PBC News & Comment: Is Saudi Brutality Worse Than US Torture, Rendition, Drone Assassination?

American media and political leaders ramp up selective outrage over barbaric assassination of Khashoggi, ignoring our own ugly recent history….--in Turkey, state-controlled media release gruesome details of Khashoggi’s torture and beheading, based on audio recordings
--media have identified members of the 15-man kill squad, including top forensic doctor and members of MBS’ security detail
--Buzzfeed reveals 2015 assassination in Yemen carried out by American mercenary group, during the Obama administration
--Trump keeps covering for the Saudis, invoking Kavanaugh and guilty-till-proven-innocent meme
--The Intercept reports “Outraged Lawmakers” want sanctions on Saudi Arabia
--in fascinating interview, Harvard Law Prof. Gabriella Blum explains how Israeli legal justifications influenced US policies on targeted killings
--from 2001 to 2005, the CIA kidnapped 150 people, and Obama obstructed justice by blocking investigation and prosecution
--the Saudis clearly botched this operation, but the CIA rendition of Abu Omar from Milan in 2003 was bungled as badly
--Treasury Dept. employee is charged with leaking documents to Jason Leopold, who published them at Buzzfeed
--in column for ConsortiumNews, John Kiriakou defends FBI whistleblower Darin Jones
--Slate reports that Bloomberg reports that Bob Mueller is likely to issue a report on collusion and obstruction after midterms
--Trump tweets pathetic threats to Honduras and caravan of migrants that has left Honduras
--September was the biggest month ever for family crossings at Mexican border
--Sen. Heidi Heitkamp’s campaign made big blunder by listing sex assault victims without their permission
--as GOP tax cuts drive up the deficit, McConnell blames Boomer “entitlements”
--most corporate media outlets show no interest in the impact of Facebook’s purge of political pages last week