Biden administration cynically invokes Khashoggi murder to “recalibrate” Saudi ties
The US State Department Monday formally announced a ban on US visas against 76 Saudi nationals in connection with the savage October 2018 assassination and butchering of exiled Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. At the same time, it touted a “Khashoggi ban,” which will supposedly provide for similar sanctions against any government accused of “conducting serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities.”
The failure by the Biden administration to order any sanctions whatsoever against the principal author of the crime, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, exposes the glaring hypocrisy of the US measures.
Tiger Squad and Saudi Arabia s brutal campaign to crush dissent cbc.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cbc.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BEIRUT
Throughout his campaign, President Biden vowed to take a harder line with Saudi Arabia. Its leaders, he insisted, would need to act responsibly or “pay the price” for reckless moves and be made “the pariah that they are.”
But after his administration released a declassified U.S. intelligence report last week blaming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it didn’t quite work out that way.
Washington imposed sanctions on the hit team dispatched to capture or kill Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and placed visa restrictions on 76 others it said had threatened dissidents overseas. The crown prince, who the U.S. says ordered Khashoggi’s silencing, was left untouched.
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