By Natalie Armbruster
Last week, President Biden traveled to the Middle East, stopping first in Israel before traveling to Saudi Arabia. While the trip was chiefly about mitigating the effects of the ongoing oil and energy crisis, President Biden justified his trip by arguing his visit would help the Middle East in “coming together through diplomacy and cooperation – rather than coming apart through conflict.”
President Biden’s perception of the Middle East, and what U.S. policy should be in the region rests on the assumption that the Middle East is more stable, cooperative, and secure when the U.S. is more involved. However, this reasoning is backwards. The Middle East does not need America to drive regional cooperation and has actually fared considerably well without it.
About 2,750 American troops are currently deployed to Saudi Arabia, to “provide air and missile defense capabilities and support the operation of United States military aircraft.” Thus, any confrontation or escalation between Saudi Arabia and Iran risks putting American lives needlessly at risk and entangling the United States in peripheral regional conflicts. If Biden’s rationale is protecting American lives and security, pulling U.S. troops out of Saudi Arabia and its neighbors is paramount.
Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. maintained a rigid stance against Iran, with tensions between the U.S. and Iran flaring on more than one occasion: the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, the drone attack in the Strait of Hormuz, the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, etc. After taking office, the Biden Administration swore to break from such an antagonistic position, reenter the JCPOA, and shift towards putting out fires, instead of stoking their flames.
This piece was originally published in The Orange County Register on July 22, 2022. Read more HERE.