Saudi Arabia sentences hit men to death, shields organizers of Jamal Khashoggi murder
Saudi Arabia announced on Monday that five people were sentenced to death in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. Three others were sentenced to prison terms for a total of 24 years.
The verdicts were announced at a press conference in Riyadh by Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor. Two senior government officials—one who is a top aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—implicated in Khashoggi’s gruesome dismemberment at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 were cleared.
The court proceedings were closed to the public, foreign officials who attended were told not to disclose details of the trial, and the names of the five people sentenced to death remained concealed.
The essential purpose of the sentences is to shield the Crown Prince and his advisors. The official narrative is that there was no premeditation in the killing because the lower-level men were given instructions to bring Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia alive while the agents went rogue and killed him in a last-minute decision “on the ground.”
Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident journalist working for the Washington Post and living in Virginia since 2017, went to the Saudi consulate to obtain divorce papers needed to marry his Turkish fiancée. When he arrived at the appointed time, Khashoggi was confronted by a 15-member Saudi hit squad—including Saudi intelligence and military men, members of the royal family’s elite guard, and a forensics specialist with a bone saw—and was murdered.
Fred Ryan, the publisher of the Washington Post, said of the sentences, “The complete lack of transparency and the Saudi government’s refusal to cooperate with independent investigators suggests that this was merely a sham trial. Those ultimately responsible, at the highest level of the Saudi government, continue to escape responsibility for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
A Turkish foreign ministry representative issued a press statement that said, “The ruling of the relevant court in Saudi Arabia announced today on the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi falls short of the expectations of Turkey and the international community for the clarification of all aspects of this murder and the serving of justice.”
Agnès Callamard, a special rapporteur at the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Saudi authorities who destroyed evidence were culpable for the murder. She posted on Twitter, “The hit-men are guilty, sentenced to death. The masterminds not only walk free. They have barely been touched by the investigation and the trial. That is the antithesis of Justice.”
Although there has been no official statement from the Trump administration, an anonymous senior State Department official told the Post that the verdicts are “an important step in holding those responsible for the terrible crime accountable. We’ve encouraged Saudi Arabia to undertake a fair and transparent judicial process, and we will continue to do so.” The official added later, “Let’s not lose sight of the fact 1,500 people were killed in recent weeks in Iran, according to Reuters. I’m not changing the subject. But there’s a lot of atrocities around the world.”
Congressional Democrats also slinked around directly blaming the monarchy for Khashoggi’s murder. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and fresh off the Trump impeachment vote, said, “The suggestion that this was a rogue operation or a snap decision is contradicted by the evidence and common sense.”
The two Saudi officials who were exonerated are well-known to have been directly involved in the murder operation. Saud al-Qahtani, formerly bin Salman’s most influential adviser, was identified by the CIA as the ringleader in Khashoggi’s killing by establishing that he had exchanged 11 text messages with bin Salman immediately before and after the murder. The Saudi public prosecutor said al-Qahtani was investigated but “was not charged because of lack of evidence against him.”
The other top Saudi official cleared is Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy head of intelligence.
Assiri had been initially charged for giving the order for Khashoggi’s forcible return to Saudi Arabia, but the prosecutor said on Monday that his guilt “was not proved.”
While Khashoggi’s remains were never recovered, Turkish officials who investigated his disappearance and inspected the consulate found evidence that he had been murdered and that the scene had been tampered with by chemical experts.
Turkish bugs in the consulate recorded the Saudi forensics expert saying, “I often play music when I’m cutting cadavers. Sometimes I have a coffee and a cigar at hand,” adding, “It is the first time in my life that I’ve had to cut pieces on the ground—even if you are a butcher and want to cut, he hangs the animal up to do it.”
Despite a finding in November 2018 by the CIA that Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the assassination, the White House has dismissed it. President Trump issued a statement at the time saying, “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” and that “In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Pressure had been building for the monarchy to finish the case because foreign direct investment into the Saudi kingdom has slowed significantly since the Khashoggi murder. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been working on a plan to revamp the Saudi economy and make it less dependent upon oil. Meanwhile, restoring the full collaboration of Riyadh with the Washington and the Pentagon in the Middle East is a top priority for US imperialism.
PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP: Pathological
liar, swindler, con man, huckster, golfing cheat, charity foundation fraudster,
tax evader, adulterer, porn whore chaser and servant of the Saudis dictators
Opinion: Trump And
Pompeo Have Enabled A Saudi Cover-Up Of The Khashoggi Killing
House Votes to
'Enhance the Border Security' of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia--Not the
USA
US sends 3,000 more
troops to defend Saudi monarchy
PRESIDENT of the
UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP: Pathological liar, swindler, con man, huckster,
golfing cheat, charity foundation fraudster, tax evader, adulterer, porn whore
chaser and servant of the Saudis dictators
Opinion: Trump And Pompeo Have Enabled A Saudi Cover-Up Of
The Khashoggi Killing
The U.S. Military is Sending Thousands of Troops and Even B-1
Bombers into Saudi Arabia (To Counter Iran)
GOP/Democrats
Slip Amnesty for 1K Liberian Nationals into Defense Budget
WHO IS FINANCING ALL THE TRUMP AND
SON-IN-LAW’S REFINANCING SCAMS???
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
"I doubt that Trump understands -- or cares about --
what message he's sending. Wealthy Saudis, including members of the extended
royal family, have been his patrons for years, buying his distressed properties
when he needed money. In the early 1990s, a Saudi prince purchased Trump's
flashy yacht so that the then-struggling businessman could come up with cash to
stave off personal bankruptcy, and later, the prince bought a share of the
Plaza Hotel, one of Trump's many business deals gone bad. Trump also sold an
entire floor of his landmark Trump Tower condominium to the Saudi government in
2001."
“The Wahhabis finance thousands of
madrassahs throughout the world where young boys are brainwashed into becoming
fanatical foot-soldiers for the petrodollar-flush Saudis and other emirs of the
Persian Gulf.” AMIL
IMANI
I recommend that Ignatius read Raymond
Ibrahim's outstanding book Sword and Scimitar, which contains accounts of dynastic
succession in the Muslim monarchies of the Middle East, where standard
operating procedure for a new monarch on the death of his father was to
strangle all his brothers. Yes, it's awful. But it has
been happening for a very long time. And it's not going to change
quickly, no matter how outraged we pretend to be. MONICA SHOWALTER
TRUMP AND THE
MURDERING 9-11 MUSLIM SAUDIS…
Why is the Swamp Keeper
and his family of parasites up their ar$es??
WHAT WILL TRUMP AND
HIS PARASITIC FAMILY DO FOR MONEY???
JUST ASK THE
SAUDIS!
JOHN DEAN: Not so far. This has been right by the letter of the special counsel’s
charter. He’s released the document. What I’m looking for is relief and
understanding that there’s no witting or unwitting likelihood that the
President is an agent of Russia. That’s when I’ll feel comfortable, and no
evidence even hints at that. We don’t have that yet. We’re still in the process
of unfolding the report to look at it. And its, as I say, if [Attornery General
William Barr] honors his word, we’ll know more soon.
WHAT WILL TRUMP AND
HIS PARASITIC FAMILY DO FOR MONEY???
JUST ASK THE
SAUDIS!
*
*
JOHN DEAN: Not
so far. This has been right by the letter of the special counsel’s charter.
He’s released the document. What I’m looking for is relief and
understanding that there’s no witting or unwitting likelihood that the
President is an agent of Russia. That’s when I’ll feel comfortable, and no
evidence even hints at that. We don’t have that yet. We’re still in the process
of unfolding the report to look at it. And its, as I say, if [Attornery General
William Barr] honors his word, we’ll know more soon.
“Our
entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and
Republican
alike, has become a kleptocracy
approaching
par with third-world hell-holes. This
is the
way a great country is raided by its elite.” ---
-
Karen McQuillan AMERICAN THINKER
PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP: Pathological
liar, swindler, con man, huckster, golfing cheat, charity foundation fraudster,
tax evader, adulterer, porn whore chaser and servant of the Saudis dictators
Opinion: Trump And
Pompeo Have Enabled A Saudi Cover-Up Of The Khashoggi Killing
In the weeks
following the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump spent
more time praising Saudi Arabia as a very important ally than he did
reacting to the killing.
Hasan Jamali/AP
Aaron David Miller (@aarondmiller2) is a senior fellow at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former State Department Middle
East analyst, adviser and negotiator in Republican and Democratic
administrations. He is the author most recently of the End of
Greatness: Why America Can't Have (and Doesn't Want) Another Great President.
Richard Sokolsky, a nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, worked in the State Department for six
different administrations and was a member of the secretary of state's Office
of Policy Planning from 2005 to 2015.
It has been a year since Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist
Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul where he was slain
and dismembered. There is still no objective or comprehensive Saudi or American
accounting of what occurred, let alone any real accountability.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's admission in a
recent CBS interview that
he takes "full responsibility," while denying foreknowledge of the
killing or that he ordered it, sweeps under the rug the lengths to which the
Saudis have gone to obscure the truth about their involvement in the killing
and cover-up.
The Saudi campaign of obfuscation, denial and cover-up would never
have gotten off the ground had it not been for the Trump administration's
support over the past year. The president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
not only refused to distance themselves from the crown prince, known by his
initials MBS, but also actively worked to relegitimize him. The Saudis killed
Khashoggi but Trump acquiesced in the cover-up and worked hard to protect the
U.S.-Saudi relationship and soften the crown prince's pariah status. In short,
without Trump, the attempted makeover — such as it is — would not have been
possible.
The
Saudis killed Khashoggi but Trump acquiesced in the cover-up and worked hard to
protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship and soften the crown prince's pariah
status.
Weak administration response
The administration's weak and feckless
response to Khashoggi's killing was foreshadowed a year before it occurred. In
May 2017, in an unusual break with precedent, Trump visited Saudi Arabia on his
inaugural presidential trip; gave his son-in-law the authority to manage the
MBS file, which he did with the utmost secrecy; and made it unmistakably clear
that Saudi money, oil, arm purchases and support for the administration's
anti-Iranian and pro-Israeli policies would elevate the U.S.-Saudi
"special relationship" to a new level.
Predictably, therefore, the administration's reaction to
Khashoggi's killing was shaped by a desire to manage the damage and preserve
the relationship. In the weeks following Khashoggi's death, Trump spent
more time praising Saudi Arabia as a very important ally, especially as a
purchaser of U.S. weapons and goods, than he did
reacting to the killing. Trump vowed to get to the bottom of the
Khashoggi killing but focused more on defending the crown prince, saying this was another example of
being "guilty before being proven innocent."
Those pledges to investigate and impose accountability would
continue to remain hollow. Over the past year, Trump and Pompeo have neither
criticized nor repudiated Saudi actions that have harmed American interests in
the Middle East. Two months after Khashoggi's death, the administration, in
what Pompeo described as an "initial step," imposed sanctions on 17
Saudi individuals implicated in the killing. But no others have been
forthcoming, and the visa restrictions that were imposed are meaningless
because none of the sanctioned Saudis would
be foolish enough to seek entry into the United States.
What's more, the administration virtually ignored a congressional resolution imposing
sanctions on the Saudis for human rights abuses and vetoed another bipartisan
resolution that would have ended U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia's
inhumane military campaign in Yemen.
The Saudis opened a trial in January of 11 men implicated in the
killing, but the proceedings have been slow and secretive, leading the United
Nations' top human rights expert to declare that "the trial underway in
Saudi Arabia will not deliver credible accountability." Despite
accusations that the crown prince's key adviser Saud al-Qahtani was involved in
the killing, he's still advising MBS, has not stood trial and
will likely escape punishment. A year later, there are still no reports of
convictions or serious punishment.
Legitimizing Mohammed bin Salman
The Trump administration has not only given the crown prince a
pass on the Khashoggi killing, but it has also worked assiduously to remove his
pariah status and rehabilitate his global image. Barely two months after the
2018 slaying, Trump was exchanging pleasantries with the crown prince at the
Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires and holding out prospects
of spending more time with him. Then this past June, at the G-20 in Osaka,
Japan, Trump sang his praises while dodging questions about the killing. "It's
an honor to be with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, a friend of mine, a man
who has really done things in the last five years in terms of opening up Saudi
Arabia," Trump said.
And you can
bet that when Saudi Arabia hosts the G-20, scheduled to be held in its capital
of Riyadh in November 2020, the Trump administration will be smiling as its
rehab project takes another step in its desired direction.
What the U.S. should have done
Trump has failed to impose any serious costs or constraints on
Saudi Arabia for the killing of a U.S. newspaper columnist who resided in
Virginia or for the kingdom's aggressive policies, from Yemen to Qatar. In the
wake of the Khashoggi killing, the administration should have made it
unmistakably clear, both publicly and privately, that it expected a
comprehensive and credible accounting and investigation. It should have suspended
high-level contacts and arms sales with the kingdom for a period of time. And
to make the point, the administration should have supported at least one
congressional resolution taking the Saudis to task, in addition to triggering
the Magnitsky Act, which would have required a U.S. investigation; a report to
Congress; and sanctions if warranted.
Back to business as usual
The dark
stain of the crown prince's apparent involvement in Khashoggi's death will not
fade easily. But for Trump and Pompeo, it pales before the great expectations
they still maintain for the kingdom to confront and contain their common enemy,
Iran, as well as support the White House's plan for Middle East peace, defeat
jihadists in the region and keep the oil spigot open.
Most of
these goals are illusory. Saudi Arabia is a weak, fearful and unreliable ally.
The kingdom has introduced significant social and cultural reforms but has
imposed new levels of repression and authoritarianism. Its reckless policies
toward Yemen and Qatar have expanded, not contracted, opportunities for Iran,
while the Saudi military has demonstrated that, even after spending billions to
buy America's most sophisticated weapons, it still can't defend itself without
American help.
Meanwhile,
recent attacks on critical Saudi oil facilities that the U.S. blames on Iran
have helped rally more American and international support for the kingdom.
When it
comes to the U.S.-Saudi relationship and the kingdom's callous reaction to
Khashoggi's killing, the president and his secretary of state have been
derelict in their duty: They have not only failed to advance American strategic
interests but also undermined America's values in the process.
House Votes to
'Enhance the Border Security' of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia--Not the
USA
The Democrat-controlled House of
Representatives has voted to fund
efforts to
"enhance the border security" of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia
while moving to deny all funding to build walls, fencing or any other
structures to enhance the border security of the United States.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
and her lieutenants have their priorities.
To them, borders on the
other side of the world are more important than our own.
On June 19, the House approved a massive
spending bill. In an act of legislative polygamy, it "married" the
appropriations bill for the Department of Defense to the appropriations bills
for the Department of State, the Department of Energy, and the Departments
of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education.
The Congressional Budget
Office estimated this monstrosity would cost taxpayers $984.7 billion
in fiscal 2020.
Yet there is one thing
this bill would forbid the Trump administration from spending one penny to
accomplish.
On page 304 (of 650), it says: "None
of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act or any prior
Department of Defense appropriations Acts may be used to construct a wall,
fence, border barriers, or border security infrastructure along the southern
land border of the United States."
A month later, the
House Appropriations Committee sent the full House a bill to fund the Department
of Homeland Security.
President Trump had
requested that it include $5 billion to use in constructing barriers at the
border.
How much did the
committee give him?
"No funding is
provided in the bill for new physical barriers along the southwest
border," said the committee
report.
It also said, "The
recommendation provides no funding for additional Border Patrol Agents."
Thus, the
Democrat-controlled House is advancing discretionary appropriations bills that
would spend more than $1 trillion in one year but provide zero dollars to build
physical barriers to stop illegal aliens, human traffickers and drug smugglers
from crossing our southern border.
Yet that does not mean
the Democrat-controlled House is not planning to spend some money to enhance
border security.
It just depends where
the border is.
In that 650-page
spending bill that prohibits Defense Department money from being used to defend
the southern border of the United States, there is a section that creates a
$1.295 billion fund for use by the secretary of defense.
"For the
'Counter-Islamic State of Iraq and Syria Train and Equip Fund', $1,295,000,000,
to remain available until September 30, 2021," says the bill.
"Provided, That such funds shall be available to the secretary of defense
in coordination with the Secretary of State, to provide assistance, including
training; equipment; logistics support, supplies, and services; stipends;
infrastructure repair and renovation; and sustainment, to foreign security
forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals participating, or preparing to
participate in activities to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and
their affiliated or associated groups."
"Provided
further," says the bill, "That these funds may be used in such
amounts as the Secretary of Defense may determine to enhance the border
security of nations adjacent to conflict areas including Jordan, Lebanon,
Egypt, and Tunisia resulting from actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria."
So, the secretary of
defense could take a chunk of this $1.295 billion and give it to the government
of Egypt to secure its border with post-Gadhafi Libya, where ISIS is
active.
And he could give a
chunk to Tunisia to secure its border with Libya.
Or he could give some
American tax dollars to unnamed "irregular forces, groups, or
individuals" who, someplace in this world, are "preparing to
participate in activities" to counter ISIS, or at least groups that are
"affiliated or associated" with ISIS.
But according to the
House appropriations bills, President Trump cannot spend a penny to build
structures at our own border to secure our own territory and our own people.
By contrast, the
Republican-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a Homeland
Security spending bill that does include $5 billion to build "pedestrian
fencing" — to stop people on foot and in vehicles from crossing our
southern border. Also, that committee's defense spending bill does not prohibit
the president from using defense money to build barriers to defend our own
border.
It even includes a
larger fund ($1.8 billion) than the House bill that, among other things, can be
used "for enhanced border security" not only in Jordan, Lebanon,
Egypt and Tunisia but also in Oman.
We are now more than a
month into fiscal 2020. The government is running on a continuing resolution
that expires Nov. 21.
President Trump should
deliver a simple message to Speaker Pelosi: He is not going to sign a spending
bill that funds border security in Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia but not
California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
He should put America
first — even if Pelosi will shut down the government trying to stop him.
(Terence
P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSNews.com.)
US sends 3,000 more
troops to defend Saudi monarchy
The Pentagon confirmed Friday that
3,000 more US troops are being deployed to Saudi Arabia to defend the blood-soaked
monarchy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and prepare for war against
Iran.
The deployment includes two fighter
squadrons, one Air Expeditionary Wing (AEW), two more Patriot missile
batteries, and one Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD).
According to a Pentagon statement
Friday, the US Secretary of Defense phoned Crown Prince bin Salman (who also
holds the post of Saudi minister of defense) to inform him of the coming
reinforcements, which he said were meant “to assure and enhance the defense of
Saudi Arabia.”
The Pentagon also acknowledged that
the latest escalation brings the number of additional troops sent into the
Persian Gulf region since May to 14,000. They have been accompanied by an
armada of US warships and a B-52-led bomber task force. The Pentagon has also
announced that an aircraft carrier-led battle group will remain in the Persian
Gulf.
US soldiers deployed in the Middle
East (U.S. Army by 1st Lt. Jesse Glenn)
While initiated as a supposed
response to unspecified threats from Iran, the US buildup in the Persian Gulf
region has constituted from its outset a military provocation and preparation
for a war of aggression. This military buildup has accompanied Washington’s
so-called “maximum pressure” campaign of sweeping economic sanctions that are
tantamount to a state of war. The aim, as the Trump administration has stated
publicly, is to drive Iranian oil exports down to zero. By depriving Iran of
its principal source of export income, Washington hopes to starve the Iranian
people into submission and pave the way to regime change, bringing to power a
US puppet regime in Tehran.
The latest military buildup was
announced in the immediate aftermath of an attack on an Iranian tanker in the
Red Sea, about 60 miles from the Saudi port of Jeddah.
The National Iranian Tanker Co.
reported that its oil tanker, the Sabiti, was struck twice by explosives early
Friday morning, leaving two holes in the vessel and causing a brief oil spill
into the Red Sea.
While Iranian state news media blamed
the damage on missile attacks, a spokesman for the company told the Wall
Street Journal that the company was not sure of the cause.
Some security analysts have suggested
that the fairly minor damage to the vessel could have been caused by limpet
mines. Such mines were apparently used last June when two tankers—one Japanese
and one Norwegian-owned—were hit by explosions in the Sea of Oman. At the time,
Washington blamed the attacks on Iran, without providing any evidence. Tehran
denied the charge, saying that it sent teams to rescue crew member of the
damaged tankers.
The Iranian Students News Agency
(ISNA) quoted an unnamed Iranian government official as stating that the
Iranian tanker had been the victim of a “terrorist attack.”
“Examination of the details and
perpetrators of this dangerous action continues and will be announced after
reaching the result,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.
The National Iranian Tanker Co.
issued a statement saying that there was no evidence that Saudi Arabia was
behind the attack.
The incident raised the specter of an
escalating tanker war that could disrupt shipping through the strategic Strait
of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil supply flows. News of
the attack sent crude oil prices spiking by 2 percent.
In addition to the June attacks on
the tankers in the Gulf of Oman, in July British commandos, acting on a request
from Washington, stormed an Iranian super tanker, the Grace 1, in waters off
the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. In apparent retaliation, Iranian
Revolutionary Guards seized the British-flagged Stena Impero for what Tehran
charged were violations of international maritime regulations as it passed
through the Strait of Hormuz. Both tankers were subsequently released.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo issued a statement charging that the Iranian super tanker,
renamed the Adrian Darya 1, had offloaded its oil in Syria in violation of
European Union sanctions and a pledge made by Tehran to the UK at the time of
the vessel’s release. He demanded provocatively that “EU members should condemn
this action, uphold the rule of law, and hold Iran accountable.”
The Trump administration, which in
May of last year unilaterally and illegally abrogated the 2015 nuclear
agreement between Tehran and the major powers has been pressuring the European
signatories to the deal—Germany, France and the UK—to follow suit.
While the respective governments of
the three countries have insisted that they still support the nuclear
agreement, they have repeatedly bowed to Washington’s war drive, while failing
to take any significant actions to counter the effects of the US “maximum
pressure” campaign and deliver to Tehran the sanctions relief and economic
normalization that it was promised in exchange for curtailing its nuclear
program.
Most recently, the three European
governments backed Washington in blaming Iran for a September 14 attack on
Saudi oil facilities that temporarily shut down half of the kingdom’s oil production
and sent crude prices spiraling by 20 percent—again without providing a shred
of proof.
Washington is seeking to topple the
Iranian regime or bully it into accepting complete subordination to US
imperialist predatory interests in the energy-rich and geostrategically vital
Middle East.
The US sanctions regime and military
buildup have placed the entire region on a hair trigger for the outbreak of a
catastrophic war that could engulf not only the Middle East, but the entire
planet.
All of the regimes involved in the
escalating conflict are gripped by crises that make the drive to war all the
more explosive.
The impact of the sanctions on Iran’s
economy has been devastating. It is estimated that oil exports last month fell
to just 400,000 barrels per day (b/d), compared to 1.95 million b/d in
September 2018. Left with little means of combating spiraling inflation and
growing unemployment, Iran’s bourgeois-clerical regime is caught between
intense pressure from imperialism on the one hand, and the growth of social
opposition among Iranian workers and poor on the other.
The Saudi monarchy is confronting the
debacle of its four-year-old and near genocidal war against the people of
Yemen, made possible by the weapons and logistical aid provided by Washington,
even as Prince bin Salman remains a global pariah for his ordering of the
grisly assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year in
Istanbul.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu,
incapable of forming a new government after two elections and confronting
criminal indictments, has grown increasingly concerned over the apparent lack
of appetite by the Persian Gulf Sunni monarchies for military confrontation
with Iran and Washington’s failure to carry out military strikes after the
downing of its drone in June and the attacks on the Saudi oil facilities last
month. Clearly, Tel Aviv, which has cast Iran as its strategic enemy, would
have a motive for attacking Iranian tankers in the hopes of provoking a
response that could lead to US military action.
And then there is Trump. He has
proclaimed his determination to halt the “endless wars” in the Middle East and
provoked a political firestorm by pulling back a relative handful of US troops
in Syria, allowing Turkey to launch a long-planned attack on the Pentagon’s
erstwhile proxy force, the Kurdish-dominated YPG militia.
Faced with an escalating political
crisis and growing social tensions within the US, along with an impeachment
investigation by the Democrats in Congress that is focused entirely on the
national security concerns of the CIA and the Pentagon, he has ample motive for
launching a new war.
While the Democrats’ exclusive focus
on Trump’s failure to pursue a sufficiently bellicose policy against Russia and
prosecute the war for regime change in Syria has allowed the US president to
absurdly posture as an opponent of war, the reality is that he has overseen a
staggering increase in military spending designed to prepare for “great power”
confrontations, particularly with China.
Meanwhile, whatever his political
pretense, Trump has done nothing to end any of the wars in the Middle East.
While he has ordered US troops to pull back, allowing the Turkish invasion,
none of them have been withdrawn from Syria.
With the latest buildup of US forces in
Saudi Arabia, Washington is preparing, behind the backs of the working class,
to launch a catastrophic military conflict with Iran. The most urgent task
posed by these developments is the building of a global antiwar movement led by
the working class. This movement must be armed with a socialist and
internationalist program to unify working people in the United States, Europe
and the Middle East in a common struggle against imperialist war and its
source, the capitalist system.
TRUMP AND THE
MURDERING 9-11 MUSLIM SAUDIS…
Why is the Swamp Keeper
and his family of parasites up their ar$es??
WHAT WILL TRUMP AND HIS
PARASITIC FAMILY DO FOR MONEY???
JUST ASK THE SAUDIS!
JOHN DEAN: Not so far. This has been right by the letter of the special counsel’s
charter. He’s released the document. What I’m looking for is relief and
understanding that there’s no witting or unwitting likelihood that the
President is an agent of Russia. That’s when I’ll feel comfortable, and no
evidence even hints at that. We don’t have that yet. We’re still in the process
of unfolding the report to look at it. And its, as I say, if [Attornery General
William Barr] honors his word, we’ll know more soon.
“Our entire crony capitalist system,
Democrat and
Republican alike, has become a
kleptocracy
approaching par with third-world
hell-holes. This
is the way a great country is raided
by its elite.” ---
- Karen McQuillan AMERICAN THINKER
PRESIDENT of the
UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP: Pathological liar, swindler, con man, huckster,
golfing cheat, charity foundation fraudster, tax evader, adulterer, porn whore
chaser and servant of the Saudis dictators
THE TRUMP FAMILY FOUNDATION SLUSH FUND…. Will they see jail?
VISUALIZE REVOLUTION!.... We know where they live!
“Underwood is a Democrat and is seeking millions of dollars in
penalties. She wants Trump and his eldest children barred from running other
charities.”
Opinion: Trump And Pompeo Have Enabled A Saudi Cover-Up Of
The Khashoggi Killing
October
2, 201911:45 AM ET
AARON DAVID MILLER
RICHARD SOKOLSKY
In the
weeks following the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump
spent more time praising Saudi Arabia as a very important ally than he did
reacting to the killing.
Hasan
Jamali/AP
Aaron
David Miller (@aarondmiller2) is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace and a former State Department Middle East analyst, adviser
and negotiator in Republican and Democratic administrations. He is the author
most recently of the End of Greatness: Why America Can't Have (and Doesn't Want)
Another Great President.
Richard
Sokolsky, a nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, worked in the State Department for six different
administrations and was a member of the secretary of state's Office of Policy
Planning from 2005 to 2015.
It has been a year since Saudi journalist
and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered
Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul where he was slain and dismembered. There
is still no objective or comprehensive Saudi or American accounting of what
occurred, let alone any real accountability.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman's admission in a recent CBS interview that
he takes "full responsibility," while denying foreknowledge of the
killing or that he ordered it, sweeps under the rug the lengths to which the
Saudis have gone to obscure the truth about their involvement in the killing
and cover-up.
The Saudi campaign of obfuscation, denial and
cover-up would never have gotten off the ground had it not been for the Trump
administration's support over the past year. The president and Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo not only refused to distance themselves from the crown
prince, known by his initials MBS, but also actively worked to relegitimize
him. The Saudis killed Khashoggi but Trump acquiesced in the cover-up and
worked hard to protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship and soften the crown
prince's pariah status. In short, without Trump, the attempted makeover — such
as it is — would not have been possible.
The Saudis killed Khashoggi but Trump
acquiesced in the cover-up and worked hard to protect the U.S.-Saudi
relationship and soften the crown prince's pariah status.
Weak administration response
The administration's weak and feckless
response to Khashoggi's killing was foreshadowed a year before it occurred. In
May 2017, in an unusual break with precedent, Trump visited Saudi Arabia on his
inaugural presidential trip; gave his son-in-law the authority to manage the
MBS file, which he did with the utmost secrecy; and made it unmistakably clear
that Saudi money, oil, arm purchases and support for the administration's
anti-Iranian and pro-Israeli policies would elevate the U.S.-Saudi
"special relationship" to a new level.
Predictably, therefore, the
administration's reaction to Khashoggi's killing was shaped by a desire to
manage the damage and preserve the relationship. In the weeks following
Khashoggi's death, Trump spent more time praising Saudi Arabia as a very
important ally, especially as a purchaser of U.S. weapons and goods, than he did reacting to the killing. Trump
vowed to get to the bottom of the Khashoggi killing but focused more on
defending the crown prince, saying this was another example of
being "guilty before being proven innocent."
Those pledges to investigate and impose
accountability would continue to remain hollow. Over the past year, Trump and
Pompeo have neither criticized nor repudiated Saudi actions that have harmed
American interests in the Middle East. Two months after Khashoggi's death, the
administration, in what Pompeo described as an "initial step," imposed sanctions on
17 Saudi individuals implicated in the killing. But no others have been
forthcoming, and the visa restrictions that were imposed are meaningless
because none of the sanctioned Saudis would be
foolish enough to seek entry into the United States.
What's more, the administration
virtually ignored a congressional resolution imposing
sanctions on the Saudis for human rights abuses and vetoed another bipartisan
resolution that would have ended U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia's
inhumane military campaign in Yemen.
The Saudis opened a trial in January of
11 men implicated in the killing, but the proceedings have been slow and
secretive, leading the United Nations' top human rights expert to declare that
"the trial underway in Saudi Arabia will not deliver credible
accountability." Despite accusations that the crown prince's key adviser
Saud al-Qahtani was involved in the killing, he's still advising MBS, has not stood trial and
will likely escape punishment. A year later, there are still no reports of
convictions or serious punishment.
Legitimizing Mohammed bin
Salman
The Trump administration has not only
given the crown prince a pass on the Khashoggi killing, but it has also worked assiduously
to remove his pariah status and rehabilitate his global image. Barely two
months after the 2018 slaying, Trump was exchanging pleasantries with the crown prince at the
Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires and holding
out prospects of spending more time with him. Then this past June, at the G-20
in Osaka, Japan, Trump sang his praises while dodging questions about the
killing. "It's an honor to be with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, a
friend of mine, a man who has really done things in the last five years in
terms of opening up Saudi Arabia," Trump said.
And you can bet that when Saudi Arabia
hosts the G-20, scheduled to be held in its capital of Riyadh in November 2020,
the Trump administration will be smiling as its rehab project takes another
step in its desired direction.
What the U.S. should have done
Trump has failed to impose any serious
costs or constraints on Saudi Arabia for the killing of a U.S. newspaper
columnist who resided in Virginia or for the kingdom's aggressive policies,
from Yemen to Qatar. In the wake of the Khashoggi killing, the administration
should have made it unmistakably clear, both publicly and privately, that it
expected a comprehensive and credible accounting and investigation. It should have suspended high-level contacts
and arms sales with the kingdom for a period of time. And to make the point,
the administration should have supported at least one congressional resolution
taking the Saudis to task, in addition to triggering the Magnitsky Act, which
would have required a U.S. investigation; a report to Congress; and sanctions
if warranted.
Back to business as usual
The dark stain of the crown prince's
apparent involvement in Khashoggi's death will not fade easily. But for Trump
and Pompeo, it pales before the great expectations they still maintain for the
kingdom to confront and contain their common enemy, Iran, as well as support
the White House's plan for Middle East peace, defeat jihadists in the region
and keep the oil spigot open.
Most of these goals are illusory. Saudi
Arabia is a weak, fearful and unreliable ally. The kingdom has introduced
significant social and cultural reforms but has imposed new levels of
repression and authoritarianism. Its reckless policies toward Yemen and Qatar
have expanded, not contracted, opportunities for Iran, while the Saudi military
has demonstrated that, even after spending billions to buy America's most
sophisticated weapons, it still can't defend itself without American help.
Meanwhile, recent attacks on critical
Saudi oil facilities that the U.S. blames on Iran have helped rally more
American and international support for the kingdom.
When it comes to the U.S.-Saudi
relationship and the kingdom's callous reaction to Khashoggi's killing, the
president and his secretary of state have been derelict in their duty: They
have not only failed to advance American strategic interests but also
undermined America's values in the process.
The U.S. Military is Sending Thousands of Troops and Even B-1
Bombers into Saudi Arabia (To Counter Iran)
On October 6, around fifty U.S. commandos in northeastern Syria
tasked with hunting down ISIS forces were withdrawn from territory near the
Turkish border controlled by the Kurdish-Arab SDF faction.
The U.S. withdrawal was a prerequisite for a Turkish attack
against the SDF which subsequently took place. The remaining hundreds of U.S.
forces elsewhere in northeastern Syria were endangered in the crossfire and had
to be withdrawn a few days later.
The U.S. withdrawal was post-hoc justified on the basis that
they were no longer needed in the Middle East and it was time to “bring the
troops home.”
But in the weeks since, the United States has deployed over
3,000 more troops to the Middle East—including hundreds of National Guardsmen
in Syria, and thousands of soldiers and airmen deployed to Saudi Arabia.
While a companion article looks at the deployment of a
mechanized battalion to defend an oil field in southeastern Syria, this second
part looks at the rapid buildup of U.S. forces in the wealthy Kingdom in
response to intensifying clashes with Iran following the United State’s
withdrawal from a nuclear deal with Tehran.
Return to the Kingdom
The deployments to Saudi Arabia marks a dramatic turn around
from sixteen years earlier in 2003, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
pulled out thousands of U.S. troops. Their presence had long been cited as a
factor radicalizing Muslims across the planet who objected to the presence of
foreign troops so close to the holy city of Mecca.
Apparently, these concerns have since faded, despite political
headwinds from a U.S. Congress angered by Saudi Arabia’s grisly murder of
journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its consulate in Istanbul.
The buildup has been prompted by Iranian harassment of shipping
in the Persian Gulf, the shootdown
of U.S. surveillance drone over the Persian Gulf in June, and a drone and
missile attack on Saudi oil refineries in September that was almost certainly
of Iranian origin but which Yemeni rebels took credit for.
First, following the loss of drones in June, that the Defense
Department announced it was doubling troop deployment to the Kingdom from 500
to 1,000 personnel.
GOP/Democrats
Slip Amnesty for 1K Liberian Nationals into Defense Budget
Chris
Hondros/Getty Images
JOHN
BINDER
18 Dec 201959
2:15
Senate Republicans and Democrats approved a defense budget for
Fiscal Year 2020 after slipping into it an amnesty for nearly 1,000 Liberian
nationals who will now be eligible for American citizenship.
This
week, the Senate passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act that
includes a provision that gives amnesty to about 840 Liberian nationals and
their children who would otherwise have self-deported from the United States in
March.
In early
2018, President Trump ended Deferred Enforced Departure (DED)
for Liberia, which acted as a de facto amnesty for Liberians to stay in the
U.S. since 1991. Liberians were first given the temporary amnesty in the early
1990s due to a civil war in their nation.
After
decades of renewing the temporary amnesty by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W.
Bush, and Barack Obama — despite the nation’s civil war long having ended —
Trump reviewed their DED status and determined that Liberia is safe for
nationals in the U.S. to return to.
The amnesty for Liberian nationals slipped
into the defense budget had been pushed for months by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
and a handful of Minnesota lawmakers. Effectively, all Liberian nationals who
were allowed to stay in the U.S. over the last few decades will now be allowed
to adjust their immigration status, making them permanent residences who can
eventually apply to become American citizens.
Liberian
nationals will only be disqualified from the amnesty if they have been
convicted of aggravated felonies such as murder, rape, child sex abuse, sex
trafficking, and kidnapping.
Also
included in the defense budget is billions of American taxpayer money that will continue funding
border security measures in foreign countries like Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and
Tunisia. Meanwhile, less than $1.4 billion is explicitly authorized for the
construction of a border wall at the U.S.-Mexico border.
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