Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with US President Donald Trump. Reuters
Michael Hirsh, Lara Seligman, Foreign Policy: All Alone Now, the Saudis Will Entice Trump With Big Contracts
The president doesn’t seem to realize that the embattled crown prince needs American weapons and know-how more than the U.S. needs Saudi investments.
After weeks of siding with the Saudi royals—and sending his secretary of state to grip-and-grin with the king—U.S. President Donald Trump finally bowed to public outrage on Thursday and pulled Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s dwindling “Davos in the Desert” conference next week. Later, Trump acknowledged for the first time that “it certainly looks” like Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead. “It’s very sad,” the president said.
They were the first indications that Trump may be siding with Turkish officials’ conclusion that Mohammed bin Salman and his security team are responsible for killing Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, on Oct. 2, an act that has left the Saudi regime almost totally isolated on the world stage.
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WNU Editor: The Saudis are currently politically isolated with the West. And while countries like Russia and China are more than happy to step in, especially on arm sales, that is a road that the Saudi Kingdom has no interest to pursue right now. The big question that remains is what happens to MBS .... Intel: Can the Khashoggi case really spell the end of MBS? (Al-Monitor).
7 comments:
The Washington Post provided a podium for Muslim Brotherhood member Kashoggi.
We are suppose to feel sorry for either?
Kashoggi only broke with OBL because of 911. OBL had done much before then, such as kill 300+ East Africans and blow up 2 US embassies.
So Kashoggi supported OBL in 1998 and the WaPo supports Kashoggi.
Ergo, the WaPo does not believe that murdering 300+ African precluded them fromm hiring Kashoggi.
Why is the Washington Compost still in business?
Murder is very wrong. But is there any doubt that many nations have committed murder to further their own interests? Why is this particular murder committed by an overseas nation being hyped unrelentingly by the US media in a coordinated manner? Answer (IMHO): the media is waiting for a Trump miscue to hype unrelentingly to swing votes in the US midterms. Another example: The media is waiting for a Trump miscue with the latest South American caravan heading towards the US border. The coordinated and slanted coverage by the US news media is very worrisome. It indicates that some person or small group of people are calling the shots at a very high level.
While I cannot be certain without inside information in real time, this Kashoggi guy based upon the available evidence appears to be far worse than the Saudi government.
Perhaps the adage "It's a pity they both can't lose" applies. With that said I respectfully disagree with the premise at the top. What is American "know how?" F-35s that can't even survive a lightning strike? Littoral class,battleships that constantly breakdown, Naval crews that are incapable of basic navigation, and fighting forces that are so worn down that even basic national defense of the American homeland is going to be,problematic at best. The headline is, very respectfully, silly.
As I've said here and elsewhere a number of times, the Saudi government is very unstable facing existential threats on many fronts. Unfortunately any replacement will be far worse for America.
I can understand why the Saudi government doesn't want to go down the road of Russia and China. Such a road means being subservient to Iran, their enforcer in the region, and only being able to survive at the pleasure of Iran.
I'm puzzled at POTUS's support for essentially the Iranian position on this. Perhaps it is "show." "Show" generally gets us nowhere long term. If he's trying to position America to prosper in a world dominated by Russia and China, the rhetoric might make sense.
MBS is friend with Trump, only that make him a bad guy. Iran which has around 850 death penalty a year is much much better.
Jac, you hit the nail of hypocrisy with your hammer tonight.
Iran hangs to gay teenagers Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni and the Washington Post yawns.
The Washington Post hires Mohammed Morsi and he gets whacked and the Washington Post gets all upset.
The Washington Post does not care, who they hire so long as he is their _______________!
Guys, the one thing we can agree upon is that
a) the media seems to jump on this one killed journalist only to pin it on Trump. We know Saudi Arabia kills dozens of journalists every year and kills THOUSANDS of civilians for things like theft, adultery etc
b) The rot is deep. We cannot trust any news outlet anymore (and I include Fox, Washington Post - ALL). But what we CAN trust is what we hear and see with our own eyes. The left actually HAS MOBS, yet CNN shouts us down and tells us they are not mobs. Hillary Clinton HAS said on camera that "civil discourse can only be restored when they are back in power" WHAT THE FUCK! cnn gives her a pass. No reporting on it. Do you think that's normal?
Vote your gut. Listen to what the leaders say themselves and verify what CNN/FOX actually report. CNN has a horrible, horrific track record in my book over the last 10 years or so, completely distorting the facts. I used to watch them almost exclusively a while back, but I do not understand what's happening to their programming. All talking heads, talking points, no substance. And NO ACCOUNTABILITY.
Good luck everyone, these are indeed dark times
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