US Ally Arrests Dissident in Syria: Silence is Golden?
When an Emirati dissident is "arrested in Syria," as The New Arab reports, Western media suddenly finds its human rights voice. The United Arab Emirates, lauded by US politicians as a strategic partner, has its own well-documented history of suppressing dissent, imprisoning activists like Ahmed Mansoor since 2017. Yet, our State Department typically offers little more than a polite nod toward
'concerns,' while simultaneously securing massive weapons deals for the UAE. (The US approved a $23 billion F-35 jet package to the UAE in 2020). One might wonder if the concern stems from the 'arrested in Syria' part rather than the 'dissident' part. It appears a US ally's human rights record only truly matters when it intersects with a geopolitical foe, rather than when it's simply business as
usual. How many allies get a pass until their abuses inconvenience Washington’s narrative?