Trump Bows to Saudi Executioners
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Imperial logic goes something like this. Self-defense by Syria, other nations the US attacks aggressively, and Palestinian resistance against occupation harshness are considered unlawful behavior.
High crimes of war and against humanity, imperial coups, support for terrorist groups, and political assassinations are OK when committed by the West and its allies.
Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s most ruthless dictatorship, its leading state sponsor of terrorism, supporting ISIS, al-Qaeda, and similar groups.
Its despotic crime family owns and runs most of the Arabian peninsula, masquerading as a legitimate nation.
Wahhabism practiced in the kingdom is the most extreme form of Islam, calling Shias and other non-Wahhabis “infidels,” encouraging intolerance, and supporting terrorism.
Public beheadings, whippings, assassinations, intolerance of dissent, and other grievous human rights abuses are longstanding practice.
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is no political reformer – just the opposite. It’s inconceivable to believe his dirty hands weren’t all over the disappearance and elimination of Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump and regime hardliners want nothing interfering with dirty business as usual US/Saudi relations.
On Tuesday, DLT defended the kingdom saying: “Here we go again with you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
Pompeo raced to Riyadh to schmooze with king Salman, MBS and other Saudi officials. Photo ops showed smiles and handshakes, indicating no change in the bilateral relationship.
Trump tweeted the following: “Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate. He was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo…”
“…during the call, and told me that he has already started, and will rapidly expand, a full and complete investigation into this matter. Answers will be forthcoming shortly.”
On Monday, DLT suggested “rogue killers” may be responsible for Khashoggi’s fate, meaning elements other than top Saudi ruling family members.
He and Pompeo stressed how Saudi leaders claimed no knowledge about or involvement in what happened to him, clearly untrue.
Weeks earlier, the kingdom promised to donate $100 million on the phony pretext of stabilizing Syrian territory liberated from ISIS – supported by the ruling regimes of both countries, allied in years of war to topple Assad.
The money has nothing to do with wanting parts of Syria stabilized, everything to do with wanting accusations against the kingdom for the Khashoggi incident ended.
The funds showed up in Washington the same day Pompeo arrived in Riyadh to smooth over bilateral relations.
A State Department readout of his meetings said he “thank(ed)” king Salman for the kingdom’s “strong partnership” with the US, along with “his commitment to supporting a thorough, transparent and timely investigation.”
According to Turkish authorities, one Saudi suspect involved in disappearing and eliminating Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate is a close MBS companion.
Another is a forensic doctor/senior Saudi interior ministry official, three others part of MBS’ security detail.
On Wednesday, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported the following:
Khashoggi was “decapitated (in the Istanbul consulate) after (his) fingers (were) cut off,” brutally executing him, his body dismembered – overseen by “Saudi forensics expert Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy.”
Key members of the 15-member Saudi hit squad dispatched to Istanbul on the day Khashoggi entered its consulate are closely allied with MBS, almost certainly acting on his direct orders.
Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused Trump of feigning concern over Khashoggi’s fate, calling him a “pharaoh” and a “tyrant” unconcerned about horrendous human rights abuses.
Saudi lobbyists in Washington are trying to sweep the Khashoggi incident under the rug, the Trump regime acting the same way.
Ignored in the furor over what happened to the Saudi journalist is ongoing kingdom involvement in US regional wars, notably in Syria and Yemen.
Khashoggi’s elimination pales in comparison to the rape and destruction of both countries, forever wars raging, the highest of high crimes committed against their people unaccountably.
These and other US-led wars of aggression matter most, largely ignored in Western media reports about Khashoggi and the kingdom, focusing attention on the fate of one man, away from imperial lawlessness, including US, NATO, Israeli, Saudi support for ISIS and other terrorist groups.
There’s little doubt about Saudi responsibility for Khashoggi’s fate. It’s clear where things are heading.
The current storm will pass once it fades from world headlines. US/Western relations with Riyadh remain solid.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
