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posted by takyon on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:13AM   Printer-friendly
from the is-that-a-bone-saw-in-your-pocket? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

C.I.A. Concludes That Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Khashoggi Killed

The Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to American officials.

The C.I.A. made the assessment based on the crown prince's control of Saudi Arabia, which is such that the killing would not have taken place without his approval, and has buttressed its conclusion with two sets of crucial communications: intercepts of the crown prince's calls in the days before the killing, and calls by the kill team to a senior aide to the crown prince.

[...] The increasingly definitive assessment from the spy agency creates a problem for President Trump, who has tied his administration to Prince Mohammed and proclaimed him the future of Saudi Arabia, a longtime American ally. But the new assessment by the C.I.A. is sure to harden the resolve of lawmakers on Capitol Hill to continue to investigate the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and punish Saudi Arabia.

Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, has been particularly close to Prince Mohammed. Mr. Kushner has long advocated that a strong relationship with the Saudis is in the United States' interest, and he has pushed to maintain support for the crown prince despite the death of Mr. Khashoggi, who Saudi officials now say was killed with a lethal dose of tranquilizers and dismembered. Previously, Saudi officials said that Mr. Khashoggi had been strangled.

[...] Neither administration officials nor intelligence officers believe the controversy over Mr. Khashoggi will drive Prince Mohammed from power, which is one reason White House officials believe cutting ties with the prince would not be in the interest of the United States.

takyon: The Saudis have denied the reports.

See also: Saudi media ignore US reports on Khashoggi
Top White House Official Involved in Saudi Sanctions Resigns

Previously: Turkey Says that a Missing Critic of the Saudi Government was Killed in Saudi Consulate in Istanbul
Saudi Arabia Reportedly Prepared to Admit Involvement in Journalist's Death


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:56AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @01:56AM (#763303)

    They can't hurt the U.S. too badly with oil. If the oil price goes down, everything is cheap. If the oil price goes up, it makes U.S.-based fracking more viable.

    If the price of oil gets too low the US oil wells slow down and thousands of workers get laid off. In the US self sufficiency takes a backseat to profitability.

  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:32AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 18 2018, @04:32AM (#763353) Journal

    If the price of oil gets too low the US oil wells slow down and thousands of workers get laid off.

    If only the hundreds of millions of people in the US did something other than employ thousands of oil well workers.

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday November 18 2018, @08:21AM (1 child)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Sunday November 18 2018, @08:21AM (#763416) Homepage Journal

    -d.

    I Am Absolutely Serious.

    Not long ago I read quite an insightful article by an economist who made a really good case for Trump's election being the result of low oil prices.

    But he wasn't President yet? You quite reasonably protest.

    No it's not that: low oil prices shuttered many US wells and cancelled many plans to drill new ones. That lead to a precipitous drop in heavy equipment sales, which led to layoffs from America's heavy equipment companies - the kind of people who make industrial-sized oil pumps and the like.

    Most of that manufacturing was in what is now Trump's base states.

    The prosperous economy these days led many of those folks to get new jobs, so they weren't nearly as motivated to vote for the GOP in 2018.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @11:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 18 2018, @11:11PM (#763657)

      Except that the exact same dynamic accelerated a lot of other things. Shipping (including trucking, a major employer in the US) became cheaper. Other industries actively picked up because energy was cheaper. Net employment was rising in the runup to the election.

      Cool story, but doesn't stand up to review.