Trump’s Unwavering Support of Saudis

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/opinion/letters/trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Re “Trump Stands With Saudis Over Murder of Khashoggi” (front page, Nov. 21):

President Trump’s transactional approach to foreign affairs confirms his lack of understanding of what actually makes America great. Capitalism makes America rich. What makes America especially great is our Constitution and Bill of Rights, including the most precious protections for political and other speech and freedom of religious practice from government interference.

When we uphold those core values in our decisions, foreign and other, we are a beacon of greatness for the world to emulate. When we do otherwise, as is the current course of this administration, we embolden the forces of darkness.

Amy Svirsky AbolafiaDelmar, N.Y.

To the Editor:

Among those expressing dismay at President Trump for giving Saudi Arabia a pass in regard to the murder of a Washington Post journalist is Lindsey Graham. He brought up Barack Obama as one who likewise ignored bad behavior by a Middle Eastern country (Iran).

The fact is that just about every administration, Republican and Democratic alike, has ignored the human rights abuses that are prevalent in Saudi Arabia. The reason behind this abandonment of defending human rights has been the need for Saudi oil.

Robert M. ProwlerStatesville, N.C.

To the Editor:

President Trump’s response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, reckoning its significance in terms of dollars, is sickening, but it strikes me that Republican and evangelical support for Mr. Trump and his administration is equally transactional. In exchange for tax cuts, conservative judges and anti-abortion, pro-Christian government policies, these voters are willing to disregard overt racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, anti-immigrant hysteria and freely dispensed lies and slander, all of which result in deep and lasting harm to a great number of people.

And now, following Mr. Trump’s lead, these deal-making pragmatists don’t have to bother denying inconvenient facts — they can simply dismiss them as irrelevant. What does it matter if Jamal Khashoggi was indeed dismembered with a bone saw or if small children, including one with Down syndrome, were torn from the arms of their parents at the border? Just the cost of doing business! Or as Mr. Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, so memorably put it, “Womp womp!”

Anna Cypra OliverGreat Barrington, Mass.