Saudis thought Trump would shrug at killing journalist, may have thought they were doing him a favor
Mark Sumner
Daily Kos Staff
Tuesday October 16, 2018 · 7:25 AM CDT
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/16/1804736/-Saudis-thought-Trump-would-shrug-at-killing-journalist-may-have-thought-they-were-doing-him-a-favor
On Tuesday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting with Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. One focus of their discussion is the disappearance and suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Pompeo has already thanked the Saudis for “supporting a thorough, transparent, and timely investigation” even though they have yet to allow Turkish authorities into the consulate, have presented a false covert story of “tourists” for a group of Saudi intelligence agencies entering the country, and repeatedly provided false information in saying that Khashoggi left the consulate shortly after he came in. To date, the Saudis have been anything but transparent, done everything possible to delay, and have stalled every attempt to get to the truth. Pompeo is praising the Saudis, when they have not only very likely murdered Khashoggi, but obfuscated and lied on every aspect of his fate.
At a Monday chat with the press, Donald Trump suggested that Khashoggi was done in by “rogue killers.” Killers who apparently boarded a plane in Saudi Arabia, landed in Istanbul, came inside the consulate, detained, beat, killed and dismembered Khashoggi using a bone saw, left in a black van taking the journalist’s severed body with them, reboarded a plane, and flew back to Saudi Arabia. Also on Monday, several sources reported that the Saudis would float a new story, one in which Khashoggi was detained for questioning and “accidentally” killed. But despite wide reporting, no official Saudi source has yet offered up this explanation.
According to CNN, Turkish authorities are reporting that they will, at last, be given access to the consulate building on Tuesday. Turkish sources have previously stated that they had both audio and video evidence that Khashoggi was murdered in the consulate.
Through the whole incident, Donald Trump has insisted that the United States is deeply concerned—unless, of course, it would hurt a $110 billion arms agreement with Saudi Arabia. That arms sale is helping to enable the Saudi intrusion into Yemen, where US bombs have been dropped on a school bus, as well as other civilian targets. The invasion of Yemen is one of the topics that most concerned Khashoggi, and was connected to his departure from Saudi Arabia. But there was another reason that Khashoggi fell out of favor with Saudi leader bin Salman, and that connection makes what’s already an unimaginably ugly incident even uglier.
Saudi authorities banned journalist Jamal Khashoggi from writing in newspapers, appearing on TV and attending conferences, the Alkhalij Aljadid reported in Arabic.
This came after Khashoggi’s remarks during a presentation he made at a Washington think-tank on 10 November in which he was critical of Donald Trump’s ascension to the US presidency.
It may not be simply that Mohammed bin Salman thought Donald Trump would look the other way if he ordered the murder of Khashoggi—he may well have thought he was doing Trump a favor. After all, Trump has made his position about the press exceeding clear.
The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it's TRUE. I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2018
And even before the election, Trump had suggested a solution.
Many journalists are honest and great - but some are knowingly dishonest and basic scum. They should.be weeded out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 7, 2015
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Worth the complete read.
I think Kushner knew ahead of time and so did cheetolini.
= new reply since forum marked as read
