US Treasury Secretary Schoozes with Killer Saudi Crown Prince
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Dirty US domestic and geopolitical business as usual under Republicans and undemocratic Dems reflects how America is governed – things worsening over time, not improving, heading for full-blown tyranny in cahoots with likeminded regimes worldwide.
First Mike Pompeo, then Steven Mnuchin schmoozed with killer Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) in Riyadh.
Both officials met with him mainly for one reason – to assure him and other Saudi officials of full US support. Khashoogi’s brutal abduction, torture and murder changed nothing in the bilateral relationship.
It remains rock solid despite MBS’ responsibility for ordering Khashoggi’s elimination. Official denials were and remain bald-faced lies.
Trump made clear he won’t cancel US arms deals with the kingdom – nor anything else in the bilateral political, economic, financial and military relationship.
The Saudis are allied with US war OF terror in all its war theaters, supporting ISIS and other jihadist groups like Washington.
Its ability to throw large amounts of money at issues like the Khashoggi incident to diffuse them assures continued Western and other support from the world community, notably from Russia, China, and other major countries.
The Saudi Press Agency’s readout of the Mnunchin/MBS discussion falsely included saying “(t)he meeting touched on a number of issues, including joint efforts in the fight against corruption and the financing of terrorism.”
The statement said nothing about Khashoggi’s brutal murder. It’s unclear if Mnuchin and MBS discussed it.
The US has no interest in Saudi corruption, its horrendous human rights abuses, or other internal affairs other than ones related to kingdom oil, enormous wealth, and foreign investments.
Both countries support the scourge of terrorism they pretend to oppose – their claims otherwise fooling no one in the international community.
Western and regional countries are allied with their war OF terror, not on it.
Mnuchin is attending the Saudi investment conference beginning today, after earlier announcing his pullout.
Most government and business officials agreeing to participate are also attending – despite some scheduled participants pulling out. Calls for a general boycott fell flat.
Mnuchin schmoozing with MBS in Riyadh was a lovefest, excluding a US rebuke for Khashoggi’s murder – clearly ordered by the crown prince. No underling official would dare eliminate him on their own, only with his authorization.
In response to the Mnuchin/MBS lovefest, undemocratic Dem Senator Richard Blumenthal tweeted:
“Sad day for America — a seeming sell out & business as usual in Mnuchin meeting with suspect Saudi Crown Prince.”
“Apparent seal of approval before the facts are known about MBS’s complicity in Khashoggi murder. Are we now just a pawn in Saudi propaganda?”
Tass reported that the Saudi murder of Khashoggi left Russian relations with Riyadh unchanged. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov tried sweeping the incident under the rug, saying “we have to wait for the results of the investigation.”
There’s no ambiguity about responsibility for what happened, just all details about it, much already known.
MBS clearly ordered Khashoggi’s murder, dispatching a 15-member hit squad to Istanbul to eliminate him, including officials close to the crown prince.
On Tuesday, Turkish President Erdogan promised to disclose what he called the “naked truth” about the incident.
His spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said information will be disclosed “to shed light on (the) atrocious murder,” adding:
“The stance of our president is very clear since the beginning. Nothing will remain hidden regarding this incident.”
That remains to be seen. Turkish journalist Abdulkadir Selvi, close to Erdogan’s ruling party, reported that Khashoggi was slowly strangled to death before a Saudi forensic specialist cut his body into 15 pieces while listening to music. Other reports presented a similar scenario.
Trump sent CIA director Gina Haspel and other regime officials to Turkey on the pretext of aiding the investigation into Khashoggi’s murder.
It was more likely an attempt to dissuade Erdogan and Turkish intelligence officials from revealing the full ugly truth about the incident and MBS’ responsibility for what happened.
The NYT reported that a source close to Erdogan said Saudi Prince Khaled bin Faisal offered him “a package of inducements for Turkey to drop the case.” He reportedly rejected the offer, according to the unnamed source.
Reuters said a top MBS aide Souad al-Qahtani directed Khashoggi’s murder for the crown prince, reportedly saying via Skype: “Bring me the head of the dog,” citing an unnamed Turkish source.
Erdogan is expected to comment publicly on details about Khashoggi’s murder shortly.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
