Khashoggi, Kushner, Trump

[GMDino]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/10/16/trump-says-rush-condemn-saudi-arabia-over-khashoggi-similar-kavanaugh-accusations/1664413002/

Quote: President Donald Trump Tuesday criticized rapidly mounting global condemnation of Saudi Arabia over the case of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, warning of a rush to judgment.


In an interview with The Associated Press, Trump compared the situation to the allegations of sexual assault leveled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.


"I think we have to find out what happened first," he said. "Here we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent. I don't like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I'm concerned."


Trump spoke Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Monday with King Salman. He said both deny any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi, who entered their country's consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago and hasn't been seen since.


In Turkey earlier Tuesday, a high-level Turkish official told the Associated Press that police investigators searching the Saudi Consulate had found evidence that Khashoggi was killed there.

More: Can the U.S.-Saudi relationship survive journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s presumed killing?
More:  Trump says Saudi prince ‘totally denied any knowledge’ of events leading to Saudi journalist's disappearance in Turkey


The president said that his own comment Monday about possible "rogue killers" behind Khashoggi's disappearance was informed by his "feeling" from his conversation with Salman, and that the King did not use the term.


Also Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the king and crown prince in Riyadh and said later the kingdom had made a "serious commitment" to hold senior leaders and officials accountable if implicated in Khashoggi's death.

Trump said he hopes the Saudis' own investigation of Khashoggi's disappearance will be concluded in "less than a week."


In the meantime, international leaders and business executives are severing or rethinking ties to the Saudi government after Khashoggi's high-profile disappearance. Trump has resisted any action, pointing to huge U.S. weapons deals pending with Saudi Arabia and saying that sanctions could hurt end up hurting the American economy.


He said it was too early to say whether he endorsed other countries' actions. "I have to find out what happened," he said. But his complaint about "guilty until proven innocent" and comparison to the Kavanaugh situation suggested he was giving the Saudis more leeway than other U.S. allies.



Trump said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's trip to attend a Saudi investment conference is still on, but that it could be canceled by Friday depending on what the investigation finds.

[SunsetBengal]

What a horrible way to go..

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-khashoggi-829291552

[Belsnickel]

(10-17-2018, 09:15 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What a horrible way to go..

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-khashoggi-829291552

I saw that, today. This story just gets worse every day.

[Belsnickel]

I'm just going to leave this here:

[GMDino]

(10-17-2018, 10:39 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: I'm just going to leave this here:

Him being a liar is nothing new.  I do get a kick our of how he brings up Russia, unprovoked. 

[Belsnickel]

(10-17-2018, 11:17 AM)GMDino Wrote: Him being a liar is nothing new.  I do get a kick our of how he brings up Russia, unprovoked. 

Did you notice who called him out on it, though?

[GMDino]

(10-17-2018, 11:18 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Did you notice who called him out on it, though?

Ha!  No I did not.

Someone just lost a job!

[*michaelsean*]

(10-17-2018, 11:18 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Did you notice who called him out on it, though?

He says in Saudi Arabia so he could mean literally Saudi Arabia.

[Dill]

(10-16-2018, 08:52 PM)bfine32 Wrote: I have already freely admitted that I was mistaken in thinking we could have a rational discussion about the actual event. 

Well now you have shifted from the "the issue" to "the event."

Continuing to imply that OTHERS are irrational or somehow at fault if discussion of an incident with magnum implications for Saudi-American relations (not to mention the Trump presidency) does not unfold as you wish it to--away from Trump.

You were indeed "mistaken" if you thought somehow people would be just interested in talking about bone saws and apple watches rather than what the murder of a journalist and U.S. resident means, and at the hands of a supposedly reliable ally, as the president furthers their cover story and Congress rumbles "sanctions." 

Yeah. Let's have a "rational discussion" about "the actual event."

[Dill]

(10-17-2018, 09:15 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What a horrible way to go..

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-khashoggi-829291552

"Rogue killer" was allegedly president of the Saudi Fellowship of Forensic Pathology and a member of the Saudi Association for Forensic Pathology.

Hard to find a guy like that and interrogate him. Disappears in the crowd. No Address.

[BmorePat87]

It's pretty pathetic that the President of the United States would try to promote the idea that "rogue killers" systematically tortured and dismembered someone in the Saudi consulate and then try to compare holding the Saudi government responsible for it to accusations against Brett Kavanaugh.

The adults are not in the room, despite what that anonymous oped claimed. This is inexcusable.

[jj22]

A POTUS who professes his love for Kim, chooses Putin and Russian Intel over Americas to cover for his joint attack with an enemy state against this Nation, and trusts Saudi Arabia's word (rogue killers) over recordings provided by the Turks and confirmed by his Intel agencies to be legit, as well as the Intel of our Allies.... These are all verifiable facts, no spin. I can provide links.

And people are proud of this? Excuse and defend this? How can you claim to love this Country and support this coming from the President of the United States? How people? Just disgraceful.

[Dill]

(10-18-2018, 11:35 AM)jj22 Wrote: A POTUS who professes his love for Kim, chooses Putin and Russian Intel over Americas to cover for his joint attack with an enemy state against this Nation, and trusts Saudi Arabia's word (rouge killers) over recordings provided by the Turks and confirmed by his Intel agencies to be legit, as well as the Intel of our Allies.... These are all verifiable facts, no spin. I can provide links.

And people are proud of this? How can you claim to love this Country and support this coming from the President of the United States? How people? Just disgraceful.

Actually, it is not clear whether or not the "rogue killers" hypothesis originated with Saudi Arabia or Trump himself.

For all we really know, it could have been China or some 400-pound guy sitting in his parents basement.

[jj22]

(10-16-2018, 10:34 PM)Goalpost Wrote: The media is not doing a very good job of it.  I think the US intel of it is still behind closed doors.  My understanding is that Khashoggi might have a past with the Muslin Brotherhood.  The Muslim Brotherhood hates western influence.  And the Saudi's were giving it a go toward that direction. So we have a Washington Post reporter with maybe a precarious association  

Ahh the "Muslim Brotherhood"....... What happened? You misplace the Hillary card?

[fredtoast]

I am sure Kavanaugh is thrilled to be he poster boy for killers who don't get held accountable. I have a feeling his name is going to pop up everytime one of the Donald's buddies does something terrible.

[Dill]

(10-18-2018, 11:46 AM)jj22 Wrote: Ahh the "Muslim Brotherhood"....... What happened? You misplace the Hillary card?

LOL I feel Hillary is behind it. Somehow.  Why is everyone talking about the murder of a journalist residing in the US (and by the country which centers the US Middle East policy) while the Clinton's have not been called to account for "hypocrisy"?  Did you hear what Hillary said about Monica Lewinsky last week?  The MSM is avoiding all that to distract us with foreign policy.

[BmorePat87]

(10-18-2018, 12:31 PM)Dill Wrote: LOL I feel Hillary is behind it. Somehow.  Why is everyone talking about the murder of a journalist residing in the US (and by the country which centers the US Middle East policy) while the Clinton's have not been called to account for "hypocrisy"?  Did you hear what Hillary said about Monica Lewinsky last week?  The MSM is avoiding all that to distract us with foreign policy.

Jamal Khashoggi --> Muslim brotherhood --> Human Abedin --> Hillary Clinton --> Clinton Foundation --> Saudi arms sales

Nailed it. 

[Belsnickel]

(10-18-2018, 11:46 AM)jj22 Wrote: Ahh the "Muslim Brotherhood"....... What happened? You misplace the Hillary card?

Look, I get the mockery based on history, but he ain't wrong. This is in the media, and not just the far-right conspiracy theorist types. The NYT had a story about this side of Khashoggi. It's important that this be known because too often we like to put someone up on a pedestal when they are victims in this regard, but Khashoggi was far from a progressive reformer for the Middle East.

It is important, though, that we also don't use those connections of his to gloss over what happened. I think Haaretz puts it very well in this article talking about Khashoggi.

Quote:The entirely legitimate shock and outrage over the disappearance and likely murder of the prominent Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi have so far largely prevented an examination of his views.

Perhaps inevitably, this has led to right-wing conspiracy theories – retweeted by Donald Trump Jr - about a nefarious media plot covering up that Khashoggi was really a veteran Al-Qaeda sympathizer who just pretended to be a "democrat reformer journalist."

So it may be necessary to point out the obvious: when a journalist is assassinated by the government he criticized, it doesn’t really matter what views he held. Opinions quite simply never justify murder.  

[Arturo Bandini]

Already one down.

14 to go.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/saudi-suspect-in-khashoggi-case-dies-in-car-accident-report-138007

[Belsnickel]

(10-18-2018, 01:57 PM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: Already one down.

14 to go.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/saudi-suspect-in-khashoggi-case-dies-in-car-accident-report-138007

I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple more that aren't necessarily "inner circle" types to meet a similar fate. The further from the center you are the higher the likelihood of talking to someone.