reflectivepundit

Stopping Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia Is Not Enough

By Brigitte L. Nacos

After stopping at a gas station to fill up my car this morning I knew that the next refill would cost still more than what I paid today. But I also thought about what Washington decisionmakers, President Biden and the Congress, should do in reaction to Saudi Arabia’s and Russia’s decision to cut OPEC’s oil output and thereby hurt US-led efforts to bring the harmful inflation under control and prevent a deep recession.  

US Senator Tim Murphy (D-Conn.) suggested on ABC News, “we” should “rethink” arms sales to Saudi Arabia, following the kingdom’s support for Russia in the war against Ukraine.” Others agreed with the curtailment of military shipments to the kingdom. But even if this would happen, it would not be enough and no recipe to secure enough oil and gas for the West in the near future.

I agree with Tom Friedman’s who wrote the other day in his New York Times column,

"Putin and Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are also probably hoping that the soaring energy inflation unleashed since Russia’s invasion helps the Donald Trump-led Republicans to regain control of at least the House of Representatives in next month’s elections. That would be icing on the cake for both, who view Trump as a president who still loves black crude over green solar and knows how to look the other way when bad things happen to good people."

It is not cynical at all to conclude that M.B.S. (Mohammed bin Salman) and Vladimir Putin are pushing their unholy agenda in support of a socio-economic crisis as the best scenario in view of the 2024 presidential election—regardless of whether the former president or one of his clones runs under the Trump movement banner.

It is high time for Joe Biden and his administration to look for new sources of oil and gas that the West needs for the foreseeable future. Both Saudi Arabia and Russia are led by despotic men and both countries are known for horrific human rights violations. Yet, that did not limit their energy sales to western democracies.

So, why not look to countries that could pump more oil and sell it to the West, especially Europe?

I am glad that the White House thinks along these lines now.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden administration “is preparing to scale down sanctions on Venezuela’s authoritarian regime to allow Chevron Corp. to resume pumping oil there…” Yes, Venezuela, too, has a record of human rights violations, but have they been worse than those in Russia and Saudi Arabia?

Perhaps, Washington should go a step further and resume—along with the EU—negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s arch enemy Iran. About the nuclear agreement that Trump withdrew from and about loosening some sanctions in return for oil exports to the West. I know, this is a very unpopular idea in view of dissident protesters being killed and maimed by the regime.  

But, again, human rights violations have never stopped the sale of gas and oil to the United States and Europe. That can only occur when we speed-up the establishment of renewable energy sources and become energy self-sufficient.    

The Horror of Putin’s Nuclear Threat and Biden’s Armageddon Warning

By Brigitte L. Nacos

While many parts of the world suffer deadly or life-changing effects of all kinds of natural disasters--lethal storms, floods, draughts, and pandemics, there are plenty of man-made catastrophes—civil wars, deadly oppression of political dissenters, senseless mass shootings. But the probably most horrific threat today was described by President Joe Biden the other day as the most serious “prospect of Armageddon” since the Cuban Missile Crisis six decades ago. Biden’s assessment of President Vladimir Putin’s repeated warnings of using the nuclear option in Russia’s war against Ukraine should be taken as seriously as Putin’s nuclear threats.

This, then, is the time to remember that John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev found a way to end an existential crisis. Faced with an ultimatum and a blockade of Cuba by the U.S., the Soviet Union blinked. But Khrushchev’s agreement to remove the missiles from the island came with Kennedy’s promise to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. Obviously, Kennedy and his advisers understood that the Kremlin needed a face-saving give-and-take deal. Never mind that the missiles in Turkey were considered close to obsolete at the time.

Whether Putin’s nuclear threat is understood as the use of tactical weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian theater of war or as all-out nuclear confrontation between Russia and the West does not matter now. The potential of the deployment of any nuclear weapons calls for all sides—Russian, Ukrainian, and American leaders--to think and talk about ways to end the disastrous war for both the Russian and Ukrainian people.

It would be naïve to believe this to be an easy task. The Ukrainians, on a roll in the Eastern provinces that Russia forcefully annexed and progressing even in the South, are not in the mood for a cease fire and peace negotiations. Washington’s revelation that Ukraine was responsible for the recent assassination of the daughter of one of President Putin’s allies was probably meant to warn President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly to refrain from further hostile actions on Russian territory.

Putin, increasingly criticized openly by war hawks among his longtime allies because of the failure of the Russian military, cannot and will not accept defeat. Therefore, his nuclear threat cannot be ignored.

For all the support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, the Ukrainian people, and Ukrainian leaders, Washington, along with European allies, must take the lead in getting Russians and Ukrainians to the negotiating table.

If there is any chance for an agreement, the peaceful end of the Cuban Missile Crisis provides an example that President Zelensky must understand: Without a face-saving deal for Putin—perhaps Russia keeping the long-disputed Crimean Peninsula and access to the Black Sea—there will not be peace but more suffering on both sides.

The Frenzy of Hate: “We used to just hang people like this.”

By Brigitte L. Nacos

In “1984,” George Orwell describes the fascist regime’s daily propaganda program “Two Minutes of Hate” that whips up audiences into “uncontrollable exclamations of rage” and “a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces with a sledge hammer…” All that is achieved within 120 seconds by the big screen hate machine fueled by Big Brother’s totalitarian machine. I thought of Orwell’s post-WW II warning of fascism earlier today, when I scrolled through some of the many “patriotic” online warriors raging against the evil enemies of their America—no longer un-American socialists but now communists in the global cabal of “The Great Replacement” of white supremacy. Today, we do not have the Orwellian two minutes of Hate once a day but a 24/7 frenzy of Hate.

Politics has never been a showcase for moderation, morality, and humanity. But the relentless vilification of the political opposition and the passionate support of liars and law breakers within their own ranks sets certain individuals, leaders and followers far apart from democratic norms. Just think of the consistent support for the Big Lie concerning the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election. Or the silence of leading Republicans after Donald Trump’s “death wish” threat against Mitch McConnell of his “Death Wish” and racial slur against McConnell’s Chinese-American wife.

Last night, James Carville said in an interview on MSNBC that immigrants are needed in this country. By farmers, for example. And now—in South-West Florida. He is right. But the hate and rage against immigrants by too many Americans is far greater than the rational choice that Carville suggested.

And then there are leaders who stir that Hate.

According to the New York Post, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that most looters in post-Ian Florida were illegal immigrants and he would like to “drag them out by the collars” and “send them back to where they came from.” To be sure, looting is always despicable, especially in the midst of a catastrophic crisis, and should be punished. However, the outrage of the anti-immigration America First online army is equally despicable. Here are some sample comments to the alleged looting by illegal immigrants on a social media site I will not identify and thereby promote:

• They should consider themselves lucky they’re still alive. Now please tell us how they were simply looking for “bread” to feed their families, AOC

• Bullet to the head, simple.

• When the lootin [s] starts the shootin [sic] starts.

• Filthy fucking people!

• We used to just hang people like this.

Some of these statements are very similar to those made by a former president during his campaign and presidential mass rallies. Obviously, his fans remember.

Hurricane Ian and the two Faces of DeSantis

By Brigitte L. Nacos

Nine years ago, when Hurricane Sandy inflicted massive damage in coastal areas of New York and New Jersey, then Congressman Ron DeSantis was one of only two members of the U.S. House of Representative to vote against the federal relief package for the struck states. At the time, he was quoted as saying that he was sympathizing with the victims of the disaster. But that did not change his mind.

This week, when Hurricane Ian caused unspeakable devastation in Florida, especially along the South-Western coast, Florida’s now Governor DeSantis lost no time to request full federal reimbursement for the first 60 days. As a starter. And President Joe Biden, who ran two years ago with the goal to unite Americans, went out of his way to assure that Floridians get all the help the federal government can provide for them.

DeSantis, who is running for reelection as governor—and even more so for Republicans’ support in the 2024 presidential race—will be the main beneficiary of Washington’s generosity that he denied nine years ago to New York and New Jersey.

At the time, Tea Party Republican DeSantis could not vote in favor of federal assistance to states with clear Democratic majorities. Now, the Democratic president who has been attacked and belittled by a politician who embraces Trumpism—although seemingly not another candidacy of Trump—suspends all partisan consideration. Rightly so.

Looking at the images of fully destroyed and heavily damaged neighborhoods in Florida and listening to the testimonies of first responders and victims of the disaster, one can only hope that they receive help enough to rebuild their lives—including federal resources.

But besides providing immediate assistance to Florida, Washington should check to what extent DeSantis did not spend the billions of dollars his state received as Covid-19 relief funds. That federal money must now be used on helping Florida’s victims of Hurricane Ian—not on duping and flying exile-seeking people from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard and not on other political tricks.