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from the accidental-kidnapping-and-execution dept.
Saudis preparing to admit Jamal Khashoggi died during interrogation, sources say
The Saudis are preparing a report that will acknowledge that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's death was the result of an interrogation that went wrong, one that was intended to lead to his abduction from Turkey, according to two sources.
One source says the report will likely conclude that the operation was carried out without clearance and transparency and that those involved will be held responsible.
One of the sources acknowledged that the report is still being prepared and cautioned that things could change.
The Washington Post columnist was last seen in public when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in Turkey on October 2. Previously, Saudi authorities had maintained Khashoggi left the consulate the same afternoon of his visit, but provided no evidence to support the claim.
Saudi Arabia could hike oil prices over the Khashoggi case. Here's why it would backfire
Saudi Arabia's not-so-veiled threat issued in a government statement Sunday emphasized its "vital role in the global economy" and that any action taken upon it will be met with "greater action". But as oil ticks upward, a look at history and geopolitics suggests that while a Saudi-driven oil price spike would bring pain for much of the world, it would ultimately backfire on itself.
"If this is something the Saudis were allowed to do, they'd be really shooting themselves in the foot," Warren Patterson, commodities analyst at ING, told CNBC's Squawk Box Europe on Tuesday. "In the short to medium term we'll definitely see an incremental amount of demand destruction, but the bigger issue is in the longer term."
Any action in withholding oil from the market, he said, "would only quicken the pace of energy transition."
Previously: Turkey Says that a Missing Critic of the Saudi Government was Killed in Saudi Consulate in Istanbul
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 17 2018, @03:30AM (9 children)
Iraq? Iran? Israel? Which? There's more than one.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Arik on Wednesday October 17 2018, @04:55AM (7 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday October 17 2018, @01:57PM (6 children)
Why is that? We've told pretty much every other country to f-off at some point.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 17 2018, @04:03PM
At present we mostly tell that only to our long term allies and friends whose mutual cooperation is very beneficial to us.
We would never tell that to a dictator. Nor to an ememy who wants to undermine our democracy and divide us. Nor to an enemy that chants "death to America!"
As for the one middle east nation beginning with "I" that we never have and likely never will say that too, the republican evangelicals see that nation as one of the central features in fulfillment of bible prophecy. FYI
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 17 2018, @05:17PM (4 children)
Why we don't tell a certain country in the Middle East to FOAD, ever:
1. Evangelical Christians believe that country's success is an important precursor to the apocalypse. It's important to note that they view the apocalypse as a wonderful event, when Jesus will finally come and make them all happy forever and make all the people who didn't believe as they do to burn in hell forever. These people are one of the key voting blocs of one of the two major political parties in the US.
2. AIPAC and other organizations of rich Jewish people, who don't just support Israel but specifically support the right wing of Israeli politics such as the ruling Likud Party over more moderate and left-wing competitors like the Labor Party and Kadima. These organizations heavily fund political candidates who toe the party line, and also smear anybody who disagrees anything they do as anti-Semitic, unless they're Jewish too in which case they're "self-hating".
3. Bigotry against Muslims is extremely common in the US, and generally socially acceptable. As in, if you play word association games, and give the word "Muslim" out, you'll often get the response "terrorism" or "terrorist". This bigotry leads to the opinion that the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim. The country in question in the Middle East routinely robs murders Muslims, and that's seen by bigots as a good thing. (My own opinion on the matter: Nothing I've heard or encountered about Islam suggests that it's any stupider than other religions, or that its believers are inherently morally any better or worse than anyone else.)
4. Their citizens are on average whiter and more English-speaking than other countries in the region. That makes whiter and English-speaking people share a certain affinity for them.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Wednesday October 17 2018, @09:18PM
5. Once we've gotten over our oil dependency and moved to renewable power generation, it'll turn out the oil was sitting on top of a country-sized layer of lithium.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @01:20AM (2 children)
3, Your ignorance about islam and its koran [thereligionofpeace.com] is not excusable in this day and age. Download the koran for free and read it for yourself. The verses are written sorted by length, longest verses first and shortest last. However, the official way to read and interpret the material is chronologically with later verses abrogating the earlier ones [wikiislam.net] in the many cases of conflict. You do it that way and you will see that it is all about promulgating violence and hate. We banned Nazism, with effort. With more effort, we can ban islam for much the same reasons and using many of the same laws.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:13AM
Eh? So there's no death and destruction in the bible at all? Sure, maybe one is more violent than the other, but lets be fair.. just ban the lot of em. Its about time.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday October 19 2018, @07:24PM
Well, you've sure done a great job of proving my point!
Pick a religion, and unless they are unusually pacifist (e.g. Quakers and Jains) you'll find advocacy of violence against non-believers:
* Christianity: The Crusades, duh. Also, near constant warfare in Europe post-Reformation between Protestants and Catholics. Christianity was also used to justify the genocide of numerous people in the Americas, Africa, and southern Asia. In modern times, George W Bush called the wars he started in the Middle East a crusade, and his favorite mercenaries Blackwater also think of themselves as modern-day crusaders.
* Judaism: Tons of violence in the name of Judaism throughout what the Christians call the Old Testament. In modern times, Judaism is being used to justify both discrimination against non-Jews living in Israel, but also violence against Palestinians. Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman in particular has often suggested violence in the name of Judaism.
* Hinduism: The Baghavad Gita is ultimately a long explanation of why violence is justified and necessary. Modern Hindus often use their religion to justify attacking Muslims in Kashmir.
* Buddhism: A particular form of Shinto-tinged Buddhism was a key part of the Japanese ideology in World War II. In modern times, much of the conflict in Myanmar/Burma is Buddhists using violence against Christians.
* Atheism: Atheist Communists, particular Josef Stalin, massacred people because they were religious in some way. So no, you aren't off the hook if you're atheist.
* Islam: Mohammed fought quite a number of battles himself, and violence and warfare was the origin of the Sunni-Shia split. In modern times, Wahabi Islam of the sort practiced by Saudi Arabia is particularly violent.
So no, I don't see Islam as standing out here as being radically more violent than other religious viewpoints. Your average Ahmed is just trying to get through life more or less like you are.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 17 2018, @04:09PM
Well, we already made Iraq FOAD, and 1 of the other 2 doesn't swipe land.