Turks Search Far-Flung Sites and Question Workers in Case of Missing Journalist

Trump tweeting that this is "fake news" is the main point here. Trump will side with any lame story the Saudis concoct because he is entangled with Saudi Arabian money and business. GOP does nothing. Democracy is dead in Saudi Arabia; it will be dead here if GOP wins at mid terms. Ray Sipe

Is there any word on things the Saudis are doing to investigate this matter? Are the Saudis attempting to do any kind of a real investigation, or even a sham one, such as interviews with the 15 Saudis? I realize that one investigation is likely an inquiry into what "line" could work to shield them from consequences: rogue elements, al-Asiri, heart attack under interrogation, overdose caused by drugging to capture, etc. But there is no "line" that will work in this circumstance, after they maintained for days that they, too, were actively looking for Khashoggi, that he left the consulate alive that same day, etc. All the Turks would have to do is to release that audio tape, if they have it. The Saudis fundamentally will be forced to admit--in an indirect way, of course--that MBS condoned this, although they are probably trying to see if someone will take the fall for MBS. But would not they at least have to do some kind of investigation? Murder is a crime in Saudi Arabia, too. If there is no actual ongoing Saudi investigation, then why would our Secretary of State argue that they should be given a few more days to work on their investigation? Or can we just not get news of it?

One interesting aspect that seems to go unnoticed is that the two KSA planes made interesting stops on the return back. One stopped in Cairo and the other in Dubai. Could this be where the body parts (carried in diplomatic luggage) were taken and possibly incinerated? Let's see what the Turks come up with next ...

One of the 15 Saudi assailants has already died in a "car crash." Stay tuned.

To WHM Rochester who writes Did the Saudis leave on a plane that involved scans of luggage or did they avoid that given their diplomatic status. They may not have needed to use diplomatic status. In the US private jets, no matter how large, are exempt from TSA. There is no TAS check at Peterboro - I can attest to this myself. You can load whatever on the plane, without any screening. Turkey might well given private planes the same privilege.

This brings to mind a scene from "Star Wars" where one character tells another that if he is struck down, well, here it is...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8RCQDDsMpU Mr. Khashoggi has been struck down, but his last words and courage now live in every journalist with a heart still beating for freedom. Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon

They didn t show much respect for Turkey or Mr. Erdogan. They just rolled in with a large team of hitmen Not even under cover , as if they own the place. So far their calculations were correct, Erdogan did not even lodged a formal protest against the KSA. I have a feeling business will be as usual in about a month time with a new consulate at a different place.

Rulers who order cruel, gruesome, brutal, murders, such as this, usually want to apply the worst possible insult, even in death, to the victim’s body. I suspect the body was fed to pigs, or it “suffered” some other equally ignominious fate. Saudi Arabia has already experienced billions of dollars of losses due to this assassination, and those losses will continue to mount, in the coming weeks, months, and even years. A Prince who attempts to be too clever for words, may realize its a lot easier murdering a writer, than bringing him back to life. Meanwhile, in this day of the eternal internet, it is impossible to murder the works of a writer, which will live on in history longer than the pyramids of the Pharaohs of Egypt.

The story as presented in USA media, is that 15 Saudis arrived to interrogate Mr. Khashoggi, one being a medical doctor with bone sawing devices in hand. During torture, fingers were cut off, followed, one would presume, by fatal bodily atrocities. The question is asked, how many of the 15 were present during this fatal torture? Was this a group effort? To try to spin this onto one member going rogue, Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, is a travesty against common sense. The dynamics of such a group setting, with a medical doctor possibly supervising the torture, does not support one player taking all of the blame. It seems the Trump administration's tolerance of world leaders who shamelessly abuse human rights has finally run up against a wall. It's about time.

Our Turkish ally should invite the FBI to assist them in the search. The FBI has the foremost forensics capability in the world.

The king’s bodyguard was pictured in the Times the other day with a suitcase boarding a plane . In all probability that suitcase contained body parts.

It boggles my mind how careless the Saudis were in carrying out their plan. Did they think no one would miss khashoggi? Did the team think no one would recognize them as being the same people seen with mbs a few weeks earlier? What kind of people murder someone and then cut that person up? What kind of person asks others to do this kind of thing? Wouldn’t it have been better for them to say kidnap Khashoggi and take him to Saudi Arabia and find out how that went over in the western world, before killing him? So many incompetent steps here. To think the same person who orchestrated this fiasco also wants to bring Saudi Arabia into the 21st century. I’m less sure the right man has been chosen to achieve so many important steps.

Comparing recent political murders in foreign countries, it has been suggested that MBS's decision to kill Khashoggi in SA's consulate is particularly "stupid" in terms of being caught, versus Putin's and Kim Jong Un's murders on British and South Korean territory. I beg to differ. Given current public information, a case can perhaps be made that MBS's plan to murder on Saudi controlled territory inside their consulate was, all moral consideration aside, a pretty smart move in terms of deflecting the finger of blame anywhere back at MBS. The plan failed because of bad luck that could not have been anticipated. It was the fiancée's unanticipated 11 hour vigil outside of the consulate that pointed squarely at that location for Khashoggi's disappearance; and it was the unanticipated audio recording (assuming it exists) that nails the case. Aside from those happenstances, MBS may well have escaped blame. Putin and Kim, on the other hand, left bodies on foreign soil for police to investigate, and those investigations pointed to the culprits, something that could have been anticipated. But now I am confused. I have assumed until today that the Khashoggi's body parts were flown back to SA in diplomatic pouches, part and parcel of the "wisdom" of a murder and body disposal in a place and means under Saudi diplomatic control. Ghoulish speculation all this; but surely this story drags our minds in that horrible direction. Or maybe just my mind?

Just keep in mind that former CIA Director Woolsey and Trump ‘s disgraced National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, discussed a plan to render Gulen, a US resident and Muslim cleric accused of assisting in the failed coup, back to Turkey, where he would almost certainly be tortured and murdered by Erdogan’s regime. Woolsey and Flynn made this proposal to win a multi-million dollar “consulting” contract with Turkey on the eve of the 2016 election. Later, Woolsey sought to minimize the import of the discussion by stating they just “kicked around” the idea of secretly kidnapping and rendering Gulen. No kindergartener would buy this lame excuse. Woolsey told Biden about the plan, and Biden did absolutely nothing. When a former CIA Director and an Army General plot a crime for money that might be the time to speak up. The American press is in high dudgeon, deservedly so, about Khashoggi’s likely murder, but is not nearly so intrepid about the suspicious and perhaps state-sponsored murders on our own shores, Wall Street Journal reporter David Bird and Russian media mogul, Mikael Lesin, spring to mind. The circumstances of both deaths were highly suspicious and there was no demand from the media for truth or justice in either case. Apparently, the crusaders of the Fourth Estate know when to stifle themselves.

“I don’t think he would have done this if he hadn’t thought he had license from the U.S. administration to frankly behave as he wished to do so,” he said. “I think President Trump and his ministerial team are waking up to just how dangerous it is to have people acting with a sense that they have impunity in their relationship with the United States.” 'Nuff said.

All the dots are being connected on this case. Seems that there is no doubt that the Saudi embassy is under close scrutiny in Turkey. Its strange that the Saudi group thought they could move in and out of the country unnoticed. Makes one wonder who's spies are tracking everyone there. I cant not believe that there is a recording of it. I think the Saudis were trying to make an example of the journalist. Looks like the world press is going to be making the example out of the Saudis. And its about time.

Wild and bothersome speculations, probably what Turkey intended with their carefully controlled leaks. One central issue that I have not seen discussed is what likely happened to the dismembered body parts. They are searching a property owned by a Saudi official, but is it certain that the body parts were not destroyed at the embassy, which must have an incinerator for destroying shredded documents. Did the Saudis leave on a plane that involved scans of luggage or did they avoid that given their diplomatic status. Are there videos of Saudis emerging from the embassy with their luggage, which could be heavier than when they arrived? The descriptions of audio have the world transfixed by the horror of this case. Might as well add to the shock.

Let's keep things simple. A man walked into an embassy. The man did not walk out of the embassy. The embassy officials refuse to say what happened to him. Trump says the world's "imagination" has been unfortunately captured. Shame on anyone who does not immediately see what's going on here...