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Dems dust off GOP-stimulated bill to remove defenses from Saudi Arabia, UAE in wake of OPEC’s cut

October 6, 2022 | | Print Article

There’s an old adage that states everything old will eventually be new again, and in dealing with the OPEC+ decision to slash oil production by a whopping 2 million barrels per day, three Democrats have dusted off a 2020 GOP Senate bill that called for the removal of U.S. defense systems from Saudi Arabia, added the United Arab Emirates to the measure, and introduced it, nearly word-for-word, to the House of Representatives.

The newly revamped bill, called the “Strained Partnership Act,” was introduced by Reps. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), Sean Casten, (D-Ill.), and Susan Wild, (D-Pa.), according to Fox News, and, like the GOP bill that came before it, it seeks to remove “[a]ll United States Armed Forces and equipment, including Patriot missile batteries and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system” within 9 days of its enactment.

The proposed measure differs from the GOP bill only in its desire to see defenses also removed from the UAE.

Should OPEC+ follow through on its intent to cut production, gas prices in America will soar. According to the Democrats, the move, which snubs President Biden’s pleas to the OPEC nations to keep the oil flowing, should be considered “a hostile act.”

“Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s drastic cut in oil production, despite President Biden’s overtures to both countries in recent months, is a hostile act against the United States and a clear signal that they have chosen to side with Russia in its war against Ukraine,” the three lawmakers said in a joint statement. “Both countries have long relied on an American military presence in the Gulf to protect their security and oil fields. We see no reason why American troops and contractors should continue to provide this service to countries that are actively working against us.

“If Saudi Arabia and the UAE want to help Putin,” they argued, “they should look to him for their defense.”

OPEC’s decision, the Dems stated, marks “a turning point in our relationship with our Gulf partners.”

If the UAE and Saudi Arabia wish to keep a relationship with the United States, the Democrats argue, they need to work with the U.S. “in advancing what is now our most urgent national security objective: the defeat of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.”

By “significantly boosting global oil prices, OPEC’s decision appears designed to increase Russia’s oil export revenues, enabling Putin to continue his war crimes in Ukraine, and undercutting Western sanctions,” they claim.

On Twitter, Rep. Malinowski didn’t mince words.

“I see no reason why we should defend a Saudi dictatorship’s oil fields if it is using its control of oil markets to tank our economy and help our enemies,” he stated. “Our message to MBS should be: ‘If you want to side with Putin, then ask Putin to defend you. And good luck with that.'”

If you’re remembering way back to the old-timey days of the Trump administration when the United States was energy independent, you need to just stop, according to Malinowski. That’s just silly talk in a post-Biden world, where, if the administration makes it impossible for domestic oil production to actually produce in anything, it’s the producer’s fault for hating the planet.

“To anyone who says the answer is to increase our own oil production — the Inflation Reduction Act requires one new oil/gas lease for every new wind/solar one,” Malinowski tweeted. “But our oil companies have resisted investing in new production. They’d rather spend their profits on stock buybacks.”

The solution, he claims, is to stay the very course that has led us to this potentially devastating point in time.

That’ll show OPEC.

“We’ll have to press them even harder, while pursuing OPEC’s worst nightmare: a buyers cartel,” he tweeted. “Meanwhile, the only way to break our reliance on oil-rich dictators for good is to break our reliance on oil, and become the world’s clean energy superpower.”

The bill, also like the one introduced years ago by Republican Senators Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), suggests the missile batteries and THAAD system should be removed and “to the extent practicable, be relocated to another location or locations in the Middle East, with the priority mission of protecting United States Armed Forces,” Fox reports.

Online, few are buying what Malinowski and his colleagues are selling.

“Oh look the inflation reduction act makes it’s [sic] impossible for us to increase our oil production domestically…” one user tweeted. “[F]unny how that was left out of the MSM narrative.”

“Why are you Leftist liberals all two faced hypocrites who voted to kill US Domestic production for the guise of ‘cLiMaTe ChAnGe’ then blame it on other nations when your half baked ‘cLiMaTe ChAnGe’ policies fail?” asked a self-described Scottish-born Saudi.

A third user wasn’t quite as diplomatic.

“If you can’t control your own produced oil, don’t try to control others production,” he tweeted in response. “As simple as that dummy.”

Melissa Fine
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