Saudi Arabia’s ruler, Muhammed bin Salman, recently purchased a da Vinci painting for a little over 450 million dollars. Even through appreciation or depreciation of the currency Muhammed bin Salman chose to keep his purchase secret, that is a lot of money. Especially for a leader- who could be spending on other things. The story surrounding his purchase; however, is bringing into question the character of the leader.
Initially this article seemed like something not worthy posting or writing about. Buying a da Vinci piece is a big deal, but buying a da Vinci piece with the money that could potentially be used to aid those civilians dodging death not too far away, is a much bigger deal. There are about 21 million people in need of assistance in Yemen. These people are there in a U.S. backed Saudi Arabian intervention.
On Wednesday, Oxfam America said, “Millions will die in a historic famine and public health crisis if President Trump’s call is not heeded.” Trump recently called for aid to be made accessible to those in Yemen immediately. With this being a U.S. backed intervention, I think that it is only right for us to fully support Saudi Arabia in their time of need.