Jamal Ahmad KhashoggiJAKs conjectured demise is currently a major news item. My only interest in it is that is an example of how little Americans know or understand of what goes on in the world. The media controls what you are allowed to know.
I have lived in a different world than most of you and many of you discount what I say. Some of what I know isn’t reported elsewhere, not because it isn’t true, but because it is intentionally hidden or obscured. I have worked with military personnel from over a dozen countries. I also have known American civilians who work in foreign countries in official and unofficial capacities.
For this story, someone who unexpectedly missed our daughter’s funeral in late August, recently returned from an assignment in Turkey. That is all I will say about a source for this incident. I am sure some of it can be verified in the media, but not all of it. I’m not going to search for verification because it takes too much time. If this is a violation, just delete the thread.
This is a typical view of JAK from US media:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/did-the-saudis-murder-jamal-khashoggiJAK has been presented to anyone reading US media as a liberal Saudi Arabian journalist. He is a Saudi Arabian journalist of Turkish descent. He has also worked for a Saudi Ambassador to the US. He also worked for Saudi Intelligence. He also is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He also was a friend of Osama bin Laden. He is a nephew of Adan Khashoggi, a major international arms dealer, who has been in the news several times. He is also a cousin of Mohammed al Fayed, the boyfriend of Princess Diana. JAKs close ties to the royal family date from his grandparent’s service to the Royal Family.
JAK had a complex relationship with bin Laden, who was a Saudi Prince, and his friends and relatives within the ruling family. You might remember the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi Arabian. He knew all of the connections and who funded what activities. This was sometimes a benefit to the monarchy and sometimes not.
JAK’s knowledge became a threat to Crown Prince Salman when he became close to Prince Alwaleed, Qatar, and the Muslim Brotherhood who are struggling against Crown Prince Salman’s attempt to westernize Saudi Arabia. They also are against Salman’s attempts to suppress Islamic extremism in the Middle East, specifically Yemen, Qatar, Syria, Lebanon and most importantly, Iran. Turkey has come out in support of Qatar, as Turkey moves toward being an Islamic state.
Salman made significant early progress in his westernization.
JAK was probably assassinated for betraying the Saudi Monarchy. However, there is no conclusive proof. Keep in mind that both Turkey, where the incident took place, and Qatar, which Turkey supports and which has financed JAK’s recent career, have an interest in embarrassing Saudi Arabia and destabilizing Salman.
Americans want to judge other countries by US standards. Much of the world operates on different standards. The Middle East is mostly Islamic. Some countries have pushed out all Jews and all Christians. Islam requires killing apostates and their teachers. Islam requires persecution of homosexuals. Islam holds victims of rape responsible for their situation. Islam condones “honor” killing within a family. Public displays of affection (kissing) are a crime for which even foreigners go to jail. “Justice” in Islam is mostly controlled by tribal leaders enforcing their interpretation of Sharia law.
This is a recent story that is as close to the truth as you are ever likely to hear about US assassination teams:
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/indepth/2018/10/16/uae-hired-american-death-squad-to-assassinate-yemeni-oppositionThis is an older story about what was claimed to be the first US outsourced team, which implies earlier teams were in-house:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/07/the-terrifying-background-of-the-man-who-ran-a-cia-assassination-unit/259856/Many countries use assassination teams as a part of their foreign policy. The Russians are the ones who get caught most often. Their activities in England make the news.
You will not hear much about the teams run by US government entities. I have known members of these teams. They exist and they take on missions that someone in the US government condones. I have known they existed since the Cold War era, but I assume they have always existed.
You will never convince me that JAK’s assassination was as tragic as the 1985 attempt by the CIA and British Intelligence to kill Fadlallah in Beirut. 80 innocent civilians died and 200 were injured. He was accused of plotting the bombing of the Marine barracks and 2 other bombings. 307 people died in the Marine barracks bombing.
The Marine barracks bombing, from an early report:
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/24/nyregion/monday-october-24-1983-bombings-in-beirut.htmlThe attempted Fadlallah assassination:
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/world/casey-reported-behind-85-lebanon-bombing.htmlThe court decision this year that wasn’t covered by the media:
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/beirut_barracks_bombing_victims_awarded_920m_judgment_against_iranA good US-Saudi relationship is important to peace in the Middle East, which I hope comes someday. Salman has taken a stand against Iran and its activities in Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon. It also has identified Qatar as an enemy. Qatar was a financial supporter of JAK. Salman also wants a better relationship between Islam and Israel. If we act in a way that destabilizes Salman, Alwaleed’s faction is likely to return Saudi Arabia back to the country that created bin Laden and his fellow terrorists.
All of the noise coming out of Washington and the media has already caused numerous cancellations of Salman’s projects in the US. If this continues, it will be disastrous for the Middle East and US foreign policy.