US Celebrates Citizen's Release While Greenlighting Saudi Repression
Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a US citizen, has finally returned home after being imprisoned and held in Saudi Arabia for merely criticizing government policies on social media. (Yes, for *tweets*.) This apparent diplomatic win celebrates the safe return of one man, while conveniently ignoring the larger picture of US strategic partnership with the repressive Saudi regime. While Washington (and the BBC)
highlights Almadi's release, it sidesteps the uncomfortable fact that the US continues to be a primary arms dealer to Saudi Arabia, ensuring the regime has the tools to maintain its chokehold on free expression and wage war in Yemen. In 2022, the Biden administration approved a $5.3 billion arms sale to Riyadh, including Patriot missiles, barely a month after Almadi's sentencing was confirmed.
(Source: State Department, 'Proposed Foreign Military Sale to Saudi Arabia of PATRIOT MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile (GEM-T) Missiles and Related Equipment', August 2, 2022.) The US government champions 'human rights' when it's politically convenient but ensures the very governments it condemns are well-equipped. One might wonder, how many more US citizens will need to be jailed before the
'strategic interests' change?