The last words of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by Saudi officials at the consulate in Istanbul, were “I can’t breathe,” CNN reported.
According to a source who spoke to CNN, who read the translated transcript of an audio recording of Khashoggi’s torture, murder and dismemberment, Khashoggi’s murder in October was a planned action, not part of a botched interrogation as Saudi officials initially claimed. He reportedly repeated the sentence three times.
The transcript also reveals that those responsible for the murder were advised to listen to music while they dismembered his body, to block out the sound. Phone calls were made to officials to brief them on the progress, according to the CNN source.
Khashoggi’s murder has shoved a wedge between Congress and the White House. Lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, agree that the crown prince was clearly involved in the murder, while the White House has chosen to stand behind the Saudi kingdom to maintain economic deals. Trump has waffled on whether the Saudi crown prince was aware of the plan to murder to the writer.
Maybe those were his last words, maybe they weren’t. Who knows? We may never know. Could be fake news. So what, we need the oil. And defense contracts. There are going to be 27 million new jobs because of Saudi Arabian weapons purchases. 27 million!!! MAGA!!!
I think the Trump family’s footsie-playing with the crown prince and Saudis generally deserves a mention here. The arms deals are 90 percent imaginary and what isn’t is just talk. And few nations can just switch up their arms suppliers like you’d trade in the Ford and get a Chevy. Supply chains, maintenance, training, all militate against their going elsewhere. Trump is covering up a murder for personal profit, not the national good.
…and meanwhile in Trumplandia, The Weekly Standard is shutting down not because it isn’t conservative and making money but because it is not sufficiently on the Trump Train to completely destroying the reputation of the United States.
The Saudis have been very good for Jared’s bottom line. Having given singularly bad advice to trump for 2 years, Jared reportedly is doing the same for MBS, advising him after the brutal murder to “just hang tight” until it all blows over.
Greedy, amoral pigs.