The brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 by Saudi agents, damaged relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, despite the former guy's continued amoral courting of the instigator, Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman. The official position of the Saudi regime then was to deny any part in the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi, a position that was later proved to be a shameless lie.
The Saudi ambassador to the U.S. at the time was Bone Saw's younger brother, Prince Khalid bin Salman, who called the accusations of Saudi complicity "absolutely false and baseless." He said this knowing that he played a role in Khashoggi's murder, according to a CIA assessment:
"....the CIA examined multiple sources of intelligence, including a phone call that the prince’s brother Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, had with Khashoggi, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the intelligence. Khalid told Khashoggi, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post, that he should go to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to retrieve the documents and gave him assurances that it would be safe to do so." (our emphasis)
In 2019, Khalid left his post to return to Saudi Arabia, but he's returned now that his regime thinks the spotlight on the Khashoggi murder is off. The shame is that the Biden Administration has opened its arms to his return, as the Washington Post's Josh Rogin notes:
"Several top Biden officials met Tuesday and Wednesday with Prince Khalid bin Salman, the 33-year-old younger brother of Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader (also known as “MBS”). Those Khalid met included Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark A. Milley, national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, State Department Counselor Derek Chollet and many others. The Biden team didn’t advertise Khalid’s visit to Washington, but Khalid made sure to get photos at each stop and tweet them out." (our emphasis)
We can visualize Bone Saw grinning at the reception given to his brother, not only because it signals a softening of the Biden Administration's stand on accountability for the murder, but tacit acceptance of the Saudi's worsening record on human rights. Bone Saw already thinks the U.S. can be played given the Saudi's prominent position in the Middle East, its arms purchases, and its oil economy, but the Biden Administration didn't have to make it so plain by welcoming Khalid back to Washington.
(photo: James Lawler Duggan / Reuters)
