For Khashoggi, a Tangled Mix of Royal Service and Islamist Sympathies

Islamists would ally with the devil if it helps their so-called jihad against countries that rejected them and kicked them out. This has been their practical working model for over a century. Most of their degerates are welcomed in Turkey where their favorite fasciest sultan Erdogan would like to use them and other terrorists to expand his influence and power to recreate the old corrupt Ottoman rule.

It will be quite difficult for DT to believe that Khashoggi was not killed by rogue operators and that MBS had knowledge of the affair. Cutting off cash flow to Trump businesses and the MIC is out of the question.

"His disappearance has opened a rift,... it has badly damaged the reputation of Mohammed bin Salman,... who this time may have gone too far for even for his staunchest supporters...." The press is becoming like the police. Rape kits moldering on the shelf? Um. Murder cases unsolved, with victims named as Jane or John Doe again? Um. A cop gets killed and unleashes the maelstrom, shoot first ask questions later! MBS has "gone too far" why? Because Khashoggi was friends with the entire Washington and New York news media and a member of the media this time? So 15 Saudis and a few others bring down the twin towers. Um. The Saudis and the Emiratis fund violent group after violent group around the world. Um. MBS personally orders a war on Yemen, killing to date 7-10 thousand people among them thousands of civilians, using mercenaries in plain sight decades after they're banned -- most hated of all soldiers across the Gate of Tears in Africa, and launching an assault on the port city through which humanitarian aid flows to a population a full half of which is starving? Shrug. Kills a journalist in cold blood in an embassy? Now you've gone too far, we demand action. If this what looks more and more like a political assassination is the catalyst for meaningful action on the behavior of rich thugs in the Middle East and the violence they perpetrate on the world, wonderful. But don't kid yourselves about the very double standard on the value of a human life.

Trump and Jared have this fantastical idea that S.A., with the help of Israel, will transform the middle east into a more business friendly zone for the US (I mean Trump's) best interest. This all centers around the isolation and financial collapse of Iran and its satellite states. Let's not be naive, Trump, and Pompeo are not going to disrupt these relationships over the murder of a journalist. Sooner or later Trump will begin an attack onslaught against Khashoggi. Bringing up his relationship to bin Laden and the Muslim Brotherhood. It never changes.

From your teaser: "Jamal Khashoggi had both an affinity for Islamist political movements and close ties to the Saudi royal family — until they were cut by a new crown prince." Oh no, you didn't...

After reading this article (very thorough), I have come to the conclusion that this Saudi journalist is not really a 'good guy' by my definition. I'm sure he is considered a good guy in much of the middle east, just as Bin Laden was. I suspect he thought that because he embraced a strict translation (Sunni sect; Wahhabi) he would be somehow protected in Turkey given the new president's disdain for the west and conservative religious bent. But, he entered a Saudi embassy, so that was a very foolish assumption on his part; Turkey cannot protect him within that embassy. Perhaps he underestimated things?

It seems odd that Khashoggi thought that Muslim Brotherhood-style political Islam was compatible with electoral democracy after what happened in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood did not participate in the protests that helped bring down Mubarak, but when elections were then held, a very short time later, it was the only group that had been organized for long enough to get one of its adherents elected - Mohamed Morsi. Once elected, Morsi ignored the wishes of the populace to follow the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda. Under the heading “Mulim Brothehood” Wikipedia says: "Within a short period, serious public opposition developed to President Morsi. In late November 2012, he "temporarily" granted himself the power to legislate without judicial oversight or review of his acts, on the grounds that he needed to "protect" the nation from the Mubarak-era power structure. He also put a draft constitution to a referendum that opponents complained was "an Islamist coup". These issues—and concerns over the prosecutions of journalists, the unleashing of pro-Brotherhood gangs on nonviolent demonstrators, the continuation of military trials, new laws that permitted detention without judicial review for up to 30 days, brought hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets starting in November 2012." Muslim Brotherhood-style political Islam did not act in accordance with electoral democracy.

Thank you so much for this article, which adds a lot of dimension to what we mere consumers of news had pieced together from various accounts. For some reason, Khashoggi's voice caught my ear a week or two before he was killed. He was being interviewed by NPR, I believe, though I can't find the interview now. He sounded like he was afraid, and looking over his shoulder at the Saudis. It's been avalanched by stories of his assassination. One wonders why he would ever have set foot alone inside the Saudi Consulate, knowing what he knew about how angry MSB must be. Your paragraph about the billions MSB had spent to sculpt his image as the dashing young reformer said it all. Khashoggi was bringing a lens of realism to that fantasy. But his murder has further shattered the illusion. This seems like a pivot point in the kingdom. One has trouble imagining MSB the autocrat giving into his self-image as liberal change maker. Out of fear for his image and his political survival, he will probably crack down even harder out of fear. I hope not.

Mr Khashoggi's life seems to found that democracy is the way to avoid the excesses of the rule of autocrats. It is sad that absolute power corrupts absolutely, but it is true. Duarte, Putin, Crown prince momhammed, You think Trump and his family wont do what it takes to stay in power? Of course the tax cheater, draft dodger will. He will start a war, and the media will look at this shiny distraction, not at the money he is looting.

It is sad but I don't think the Trump administration is going to do anything meaningful. The US oil industry will forgive any transgression by the Saudi royal family because the only thing they care about is money. Remember when Saudis were flown out of the the US after 9/11 even during a flying ban? Trump's own son-in-law Jared Kushner pushed hard for closer ties between the US and the Saudi Arabia. Wonder what he's thinking about at the moment.

From Putin to MBS, Erdogan to Ortega, Kim Jung Un to Maduro, Xi Jin Ping to Orban, much of the world appears content to organize around stability, hatred and extreme nationalism. Prior to Trump, when the United States pretended to stand for something other than self-interest and economic gain—and sometimes miraculously did so—the Saudi arms deal would have been cancelled. Full stop. Remember the murder of Bill Stewart by a Somoza National Guardsment in Nicaragua in 1979?—US cut off aid to the dictator completely. Remember the point black assassination of a Viet Cong by the Saigon Chief of police in 1968?—shifted many in and out of government’s support for the war. What do we have now? Business first. Each American who accepts that from their President and his administration is exactly like those others around the world who choose economic security over liberty and the respect for life. It is a short leap from that viewpoint to concentration camps, oppression of legal immigrants, chemical warfare, genocide, etc. It really is that simple. Which side of history does this country want to be on? With both the bill or rights and slavery in our history, this tension is old. But it is nonetheless critically crucial.