The Saudis and Trump insult our intelligence. Congress shouldn’t.
Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:58 pm
The Saudis and Trump insult our intelligence. Congress shouldn’t.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 16. (State Department/EPA-EFE/REX)
By Jennifer Rubin
Opinion writer
October 20 at 12:10 PM
After 17 days during which the Saudi government refused to acknowledge responsibility for the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it released a ludicrous account claiming the former contributing columnist for The Post and critic of the regime, died in a fistfight with 18 Saudi officials. As evidence mounted over more than two weeks that he was slaughtered and dismembered by a 15-person hit squad (with bone saw in hand) flown in and out of Turkey, the regime lied to President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, over and over again. Mohammed bin Salman is now going to oversee further investigation — for a month.
Rarely have we seen such a patently stupid coverup for a crime of this magnitude. “After 2+ [weeks] of dissembling, the Saudi ‘explanation’ is not remotely credible,” Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution tweeted. “Nor is the MBS myth, at least not anymore.” She continued: “The end result of this horrific saga is a weaker, more isolated Saudi Arabia [and] a less effective US-Saudi partnership. And no justice for the innocent victim.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 16. (State Department/EPA-EFE/REX)
By Jennifer Rubin
Opinion writer
October 20 at 12:10 PM
After 17 days during which the Saudi government refused to acknowledge responsibility for the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it released a ludicrous account claiming the former contributing columnist for The Post and critic of the regime, died in a fistfight with 18 Saudi officials. As evidence mounted over more than two weeks that he was slaughtered and dismembered by a 15-person hit squad (with bone saw in hand) flown in and out of Turkey, the regime lied to President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, over and over again. Mohammed bin Salman is now going to oversee further investigation — for a month.
Rarely have we seen such a patently stupid coverup for a crime of this magnitude. “After 2+ [weeks] of dissembling, the Saudi ‘explanation’ is not remotely credible,” Suzanne Maloney of the Brookings Institution tweeted. “Nor is the MBS myth, at least not anymore.” She continued: “The end result of this horrific saga is a weaker, more isolated Saudi Arabia [and] a less effective US-Saudi partnership. And no justice for the innocent victim.”