OPINION:
Daniel N. Hoffman’s piece, “Don’t believe Putin’s lies in Navalny poisoning” (Web, Oct. 8), repeats a lot of waffle and one-sided stories from international agencies about Russia. But what really got me was Mr. Hoffman’s driving comment at the top of the op-ed: “The U.S. and its allies must not sacrifice principle to do business with a brutal regime” (meaning Russia). To enlighten Mr. Hoffman, the U.S. has sacrificed many principles on the altar of business.
Saudi Arabia created the worse humanitarian crisis since World War II, according to the United Nations and the World Health Organization. It attacked Yemen, killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians and displaced millions of others because they wanted to install their own, friendly party after losing the elections. The U.S. keeps involving itself in multi-billion-dollar arms deals with a rogue ruler who has used the weapons to kill innocent civilians in Yemen for the past five years. This same person, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi, also abducted the Lebanese president and had him under lock and key for months. He locked up hundreds of his wealthy compatriots, too, and freed them only after they paid him a ransom. Anyone who stands in MBS’ way disappears or gets killed. Maybe Mr. Hoffman has forgotten that the prince is even responsible, according to the CIA, for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi-American journalist, and that he tried to kill another Saudi journalist in Canada who dared write about the real situation in Saudi Arabia.
Come on, readers; don’t take any Tom, Dick or Harry’s opinion as gospel. There are always two sides to every story. Please do some checking of your own, as everything is at your fingertips with the Internet these days.
JEAN MICHEL BOUVIER
Johannesburg, South Africa
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