[ClearCase_guy]

Parts of the current kerfuffle seem like an echo of the last days of the Shah. Jimmy Carter decided that the Shah did not value human rights and so the US took away our support for him. Much sadness for the world has followed that mistake.

Saudi Arabia is not a good place. And I would support slowly extricating the US from the affairs of the Middle East. But any dramatic rejection of the current Saudi leadership, by President Trump, is not likely to bring anything but more suffering.

[joesbucks]

There, IMHO, will be suffering no matter the decision and actions taken.

[hinckley buzzard]

This is a well worn path to the issue of realpolitik vs Human rights/moralism. If the Saudis want to off one of their own people, what does that imply for US foreign policy as a nation? As you point out, Carter made “human rights” a cornerstone of his foreign policy. It was a catastrophic failure, for which we are still paying a heavy price. To “blow up” our relationship with the Saudi’s would be an equally catastrophic squandering of a key ally in a region of vital national interest.

Buchanan should go back to the pub and leave policy to the professionals.