Susan Wright on the Right
We’ve got several things to talk about, in regards to the case of the missing (and presumed murdered) Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
I’ve covered this previously.
Khashoggi is the journalist whose outspoken stance against the Saudi royal family may have put a target on his back. He went missing on October 2, after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, presumably to pick up paperwork related to his divorce from his first wife.
He left two cell phones on the outside with his fiancée, and instructions to contact the Turkish government, should anything go wrong.
There were also reports that he activated the record function on his Apple phone before entering the consulate.
Details of Khashoggi’s last moments on this earth are just beginning to emerge, but before we discuss the macabre details, or President Trump’s typical tone deaf reaction, let’s look at how some of Trump’s “evangelical” supporters are responding to the news.
While speaking on CBN’s “The 700 Club,” host Pat Robertson suggested that the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia was too important to risk, because of one man’s life and violent, ambush killing.
“These people are key allies,” Robertson said Monday on the show, first reported by Vox. “I don’t think on this issue we need to pull sanctions and get tough. I just think it’s a mistake.”
Robertson cited the $100 billion arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia as reason enough to just let such treachery be water under the bridge.
“We’ve got an arms deal that everybody wanted a piece of,” he said. “It’ll be a lot of jobs, a lot of money come to our coffers. It’s not something you want to blow up willy-nilly.”
I dare say addressing this situation with the harshness it deserves is not “willy-nilly.”
So how has President Trump responded?
After initially saying that if it Saudi Arabia was responsible, there would be harsh repercussions, the president changed his tune to compare this situation to that of Brett Kavanaugh. He said that Saudi Arabia was not “Guilty until proven innocent.”
This is hardly the same situation, and enough circumstantial evidence exists to draw a direct line to Saudi Arabia.
According to reports released by the Turkish government, the recordings exist. They allegedly reveal that within minutes of entering the consulate, Mr. Khashoggi was descended upon by Saudi officials, drugged, beaten, and subjected to inhuman torture.
They also claim the murder was committed in the Saudi Consul General’s room, with the Consul present.
From The New York Times:
Saudi agents were waiting when Jamal Khashoggi walked into their country’s consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago. Mr. Khashoggi was dead within minutes, beheaded, dismembered, his fingers severed, and within two hours the killers were gone, according to details from audio recordings described by a senior Turkish official on Wednesday.
The government of Turkey let out these and other leaks about the recordings on Wednesday, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Ankara, in an escalation of pressure on both Saudi Arabia and the United States for answers about Mr. Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi dissident journalist who lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post.
A Saudi autopsy doctor, Salah Al Tabiqi, was present and responsible for dismembering Khashoggi.
It lasted for seven, horrid minutes, with the doctor telling his colleagues to listen to music during the cutting.
After he was shown into the office of the Saudi consul, Mohammad al-Otaibi, the agents seized Mr. Khashoggi almost immediately and began to beat and torture him, eventually cutting off his fingers, the senior Turkish official said, describing the audio recordings.
Whether Mr. Khashoggi was killed before his fingers were removed and his body dismembered could not be determined.
But the consul was present and objected, the official said. “Do this outside. You will put me in trouble,” Mr. Otaibi told the agents, according to the Turkish official and a report in the Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak. Both cited audio recordings said to have been obtained by Turkish intelligence.
“If you want to live when you come back to Arabia, shut up,” one of the agents replied, according to both the official and the newspaper.
He was beheaded.
Middle East Eye published the similar claims on #Khashoggi.
• He was dragged from the Consul General’s office at the Saudi and onto the table of his study next door, the Turkish source said.
• Tubaigy began to cut his body up while he was still alive,
• Then he was sedated— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) October 16, 2018
Do you need to hear more?
SIGNIFICANT #Khashoggi updates:
• Turkish official tells CNN that Khashoggi was cut into pieces
• Turks to AJ, Saudi autopsy doctor Salah Al Tabiqi did the cutting
• Cutting lasted for 7 minutes, doctor told colleagues to listen music during the op
• Recordings exist— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) October 16, 2018
What we do know is that security footage shows Jamal Khashoggi walking into the Saudi consulate, but he was not seen exiting and he has not been seen or heard from, again.
Is any of this worth maintaining ties and calling Saudi Arabia “allies”?
At the very least, our president should not be alluding to their innocence. They do not share our values, and they have done bad things.
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