The Saudis Keep Changing Their Story on the Murder of Khashoggi. What Should We Do?

Guest Post by Ron Paul

The Saudi version of the disappearance and murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi seems to change every day or so. The latest is the Saudi government claim that the opposition journalist was killed in a “botched interrogation” at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Or was it a fist-fight? What is laughable is that the Saudi king has placed Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, a prime suspect, in charge of the investigation of Khashoggi’s murder!

Though the official story keeps changing, what is unlikely to change is Washington’s continued relationship with Saudi Arabia. It is a partnership that is in no way beneficial to Americans or the US national interest.

President Trump has promised “severe punishment” if the Saudi government is found to have been involved in Khashoggi’s murder, but he also took off the table any reduction in arms sales to prop up the murderous Saudi war on Yemen. It’s all about jobs, said President Trump. So the Saudi killing of thousands in Yemen can go on. Some murders are more important than others, obviously.

The killing of Khashoggi puts the Trump Administration is in a difficult situation. President Trump views Iran as designated enemy number one. Next month the US Administration intends to impose a new round of sanctions designed to make it impossible for Iran to sell its oil on the international market. To keep US fuel prices from spiking over this move Trump is relying on other countries, especially Saudi Arabia, to pump more and make up the difference. But the Saudis have threatened $400 a barrel oil if President Trump follows through with his promise of “severe punishment” over the killing of Khashoggi.

The Saudis have also threatened to look for friendship in Moscow or even Tehran if Washington insists on “punishing” the regime in Riyadh. For a super-power, the US doesn’t seem to have many options.

What whole mess reveals is just how wise our Founding Fathers were to warn us against entangling alliances. For too many decades the US has been in an unhealthy relationship with the Saudi kingdom, providing the Saudis with a US security guarantee in exchange for “cheap” oil and the laundering of oil profits through the US military-industrial complex by the purchase of billions of dollars in weapons.

This entangling relationship with Saudi Arabia should end. It is unfortunate that the tens of thousands of civilians dead from Yemen to Syria due to Saudi aggression don’t matter as much as the murder of one establishment journalist like Khashoggi, but as one Clinton flack once said, we should not let this current crisis go to waste.

This is not about demanding that the Saudis change their ways, reform their society on the lines of a liberal democracy, or allow more women to drive. The problem with our relationship with Saudi Arabia is not about Saudi Arabia. It is about us. The United States should not be in the business of selling security guarantees overseas to the highest bidder. We are constantly told that the US military guarantees our own safety and so it should be.

No, this is about returning to a foreign policy that seeks friendship and trade with all nations who seek the same, but that heeds the warning of George Washington in his Farewell Address that “a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils.” If we care about the United States we must heed this warning. No more passionate attachments overseas. Friendship and trade over all.

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Mustang
Mustang

Would somebody please explain to me WHY THIS STORY IS SO FREAKIN IMPORTANT TO THE LIBERAL BIASED NEWS MEDIA?!?!?!?!?!

Zulu Foxtrot Golf
Zulu Foxtrot Golf

Elections are coming up dude. WaPo is going to run rampant with this and do as much damage as they can to conservatives as possible to sway votes. Short of war, nothing will remedy the murder of a Saudi journalist that was all about free expression for Islamic countries. That sounds an awful lot like a poster boy for a cause to me lol.

overthecliff
overthecliff

Mustang, it is just a distraction. They want us paying attention to this while they are doing something they want to conceal.

Wild Mustang
Wild Mustang

would someone explain to me WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO CONCEAL?!?!?!

and

who is “THEY” that we is always talking about?

just kidding,
it must be the globohomos and they are stealing our wealth.

Dutchman
Dutchman

I hear he’s with Jimmy Hoffa.

EL Moron (EC)
EL Moron (EC)

Chumming around with Osama

Zulu Foxtrot Golf
Zulu Foxtrot Golf

We should not do anything, but I am sure some imbeciles in office will manage to fuck it up and do something completely over the top that costs the taxpayers. This is straight out of Stalin’s playbook: one person is a tragedy, but millions are a statistic lol. Khashoggi died a martyr for shit journalism and opposing dogma.

unit472

We should offer to help train Saudi Intelligence how to kill their enemies ( just as ours do) without leaving their fingerprints all over the place. Other than that it is a matter between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and none of our business.

TC
TC

The buzz on twitter is that Jared put Khashoggi on the Saudi hit list for being critical of the Saudi-Israel alliance. Might explain why the media is pushing this so hard.

Zulu Foxtrot Golf
Zulu Foxtrot Golf

He was critical of the alliance and the lack of free speech, but the rumor mill also had Khash working with the Muslim Brotherhood and OBL back in the day. Now whether or not that that is the spin they are putting out there for the camel fuckers in SA as a justification for the hit and us not nixing any oil deals is what piqued my call on bullshit on all sides.

He probably had an inside link to the Israelis and Saudis direct government involvement in the towers getting hit. Or could have been on the legit about free speech in that shit hole SA. Turkey also has something to gain in manipulating both sides with audio recordings.

Deep state is running with this one for sure.

monger
monger

When you are evil, hanging out with evil is the thing you do, why do you think they want to bring NK into the fold.

hardscrabble farmer
hardscrabble farmer

There’s nothing wrong with North Korea. Everything you’ve been told about them is a lie.

EL Moron (EC)
EL Moron (EC)

Are you talking about the NK leadership’s antipathy towards miscegenation?

Anonymous
Anonymous

For those of you who are not quite bright enough, or lack any sort of moral compass, let me attempt to explain this issue.

Saudi Arabia just commited one of the most grusome crimes we have seen since the dark ages in a government office within a government capacity. This is just the latest example of their barbarism, in a series of actions including kidnapping a foreign government official and forcing them to resign their offfice, waging war against civilian populations in Yemen, and let’s not forget financing the murder of 3000+ Americans in the attacks of 9/11.

Nations like people are often judged by the company they keep. For the US to continue to support Saudi Arabia is to condone their crimes against others as well as ourselves. It shows the rest of the world that the United States is an immorral country who’s government is for sale to any corrupt regime who is rich enough to buy our favors.

Immoral decicions have a way of coming back to haunt you.

Brian Reilly
Brian Reilly

Anon, You really should post under your name. Besides that, nobody gives a damn whether SA kills someone in their embassy in Turkey, or anywhere else as long as the numbers in the kill are low single digits. You could not have named Kashoggi or placed him within a million miles 2 weeks ago, and still do not care. Not really.

It is all faux outrage. Ginned up by the Media and the Establishment (Deep State) to distract us from the real scams they are working on. sooner or later the masses might figure it out, but by then it will probably be too late.

Marinate in that outrage Anon. Fool!

Anonymous
Anonymous

So how much do the Saudi’s pay you to be a troll?

Miles Long
Miles Long

What’s this WE shit white man? WE shouldn’t do a fucking thing. It’s absoutely no skin off my ass, nor yours either.

pyrrhus
pyrrhus

Errr…Nothing?! Double agent muslim gets whacked, and why do I care?

Anonymous
Anonymous

The sly who came in from the cold. I bet he is talkin’ and walkin’ somewhere. Maybe with 70 virgins. A complicated cover story to distract from real news.

Dan
Dan

What should we do? NOTHING. Frankly, Im tired of hearing about this Fake Outrage. Enough already! WE DONT CARE.

Savages are gonna savage each other. In other news,the sky is blue.

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