Among the things Saudi Arabia wants from the United States is support for its war on Yemen and permission to buy from US arms corporations state-of-the-art military weaponry. Both things are now in peril, as key Republican senators reacted to a secret briefing by Gina Haspel, director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
TUNIS, TUNISIA — Hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets this week to protest a visit from the murderous Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Users on social media quickly spread photos of the demonstrations, as they were the first of their kind in the Arab world. This is an unusual turn of events for MBS, who faces no opposition at home and is generally welcomed with extravagant diplomatic decadence wherever he travels.
Turkish authorities are still hunting for the remains of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the threat of what’s said to be a harrowing audio recording depicting his agonizing final moments as he was assassinated by a 15-man Saudi hit squad may materialize at any moment, but largely thanks to President Trump’s willingness to countenance Khashoggi’s murder to help preserve the US-Saudi relationship (and ensure that oil prices continue to move lower), the kingdom’s young de facto leader, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is facing minimal international repercussions over suspicions th
WASHINGTON — (Opinion) You’ve got to hand it to Donald Trump: when the U.S. president kisses up to murderers, he lays his reasons right out there for us. The rulers of Saudi Arabia, most notably Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, shall go without so much as a wrist slap from the world’s most powerful and influential country because oil prices might go up in America. And multi-billion dollar weapons deals — the true value of which Trump has grossly inflated for boasting purposes — might be jeopardized.
The surgical dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi has sent the military establishments of several countries into a tizz. Arms manufacturers are wondering whether this is an inconvenient blip, a ruffling moral reminder about what they are dealing with. Autocratic regimes indifferent to the lives of journalists are wondering whether the fuss taken about all this is merely the fuss endured, till[Read More...]
Nobody in Washington, Republican or Democrat, welcomes the crisis in U.S.–Saudi relations prompted by the murder in Istanbul of Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident Saudi journalist, on October 2. Maintaining good relations with the Saudi royal family has been a high bipartisan priority since President Roosevelt and King Faisal made their Faustian bargain in 1933: The U.S. would shield the Saudi kingdom’s tyranny from criticism in exchange for a share of oil revenues and Riyadh’s political loyalty (and American arms sales).
U.S.-Saudi ties have withstood crises in the past and will withstand this one, says As’ad AbuKhalil. Washington and Riyadh Have Had Worse Crises and Will Survive Khashoggi Murder By As`ad AbuKhalil Special to Consortium News Nobody in Washington, Republican or…Read more →
The youngest brother of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has returned from self-imposed exile to “challenge” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) “or find someone who can,” reports the Middle East Eye.
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA — Saudi Arabia has inked a deal worth $250 million in advanced espionage technologies with Israel after a series of backroom meetings, according to a recent report from Emirati outlet Al-Khaleej.
This revelation highlights the Kingdom’s increasingly aggressive spy apparatus under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) — used to heighten attacks on journalists and dissidents living abroad, as evidenced by the recent killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
As a Saudi citizen exiled in Washington, D.C., since 2000, Ali al Ahmed has experienced first-hand what the Saudi government is willing to do to silence its critics inside and outside the country. By Ali al Ahmed The murder of…Read more →
