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The Saudi Cover-Up Crumbles

"Saudis preparing to admit Jamal Khashoggi died during interrogation, sources say"

Evidence mounts of a ghastly crime in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. President Trump still seems inclined to buy the kingdom’s lame denials.

By The Editorial Board
The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Oct. 16, 2018


Chris Kindred

This editorial was updated on October 17 to reflect news developments.

If Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Riyadh to read the Riot Act to .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/world/middleeast/pompeo-saudi-arabia-turkey.html?action=click&module=inline&pgtype=Homepage .. Saudi rulers over the apparent murder of Jamal Khashoggi, he hid it well behind cheery smiles and professions of amity. But then outrage has been conspicuously absent from the Trump administration in the two weeks since Mr. Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, never to be seen again.

Mr. Pompeo first went to see King Salman and thanked him for his commitment to a “thorough, transparent and timely investigation .. https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/10/286654.htm ,” according to a State Department spokeswoman. He then went on to see the real power behind the throne, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and here President Trump joined in by phone. Mr. Trump on Twitter ..

Just spoke with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia who totally denied any knowledge of what took place in their Turkish Consulate. He was with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo...

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2018

.. appeared to take at face value the prince’s claim that he knew nothing of what happened in the consulate and his promise of a “full and complete investigation.”

“Answers will be forthcoming shortly,” the president promised. Later he said that blaming the Saudi leadership was another case of “guilty until proven innocent.” We’ll see.

So far, the only investigations have been those carried out by the Turks. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Tuesday .. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-politics-dissident-erdogan/turkeys-erdogan-says-some-material-at-saudi-consulate-painted-over-idUSKCN1MQ1CT .. that investigators who searched the consulate were looking into “toxic materials, and those materials being removed by painting them over.”

Despite nearly incontrovertible evidence — including grisly audio recordings .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/europe/turkey-saudi-khashoggi-dismember.html?module=inline .. described by Turkish officials of Mr. Khashoggi’s torture, murder and dismemberment — Mr. Trump insists he does not know what happened inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 or who might have ordered it. And yet Mr. Trump almost certainly does know, if not from reading the newspapers then from the multiple intelligence agencies that report to him.

It stretches the imagination that Turkey has not shared these recordings with American intelligence agencies, and that they, in turn, would not have shared them with the president and Mr. Pompeo, a former director of the C.I.A. who discussed the killing with the Turkish president .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/europe/mike-pompeo-turkey-saudi-arabia.html?module=inline .. on Wednesday. Mr. Trump denied knowledge of any recordings (“if they exist,” he said Wednesday); Mr. Pompeo declined to comment.

The Turkish accounts have not been independently confirmed by Western journalists or American government officials. The latest information, which came out on Wednesday, was from an unidentified Turkish official who was said to have listened to the audio recording of Mr. Khashoggi’s last moments.

They were sickening. As soon as he entered the consulate, Mr. Khashoggi was seized by the Saudi agents who had flown in some hours earlier — including Salah al-Tubaigy, identified as the head of forensic evidence in the Saudi general security department. They began to cut off his fingers before murdering and dismembering him. As he worked, Dr. Tubaigy put on headphones, noting that “when I do this job, I listen to music,” and urged other members of the team to do likewise. When the consul-general, Mohammad al-Otaibi, protested — not to the violence, but “You will put me in trouble” — one of the agents replied, “If you want to live when you come back to Arabia, shut up.”

The Saudis have reportedly been searching for a cover story for the disappearance of the gadfly Saudi journalist .. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/09/world/middleeast/jamal-khashoggi-timeline.html?module=inline , who had been living in self-imposed exile in the United States and writing columns for The Washington Post. Denial is no longer an option — Turkey appears to have solid evidence that Mr. Khashoggi was killed by thugs flown in from Saudi Arabia .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/world/middleeast/suspects-in-khashoggi-case-had-ties-to-saudi-crown-prince.html?action=click&module=inline&pgtype=Homepage — so the word in Washington is that the Saudis will try to claim an attempted kidnapping or interrogation .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/us/politics/trump-saudi-king-journalist-khashoggi.html?module=inline .. gone bad.

On Monday, when Turkey had already leaked considerable evidence of a hit, Mr. Trump was behaving like a royal apologist. “Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened ‘to our Saudi Arabian citizen,’” he wrote on Twitter ..

Just spoke to the King of Saudi Arabia who denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened “to our Saudi Arabian citizen.” He said that they are working closely with Turkey to find answer. I am immediately sending our Secretary of State to meet with King!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2018

. A bit later he told reporters .. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-17/ , “The denial was very, very strong,” adding: “It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?”

Actually, he probably does, if American spy agencies are doing their job. But evidence of big-time malfeasance has not prevented Mr. Trump from admiring the likes of Vladimir Putin of Russia, Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt or Kim Jong-un of North Korea (“we fell in love .. https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000006136380/trump-kim-jong-un-we-fell-in-love.html?module=inline ”).

Some of Mr. Trump’s more serious Republican supporters have taken a far less forgiving stance toward Saudi Arabia and its heir apparent. “This M.B.S. figure to me is toxic,” said Senator Lindsey Graham .. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/lindsey-graham-says-saudi-crown-prince-bin-salman-has-got-to-go.html , who is normally a close ally of the president, using the crown prince’s nickname. “This guy has got to go.”

There’s no question that Saudi Arabia is an important American ally in the Middle East and that the relationship cannot be casually severed. Yet the White House should have been first to suspend participation in a major investment conference .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-conference-crown-prince-mohammed.html?module=inline .. in Riyadh next week until the Saudis provided a credible account of Mr. Khashoggi’s fate, rather than leaving it to American media organizations .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/business/media/reality-saudi-prince-media-narrative.html?module=inline .. and business executives .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/business/dealbook/wall-street-trump-saudi-arabia.html?module=inline .. to take the lead in pulling out.

If Saudi Arabia is allowed to get away with some lame story about the apparent murder of Mr. Khashoggi, the world’s growing gang of autocrats will feel even less constraint. There are plenty of measures at Mr. Trump’s disposal that would send the right message, from personal sanctions against those behind the Khashoggi operation to a suspension of arms deliveries .. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/opinion/saudi-arabia-arms-sales.html?module=inline .. to Saudi Arabia. Mr. Trump’s aides, members of Congress and allied leaders need to insist that he take the lead in demanding that Saudi Arabia acknowledge what really happened, and why it’s terribly wrong.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion).

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/opinion/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-pompeo.html

See also:

Trump/Putin, 2016 election v Pompeo/Salmsn 2018 Khashoggi
Not total equivalence, but close.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144291288

After journalist vanishes, focus shifts to young prince’s ‘dark’ and bullying side
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144199833

What Jamal Khashoggi Story Says About US Leadership | Morning Joe | MSNBC
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144190260

ForReal: Citizen Trump was right about the Saudis; President Trump, not so much
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=144289153