgrading those ties, or what he calls a “recalibration,” which will play well on Capitol Hill with progressives and isolationists who want to keep the United States away from the Saudis.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also announced on Friday what he called a “Khashoggi ban”, a new visa restriction policy for people “allegedly directly engaged in serious extraterritorial counter-dissident activities.” The United States will apply the new ban to 76 Saudis, and it could do good as a warning to foreign officials that they and their families could be excluded from the United States if they act against opponents of the U.S. foreign. Don’t underestimate the number of foreign executives who want to send their children to Stanford or Duke.

But note that the United States has not applied this sanction to MBS, who is the Saudi Minister of Defense and possibly the next king. Democrats and the media are already calling this insufficient and want MBS to be banned if not charged. The Biden administration seems to understand that this would lead to a more serious severance in US-Saudi relations that would help opponents in Tehran, Moscow and Beijing.

Mr. Trump had a moral ethical ear, but his support for the Saudis and Israel, and his opposition to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, helped pave the way for Abraham’s historic accords between Israel and the Arab states. The Biden administration should think twice before alienating the Saudis, who are rare American friends in a dangerous part of the world.

Khashoggi’s murder was a particularly brutal attack on a political opponent, but we can think of others who could be on the new “no-go” list. If MBS qualifies, what about Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin coterie and members of the Chinese State Council ultimately responsible for the arrest of Democrats in Hong Kong? Or the terrorist sponsors in Tehran that Mr. Biden seems to want to woo (see nearby)?

The Khashoggi report and the sanctions send a message of disgust to the United States for a horrific crime. But in a wicked and brutal world, the United States still needs partners like the Saudis.