President Trump is not going to severely punish Saudi Arabia as he promised he would if the CIA decided he was responsible for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA does believe he is responsible.
While it is sad that Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered and no one deserves such a terrible death, is it our affair? The media says it is. They think they run the government. The media does run the Democrat Party.
Khashoggi was an occasional op-ed writer for The Washington Post but, other than that, he was a Saudi and a Muslim Brotherhood activist. The Saudis killed him. It’s a Saudi matter.
It seems obvious the Crown Prince had to know about his death and most likely ordered it, but the President said he is not going to punish Saudi Arabia. There is no definitive proof. The CIA decided by the process of elimination that the Crown Prince was guilty.
That’s doubtless because the CIA didn’t actually establish that MBS had ordered it; the agency determined he must have. https://t.co/Myr9ISQVUQ
— Brit Hume (@brithume) November 17, 2018
We aren’t fans of the Saudis and their human rights abuses. We still remember 911. However, they are allies helping us in a terrible region of the world. Who am I to say if the President is right or wrong?
The President said our relationship is with Saudi Arabia, and he feels it is in the United States’ interests to maintain that friendship.
The left and the media, in particular, will be very disappointed. They wanted to ruin that connection as they have ruined the Russia-US ties, but the President feels this is best.
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What do you think?
One thing is certain, it took guts for him to make this decision.
He issued a statement in which he stressed business and military interests:
The world is a very dangerous place!
The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.”
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.
After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries – and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!
The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed, we have taken strong action against those already known to have participated in the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body.
Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!
That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. 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!
I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction – and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world. As President of the United States I intend to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First!
Oil is still very important in all of this.
So what do you think? Is this America first?
PRESS BRIEFING ON THE KHASHOGGI AFFAIR
After he made the decision, he had a brief fiery briefing with the press. When questioned how this related to his personal interests, the president fired back, noting that he has no personal interests or business with Saudi Arabia. “I couldn’t care less,” he said, adding, “Being president has cost me a fortune – a tremendous fortune like you’ve never seen before. I knew that a long time ago. I don’t do deals – all I do is focus on this country and making great deals for the country. I don’t focus on making deals for myself, because I don’t care anymore.”
“I’m not going to destroy the world economy, and I’m not going to destroy the economy for our country, by being foolish with Saudi Arabia,” Trump said.
He spoke about Ivanka and Avenatti. It’s interesting.
This story was updated after publication to include the President’s press briefing.
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