President Trump’s inability to criticize and penalize Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for participation in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi governmental official who fled and became a Post contributing columnist, is scandalous.
Despite the CIA’s evidence that Prince Mohammed bin Salman supervised that killing, Mr. Trump is stubbornly refusing to stop the United States’ dealings and cooperation with the Saudis.
The crown prince should be removed from office and prosecuted for a murder conspiracy by the Saudis. Meanwhile, the U.S. government must stop supplying his country with millions of dollars in military weapons and assisting in bombings in Yemen, which are killing Yemeni civilians and harming the lives of millions more there.
President Trump’s reaction to the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the extent of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement reveals his character. At first, Mr. Trump said we did not know for sure if Mr. Khashoggi was dead. After that was established, he said we really did not know how he died. After it was conclusively proved that Mr. Khashoggi was murdered, he said the Saudi crown prince had personally assured him he was not involved and knew nothing about it.
Mr. Trump, just as he has before with Russia’s election meddling and North Korea’s promise to denuclearize, unabashedly accepted the word of a brutal dictator as the truth. Now, Mr. Trump’s own premier intelligence agency, the CIA, has concluded that the Saudi prince ordered Mr. Khashoggi’s murder. Mr. Trump’s response: “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” The truth does not seem to matter to Mr. Trump, especially when it is an inconvenient truth.
Mr. Trump views Saudi Arabia as the linchpin of his Middle Eastern foreign policy — and claims that the Saudis will buy more than $100 billion in arms from us and create hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs. (Both claims are highly hyperbolic.) To Mr. Trump, Mr. Khashoggi is acceptable collateral damage. As Mr. Trump has demonstrated so many times, in so many ways, he will not let a little matter such as right and wrong stand in the way of what he wants to do.
It ought to be three strikes and you are out.
With his latest deference, this time to Saudi Arabia, despite what every intelligence agency and every astute national leader knows, President Trump has for the third time gone into kowtow mode. He has absolved the Saudi crown prince, who all others acknowledge directed the ghastly murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This after the kowtow to Kim Jong Un, the sad man who heads the absolutely inconsequential North Korea, and the earlier kowtow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a man with a visceral hatred of the United States, and who for his entire adult life has done everything in his power to disrupt our democracy.
It is time for our Congress to say “enough.” Mr. Trump places this nation at risk as he embraces and kowtows to our enemies while disparaging our allies and our national defense forces. He brings dishonor to the United States and damages this country’s standing as a moral leader in the world.
realestatereddit on November 25th, 2018 at 14:34 UTC »
Bragging about sexually assaulting women should have been the last straw. Making fun of disabled people should have been the last straw. Conspiring with a foreign enemy to undermine our elections should have been the last straw. Attacking the free press should have been the last straw. While Republicans control the Senate, there is no such thing as the last straw.
LiMoTaLe on November 25th, 2018 at 13:10 UTC »
Trumps inability to denounce white nationalists last July should have been the last straw.
His firing of the FBI director for investigating him should have been the last straw.
His kowtowing to Putin in the worldwide conference should have been the last straw.
His appointment of a crony as the acting AG for the sole purpose of interference with Mueller should have been the last straw.
But yeah. This too.
Edit:. Thanks for the silver!
Edit:. Anyone deflecting, simplifying or outright denying these things are either grossly misinformed, unwilling to acknowledge what is plain as day, or both. Had Obama done 1/10th of any of this bullshit, you'd be screaming for impeachment. Your idol is a thin-skinned, narcissistic authoritarian. We will not forget all of you who supported this psychopath.
DragonTHC on November 25th, 2018 at 12:39 UTC »
But it won't be. Senate Republicans have shown their distaste for their constituency. They are now owned by Trump.