Tears for Jamal Khashoggi
"Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an 'enemy of the state' and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood."
"[Although bin Salman may have] had knowledge of this tragic event -- maybe he did and maybe he didn't -- [the administration would stand by Saudi Arabia]."
"In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel, and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!"
U.S. President Donald Trump
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"Khashoggi had always been close to the Muslim Brotherhood, the people who took over Egypt under Morsi following the so-called Arab Spring. The Muslim Brotherhood is a hard-line Islamist organization dedicated to the introduction of Sharia and the creation of an Islamic caliphate."
"Khashoggi -- a former Saudi intelligence agent, a man who was close to the Muslim Brotherhood and a sworn opponent of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's reform program -- was in the process of setting up a center to promote the ideology of the MB. He was setting it up in Turkey with Qatari money. The Saudis wanted to stop him In September, they offered him $9 million to return to Saudi Arabia and to live there unhindered. They wanted him out of play. Khashoggi refused and the rest you know."
"This man wasn't some Western-oriented liberal brutally murdered because of his passion for freedom. This man was a player."
"My intelligence sources tell me he had worked as an intelligence agent for the Saudi intelligence service, GID, for around 20 years. At one point, he was sent by GID to Sudan to meet Osama bin Laden and to try to lure him away from terrorism. He failed."
"Abandoning the relationship with Saudi Arabia would further weaken the interests and influence of the Western powers in the Middle East. And if you think that doesn't matter, you're quite wrong. The Middle East is volatile enough without adding to that volatility by creating new power vacuums."
Alexander Downer, Australian diplomat
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| Jamal Khashoggi, AFP |
"Saudi Arabia has been an important partner to regional security in the past. I expect they will be in the future."Turkey, which according to journalism's oversight body now represents the most repressive of countries for journalists, taking over the number one spot for its imprisonment of journalists, its closing down of media groups that fail to conform to Recep Tayyip Erdogan's idea of worthwhile news, earning his ire for a hint of criticism of his autocratic rule, has manipulated world opinion to shrink from Saudi Arabia's inept and audacious effort to rid itself of a political nuisance. Erdogan himself makes far wider use of cruder and more far-reaching steps to destroy the lives of his perceived opponents.
"...Their coooperation, their interoperability, in my judgement is a good thing."
"Their cooperation, interoperability, capability if you will, would be a stabilizing force on the region, has been a stabilizing force in the region."
General Joseph Dunford, chairman, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, International Security Forum, Halifax
Both countries are tribal, sectarian, political theocracies each employing whatever means they feel necessary to achieve their ends; domination, control, influence. Neither is subtle about it and neither would get any awards for humanitarian concern. So why is Turkey so eager to diminish Saudi Arabia's standing with the Western world's political leadership? Erdogan himself knows few equals as an abrasive, venomous partner to any relationship he hopes to foster with the West; human rights is a non-starter with Erdogan, just ask the average Kurd for starters.
Turkey, now clearly Islamist, though a Sunni Muslim country, has decided to throw in its lot with Shia Iran, despite its presence in Syria in support of mass-murdering Bashar al-Assad, a man not to Erdogan's liking because of his opposition to Sunni Syrian demands for equality with Alawite Syrians reflecting the regime's lethal sectarian bias. Erdogan's rapprochement with Vladimir Putin, another supporter of Assad, places him in the company of Russia, Syria, Iran and Qatar, an emerging power bloc competing for influence in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Gulf States and the United States.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the close to century-old Islamist movement that has stretched its tentacles of influence throughout the Muslim world into the world of Western democracies has been declared a terrorist group by Egypt where it began, and by Saudi Arabia. Under former President Barack Obama the Muslim Brotherhood had entry to the White House as an influence that boded ill for America's traditional Middle East partners. Qatar, in its support for terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah and partnership with Iran, has been ostracized by other Sunni Arab countries.
Placing Jamal Khashoggi's death in perspective of the assassinations taking place on a regular basis throughout the Muslim and particularly Arab Muslim world, not to mention the world of Vladimir Putin, becomes a lesson in Realpolitik and the successful manipulation of world opinion. The bit player that he was in the Byzantine covert destabilization efforts on the part of explicitly fascist Islam joined by his predilection for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and his friendship and admiration for Osama bin Laden paint this man as a rather unsympathetic figure.
In a world of deadly intrigue and disregard for basic decency does his death really matter if to keep some semblance of peace the clumsy stupidity of the Saudis to pursue an avenue to shut down a critic has led to a glimpse into the overheated world of Middle East politics?
Labels: Assassination, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United States
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, November 24, 2018
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