FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 9, 2023
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Reports today indicate the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have agreed to a framework to normalize Saudi relations with Israel, though Riyadh is asking Washington to provide the kingdom with security guarantees as part of a potential deal. Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statement in response:
“Giving Saudi Arabia a security guarantee, whether it is ‘ironclad’ as Riyadh reportedly requested or something less, would be a disastrous mistake. The United States should not be on the hook for the defense of Saudi Arabia. That would undermine U.S. security for no obvious purpose.
“One reason to not offer Saudi Arabia security guarantees is that it could be quite costly for Americans, involving heightened risk of war with Iran and others and potentially increased troop deployments, for no benefit. There is nothing that serves the U.S. interests in this proposed bargain.
“A second reason to oppose this proposal is that guaranteeing Saudi security would enable its recklessness. Late last decade, the Saudis seemed to think they had an unofficial U.S. security guarantee. That enabled aggression against civilians in Yemen, the Qatar blockade, belligerence against Iran, and insouciance when Jamal Khashoggi’s murder was revealed to be a Saudi state act.
“Third, the odds of this deal actually achieving its purported goal of benefiting Palestinians—let alone leading to a state of Palestine—are remote. There is no detail on what the Saudis actually offer on this front. And once the U.S. guarantees their security, the Saudis will have little reason to do much to fulfill their pledge. U.S. security guarantees in practice have proven essentially irreversible.
“The United States should be militarily exiting the Middle East, not taking on new security dependents there. There is nothing to be gained and much that can be lost by trying to manage that region militarily, as the past several decades should have taught us.”
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