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posted by martyb on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:04AM   Printer-friendly

Exclusive: After Khashoggi murder, some Saudi royals turn against king's favorite son

Amid international uproar over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, some members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are agitating to prevent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from becoming king, three sources close to the royal court said.

Dozens of princes and cousins from powerful branches of the Al Saud family want to see a change in the line of succession but would not act while King Salman - the crown prince's 82-year-old father - is still alive, the sources said. They recognize that the king is unlikely to turn against his favorite son, known in the West as MbS.

Rather, they are discussing the possibility with other family members that after the king's death, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, 76, a younger full brother of King Salman and uncle of the crown prince, could take the throne, according to the sources.

Prince Ahmed, King Salman's only surviving full brother, would have the support of family members, the security apparatus and some Western powers, one of the Saudi sources said.

Prince Ahmed returned to Riyadh in October after 2-1/2 months abroad. During the trip, he appeared to criticize the Saudi leadership while responding to protesters outside a London residence chanting for the downfall of the Al Saud dynasty. He was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling family's senior members, who opposed MbS becoming crown prince in 2017, two Saudi sources said at the time.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration's continued support of Saudi Arabia has been denounced by several U.S. Senators:

The White House's pledge to maintain its strong military and economic alliance with Saudi Arabia amid reports that U.S. intelligence has assessed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the gruesome murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has ignited a flurry of bipartisan condemnation in Washington.

After President Trump issued a remarkable statement on Tuesday in which he acknowledged that the heir apparent to the Saudi throne may have known about the "tragic event," but that his administration nevertheless "intended to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia," several Republican and Democratic members of Congress denounced the White House's position.

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
CIA Concludes That Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Khashoggi Killed


Original Submission

Related Stories

Turkey Says that a Missing Critic of the Saudi Government was Killed in Saudi Consulate in Istanbul 53 comments

Turkey 'has recording proving Saudi murder'

Turkish officials have audio and video evidence that shows missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured and killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the BBC has learned.

Mr Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, has not been seen since he entered the building on 2 October.

Turkish intelligence had "documented evidence" of the murder, a source close to the investigation said.

Saudi Arabia denies the allegations. It says the journalist left the building.

Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance and reported death have prompted international outrage and dented business confidence in Saudi Arabia. Tycoon Sir Richard Branson has halted talks over $1bn Saudi investment in Virgin space firms and several top business leaders have pulled out of a Saudi investment conference later this month.

Also at CNN.

See also: CNBC withdraws from Saudi conference over concerns about journalist Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance


Original Submission

Saudi Arabia Reportedly Prepared to Admit Involvement in Journalist's Death 93 comments

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


Original Submission

CIA Concludes That Saudi Crown Prince Ordered Khashoggi Killed 109 comments

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


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:08AM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:08AM (#764654)

    In the "reports" link the only source is an anonymous official, if we stop reading this crap they will stop producing it.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:11AM (1 child)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:11AM (#764657) Journal

      #LegalizeLeaking

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:18PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:18PM (#764691)

      In the "reports" link the only source is an anonymous official, if we stop reading this crap they will stop producing it.

      This is a nomenclature issue. When it is reported that an "anonymous official" said something, it is actually an unnamed government official and not someone who is anonymous. The journalist(s) know individual(s), they just don't name them. It's not like some unknown person - who could even be an intern or janitor - is making a claim. It's someone whose position dictates that they would be privy to the information shared with the journalist(s).

      If every source had to be named, and had to be on the record, no one would come forward because they would lose their jobs ... and our government would operate in almost total secrecy.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:00PM (5 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:00PM (#764708) Journal

        I guarantee that the OP still objects to the practice. They would rather be kept in the dark than have to sort through info that may or may not be true and requires a little trust of the evuuulll fakenews media.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:40PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:40PM (#764726)

          Right, all I care about is they are anonymous to me. And I did follow this type of "anonymously sourced" news for the last couple years. The "anonymous officials" did not give me an impression of a good track record. In fact, they seemed to be exactly wrong more often than not as if they were being fed disinfo or were feeding disinfo to the media. Just think about all the "war with North Korea is imminent" crap, a friend from outside the US asked me if I was concerned about it at the height and I said I bet the opposite is true. And look at that.

          Why has no one who cares more about what these people say started keeping a scorecard for each reporters/agencies anonymous sources? I bet because it would only show they shouldnt be trusted.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:58PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:58PM (#764890)

            Just think about all the "war with North Korea is imminent" crap, a friend from outside the US asked me if I was concerned about it at the height and I said I bet the opposite is true. And look at that.

            Wait a second. Kim wrote a nice letter to Trump, and Trump backed down like an erection that lost its viagra.

            Trump stoked the hornet's nest, made very public threats, and then folded like the poser he is. Now Trump says the entire nuclear threat is gone even though NK is building new facilities. It seems to me you are believing the fake statements coming from the Liar in Chief and casting doubts on the news that shows video of Trump repeatedly threatening war with North Korea. I think I see the problem, but it's not "anonymous officials".

            • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:38PM (2 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:38PM (#764939)

              This is exactly what I am talking about. You will go on with your fake news stories about new facilities supposedly sourced from shady people associated with the government, making poor life decisions because you are totally confused.

              • (Score: 3, Informative) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday November 22 2018, @12:28AM (1 child)

                by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday November 22 2018, @12:28AM (#765004)

                ...fake news stories about new facilities supposedly sourced from shady people...

                Or, maybe from the website 38north.org which has publicly available satellite images on it.

                Did Fox News not tell you about Google? It works quite well.

                If Alex Jones told you Google will turn you into a freedom-hating liberal, you could use another search engine of course. There are several.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @09:17AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @09:17AM (#765102)

                  yep

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by captain normal on Wednesday November 21 2018, @05:52PM (1 child)

        by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @05:52PM (#764846)

        "...because they would lose their jobs..."
        Or in the case of the Saudi Royal family, probably lose their head.

        --
        When life isn't going right, go left.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:13PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:13PM (#764856)

          And their limbs.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:09AM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:09AM (#764655) Journal

    Palace intrigue is noteworthy for one or more parties meeting untimely deaths. It's not like democracy, where deals are easy to make, compromises easy to reach.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:37AM (3 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:37AM (#764666) Homepage Journal

      That was sarcasm, yes? A few Clinton enemies meeting coincidental untimely demises could be a coincidence. Several dozen can't.

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:49AM (2 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:49AM (#764670) Journal

        The Clintons are something of an anomaly, in Western democracies in general, and in US politics specifically. Here's a cool thought experiment: Imagine the Clintons as members of a royal house. You think they're bad here and now? Imagine any third world kingdom, or medieval court with those two in it!

        • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:20PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:20PM (#764692)

          Here's a cool thought experiment: Imagine the Clintons as ...

          Still better than having you making any kind of decisions that affect the rest of us.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:47PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @01:47PM (#764699)

            If it were up to the rest of us, you wouldn't be. And, your mama would be slapped for even thinking about it.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:54AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @11:54AM (#764673)

    so far, counting all posts, they only have dispatch 6 black heli-copters ...

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:35PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:35PM (#764722)

    There we have it folks, the indisputable proof, the reality that we always knew but is now official.

    Economics trump justice. They trump universal human rights, they trump basic human decency, they trump principles, they trump civilization.

    We cannot call our society a true civilization as long as this is true. We are just a slighly less violent and bloody form of barbarism.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:02PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:02PM (#764744)

      Authoritarianism trumps Justice. Trump is nothing but a small hands little man with penis envy for Bad Ass Gangstas. There is nothing more appealing to his ego than trying to be exactly like Putin or Kim Jong-un. And in Saudi Arabia he sees another that doesn't give a fuck and that is *appealing* to Trump. Also, Trump doesn't want anything to endanger money flowing from Saudi Arabia to him and screw the optics.

      It has nothing to do with economics for US. If Germany assassinated someone, there would be "hell to pay" and all that. But if it's some authoritarian prick doing the same, then Trump will just lick his balls and apologize for the trouble the "lying press" caused them.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:19PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @06:19PM (#764862)

        Yes. Embrace your brave new world, and for once the American exceptionalism is completely true.

        • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:00PM

          by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:00PM (#764893)

          Well, our president is the physical embodiment of the Dumb American Bully the world has long laughed about and/or suffered from.

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by shortscreen on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:18PM

        by shortscreen (2252) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:18PM (#764927) Journal

        Yes, I'm sure any other president before Trump wouldn't have hesitated to call out KSA for bad behavior. They certainly wouldn't have tolerated a serious crime like murder. (hah!)

        The US government's own official story about 9/11 notes that the Saudi ambassador's wife paid the rent for one of the 15 Saudi hijackers, and that Saudi princes gave money to Al Qaeda to win favor with the religious establishment. The only gesture toward accountability for this so far has been a lawsuit which Obama tried to veto.

    • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @05:37PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @05:37PM (#764837)

      Numerous major countries are involved, and you're taking about one dead nobody.

      Russia and China would both be happy to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. Russia would love to see the price of oil go up. All of that happens if our relationship with Saudi Arabia sours.

      There are even concerns with Iran, Israel, and terrorists. Saudi Arabia's current leadership is relatively cooperative. By the shitty standards of muslim nations, you could even call them peaceful and friendly. If the leadership were to change, we'd be looking at a nightmare that makes ISIS look desirable. Your refusal to be pragmatic would be a far greater injustice, causing widespread slaughter all over the middle east.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:45PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @02:45PM (#764732) Journal

    The business of America is business. I'm not surprised. Are you? The only difference between now and the past is that the facade is gone.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:36PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @03:36PM (#764758)

    Our police forces routinely kill citizens without repercussions. Do I hear any government consider sanctioning the US in response to reporting about that? Of course not. As already mentioned above, the business of a country is to try to sell its output of labor to whomever wants to buy.
    We all know Saudi Arabia is an authoritarian shithole. It's up to the Saudi people to fix their own country.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @04:06PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @04:06PM (#764778)

      Let's just suppose we don't need their oil anymore, Israel has teamed up with Saudi Arabia, which means the United States must keep supporting both.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:49PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @08:49PM (#764944)

      Then the United States should stop going to war with countries that didn't attack it and using the excuse that it's 'spreading democracy'. You can't claim that we need to attack Syria because 'Oh no, they're gassing children!' but then turn around and ignore Saudi Arabia's atrocities. Or, at least, you can't do that without being a massive hypocrite.

      I think it would be justifiable to at least not financially support dictatorships, though.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @12:18AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @12:18AM (#765000)

        So the US is a hypocrite. What are you and your country going to do about it?

        We fuck with Syria because it won't hurt us except for some flyover country recruits that get wasted over there. Russia is able to check our plans there, but can't make things hurt for us in other places in the world.

        The Saudis are a completely different ballgame. Them hating Iran helps us because we hate Iran too. But they can fuck with us so much, that they can fund and send over a team of their citizens to destroy part of New York City, and all we can do in response is get mired in Afghanistan for 17 years.

        And with their alliance with Israel, criticizing them now would be anti-semitic.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @07:11PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @07:11PM (#765285)

          What are you and your country going to do about it?

          I live in the US. So, "my" country (really, the country of warmongering, authoritarian elites) will continue waging unconstitutional wars overseas with countries that did not attack us.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Wednesday November 21 2018, @04:05PM

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Wednesday November 21 2018, @04:05PM (#764777)

    and they love Saudi Arabia the same way a crackhead loves their pusher.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:28PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @07:28PM (#764907)

    Friend of Saudi dissident says he did not have a green card. For weeks the press has been telling us he was a permanent resident. They just made it up. [twitter.com]

    Mohamad Soltan, an Egyptian-American activist who sees Khashoggi regularly in Washington, told Reuters that Khashoggi was in the United States on an O-visa, a temporary residency visa awarded to foreigners "who possess extraordinary ability" in the sciences, arts, education, and other fields and are recognized internationally, and had applied for permanent residency status.

    Mohamad Soltan, by the way, is the son of Salah Sultan—the jailed religious affairs advisor to Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi. [twitter.com]

    Jamal Khashoggi was Bin Laden Pal, Mourned His Death, Vouched for Terror Funder [frontpagemag.com]

    Guess who owns Twitter [mideast-times.com]

    HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), met with Mr. Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, Mr. Ali Rowghani, CFO of Twitter and Mr. Suhail Rizvi from Twitter at The Plaza Hotel in New York on Monday 6th February 2012 during His Royal Highness’s trip to the U.S. Prince Alwaleed was accompanied by a delegation that Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, General Manager of Alarab news channel that is privately owned by Prince Alwaleed and Ms. Heba Fatani, Senior Executive Manager, Corporate Communications Department, KHC.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @09:54PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21 2018, @09:54PM (#764965)

      Wow, who cares? He had a visa and was applying for permanent residence. You are upset that the news didnt fully detail this? You think this excuses Trump's responses?

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday November 22 2018, @02:46AM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday November 22 2018, @02:46AM (#765050) Homepage Journal

    Something that Jamal, possibly, forgot. I will never forget. Never forget.

    The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at "democracy," supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" Iran is considered "the world’s leading sponsor of terror."

    On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would GLADLY withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.

    After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a RECORD amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, TREMENDOUS economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the ENORMOUS beneficiaries -- and VERY HAPPY to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a WONDERFUL GIFT to them directly from the United States!

    The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed, we have taken STRONG ACTION against those already known to have participated in the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body.

    Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an "enemy of the state" and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that -- this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously DENY any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our Intelligence Agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event -- maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!!!

    That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!

    I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction -- and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels -- SO IMPORTANT for the world. As President of the United States I intend to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First! 🇺🇸

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by deimtee on Thursday November 22 2018, @09:58AM (2 children)

    by deimtee (3272) on Thursday November 22 2018, @09:58AM (#765113) Journal

    I think everyone making a fuss about Khashoggi is a fucking hypocrite. Oh, how terrible a journalist got killed. The fucking Saudis just blew up a school bus and killed 43 Yemeni kids, but nobody gives a shit about that. Why does some poor schoolkid count for less than a loudmouth journalist?

    --
    If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @07:20PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 22 2018, @07:20PM (#765287)

      What about the people who give a shit about both? I have seen several people talking about the genocide in Yemen.

    • (Score: 2) by corey on Friday November 23 2018, @01:17AM

      by corey (2202) on Friday November 23 2018, @01:17AM (#765385)

      This.

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