Saudi Arabia is definitely more of a problem in the world than Cuba(I mean they fucking funded 9/11 for Godsakes) but I'll take Cuba as a good place to start for punishing dictators for human rights crimes. It's better than nothing.
Saudi Arabia is definitely more of a problem in the world than Cuba(I mean they fucking funded 9/11 for Godsakes) but I'll take Cuba as a good place to start for punishing dictators for human rights crimes. It's better than nothing.
Agreed, after reading through this article (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/cuba) I realized they still have major human rights violations happening today. While I certainly agree we should start somewhere, do you feel that the United States will be viewed hypocritically since our recent weapons deal and visit with Saudi Arabia, especially since Trump didn't mention human rights while visiting?
Don't think so, he told the king right to his face in one of his speeches over there that islam needs to be reformed.
Did he? To my knowledge he only said we need to fight "Islamic radicalism" or something of the like. Saudi Arabia is Wahhabist, it doesn't get any more extreme. So selling weapons to the most extremist country on Earth is generally a poor way to fight for human rights. Every President said we need to fight radical Islam. It means nothing unless you back it up with something.
The problem is he isn't punishing anyone for human rights violations. Cuba isn't good by any stretch, but they aren't the worst either. So if we want to punish human rights violations, why start with the 48th worst offender?
And worse yet, does cutting away diplomatic ties really do it? The best way is most likely to make trade deals and incorporate specified human rights improvements in the deal as a condition to the continued existence of the deal. Obama did such under the TPP; Brunei, Vietnam, and Malaysia all committed to serious improvements in human rights to get trade access to the US but Trump since cancelled the deal and the human rights improvements with it.
That sounds to me like asking them to reform.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/trump-says-muslim-states-must-lead-in-fighting-radicalisation/8545578