Latest Saudi Big Lies About Khashoggi Refuted
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
It’s hard keeping track of how many tall tales Saudi officials told about Jamal Khashoggi’s state-sponsored murder.
A previous article explained the latest fabricated version. Deputy Saudi prosecutor Shaalan al-Shaalan falsely claimed a team was dispatched to Istanbul to persuade Khashoggi to return to the kingdom, adding:
After “talks with him failed,” the hit squad leader ordered him killed, saying he died from lethal injection, his body dismembered and removed from the consulate.
Turkish audio evidence indicated he was murdered straightaway after entering the facility – suffocated to death by a bag over his head to cut off air.
His final words were “I’m suffocating. Take this bag off my head.” Turkish media reported a second audio recording of his murder.
It contradicts Big Lies by Shaalan and other regime officials. There was no attempt to persuade Khashoggi to return home, no afterthought killing when failing to get him to agree, nothing accidental – everything well-planned in advance.
Saudi hit squad members were heard discussing their plan to kill him straightaway after entering the consulate. Each team member had specific duties to perform. No audio evidence indicates Khashoggi died from a fatal drug as falsely claimed.
On Thursday, bipartisan US senators introduced legislation to suspend weapons sales to the kingdom, along with prohibiting US aircraft from refueling Saudi warplanes involved in terror-bombing Yemen.
The measure also imposes sanctions on anyone blocking humanitarian access to Yemen and/or supporting Houthi fighters.
Virtually no one in Congress is a profile in courage. The vast majority of House and Senate members support endless US wars of aggression in multiple theaters, including in Yemen since late October 2001.
Suspending weapons sales to the Saudis isn’t good enough, assuring they’ll be resumed soon enough if current legislation becomes law.
Ending weapons sales to the kingdom and all other nations involved in naked aggression is what’s needed – especially targeting Israel, guilty of brutalizing Palestinians for decades, terrorizing them, enforcing apartheid ruthlessness, and waging three preemptive wars on Gaza since December 2018.
Short-term suspension of arms sales and other actions against Riyadh assures no change in its policies or US relations toward the kingdom.
A separate Senate resolution to block arms sales to Bahrain for its involvement in the Yemen war was rejected. House Republicans blocked a measure to end US support for Saudi/UAE terror-bombing of the country.
Senator Rand Paul derided sanctions legislation on the kingdom, tweeting: “We are pretending to do something and doing NOTHING.”
The Trump regime and its counterparts in most other countries intend continuing dirty business as usual with the kingdom.
Khashoggi’s cold-blooded murder changed nothing in their relations with Riyadh nor with other despotic regimes operating as ruthlessly – in the Middle East and elsewhere.
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