Rubio: U.S. risks ‘credibility on human rights’ with weak response to Khashoggi disappearance
Sen. Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that “there isn’t enough money in the world to purchase back our credibility on human rights” if the U.S. government fails to punish Saudi Arabia over its alleged involvement in the disappearance of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Arabia is a longstanding U.S. partner on key Middle East issues, including national and regional security, as well as a top purchaser of American-made defense equipment. But Rubio (R-Fla.) told CNN’s “New Day” that the U.S. ought to prioritize human rights over a $110 billion arms deal with the Saudi government.
“I can tell you that human rights is worth blowing that up and luring someone into a consulate where they’re murdered, dismembered and disposed of is a big deal,” Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said. “It’s a human being whose life was taken by a direct act of a foreign government by luring him into a diplomatic facility in a third country.”
Khashoggi is a Saudi journalist who had been living in exile in the United States and has been critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other members of the Saudi royal family. He was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain an official document required for his planned marriage.
President Donald Trump last week said he does not want to cancel an arms deal with Saudi Arabia over concerns that such a move could negatively impact the U.S. economy. Trump signed a memorandum in May, 2017, outlining intent from the Saudi government to buy nearly $110 billion in arms over the next 10 years.
In an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, the president did say that there will be “severe punishment” over Khashoggi’s disappearance. But in a brief exchange with reporters on Monday, Trump said he had spoken to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who Trump said “firmly denied any knowledge of” Khashoggi’s disappearance.
“I don’t want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers, who knows?” the president said. “We’ll try getting to the bottom of it very soon. His was a flat denial.”
Rubio said that he realizes that selling weapons to another country also gives us leverage, as buyers have to rely on the U.S. to maintain the weapons. Still, he said, the benefits of prioritizing defense sales do not outweigh the human rights costs.
“There isn’t enough money in the world to purchase back our credibility on human rights and the way nations should conduct themselves,” Rubio said. “We lose our credibility and our moral standing to criticize [Russian President Vladimir] Putin for murdering people, [Syrian President Bashar] Assad for murdering people, [Nicolás] Maduro in Venezuela for murdering people, we can’t say anything about that if we allow Saudi Arabia to do it and all we do is a diplomatic slap on the wrist.”