Trump Enables a Saudi Lie
The case of Jamal Khashoggi is part of a larger and more disturbing pattern.
What did he know and when did he know it.
Photographer: KARIM SAHIB/AFPThe Saudi narrative about the disappearance and likely murder of Jamal Khashoggi is shifting. Last week it was a blanket denial. Now there are hints of the O.J. Simpson defense: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is determined to find the real killers. He’s launched an investigation. Perhaps, as President Donald Trump said, this is the work of “rogue killers.”
Needless to say, this smells like the prelude to a big lie. The crown prince has purged his rivals from the national security state in the last year, so he can hardly claim ignorance. In the words of Senator Lindsey Graham, who has defended the U.S.-Saudi relationship for years: “Nothing happens in Saudi Arabia without MBS knowing it.” MBS, as the crown prince is known, was assuring Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he would investigate even as his government was sending a cleaning crew to its consulate in Istanbul, which Turkish authorities say is a crime scene.