To the Editor:
I read Mr. Krull’s Oct. 17 article blaming Saudi Arabia for not bailing us out of an energy crisis of our own making.
While Saudi Arabia is not perfect, it is the “enemy of our enemy” and thus, as the old phrase states, “is our friend”. They are our biggest ally in the Arab world and solidly in the fight against Iran, the major malefactor in the region. We aligned ourselves with one of the worst regimes in history during World War II, the Soviet Union, in order to defeat Nazi Germany. Saudi Arabia is a benevolent kingdom in comparison to the Soviet Union, which killed 10 million or more of its own citizens just under Stalin’s rule.
Our relationship with Saudi Arabia has been cordial for some time, which has made possible the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and four different Arab nations, UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. In fact, there would likely already be a formal peace accord between Saudi Arabia and Israel by now were it not for the policies and rhetoric of President Biden.
Biden before and since becoming president referred to Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince, who is and will remain the leader for decades to come, as pariahs in the world.
It is an irony that after intentionally destroying our oil industry and energy independence, Biden now blames Putin and OPEC for our present vulnerability. We lost our “energy independence” long before the war in Ukraine. John Krull is attempting to provide to Biden “the dog ate my homework” excuse for his disastrous administration. It was not the dog who ate his homework. Biden ate his own homework. He has created this vulnerability, has diminished the strategic oil reserve built up under Trump and is attempting to cuddle up to Iran with a promise of untold billions in exchange for a fake agreement to not pursue nuclear weapons.
The world is not perfect. Saudi Arabia, while not perfect, is a significant player in the Middle East. Biden has ostracized them, Israel and others around the world with his inconsistent and pathetic domestic and foreign governance.
Our energy independence equals national security for us, NATO and our friends. The seemingly unachievable energy independence was achieved by our prior administration in short order with clean-burning natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel production processes in the world, and a good dose of common sense, while also reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. We are now insecure and begging others, including the real pariah in our hemisphere, Venezuela, to bail us out. That is the true “wake-up call” that perhaps Mr. Krull should consider more carefully.
Paul A. Hass
Franklin
