Atrocities by Saudi Arabia suddenly matter

Submitted by Linda Wood on Fri, 10/26/2018 - 6:32pm

I am posting this comment from Consortium News because it states so well the hypocrisy of our media and government.

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/10/25/the-khashoggi-affair-and-the-futur...

Stephen J.
October 26, 2018 at 11:19 am
The “power structure” is filled with:
—-
“The Horrified Hypocrites”

Anybody with a spark of human decency is surely horrified at the latest murderous Saudi atrocity. But to see the so-called international community, the corporate media, business leaders and all the other political elites and establishment members all rightly upset over the horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi is, I believe, to see selective hypocrisy in action.

Where were these “pillars of society” when the Saudis murdered schoolchildren travelling in a school bus in Yemen? Did that get blanket coverage in the newsrooms of the “investigative media”? Did any of them speak out daily? Oh, I forgot, some of these “honourable people” sell arms to the Saudis, do sword dances with them, kiss their cheeks, [1] and call them “allies.” Now they pretend to be outraged at their Saudi friends. Therefore, I ask:

What kind of “people” slaughter children in a school bus in Yemen?
What kind of army guides the missiles into the school bus?
What kind of “democratic governments” support this slaughter?
What kind of governments sells weapons to the killers of children?
What kind of politicians call selling weapons “creating jobs”?
What kind of politicians vote for illegal wars?…

Furthermore, what kind of media covers up the crimes of the war criminals [1a] [1b] in our midst that have supplied the weapons to the Saudis and joined their “Coalition of Carnage” [2] that is destroying and committing “Genocide in Yemen”? [2a]…
[read more at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-horrified-hypocrites.html

Tags:

Saudi Arabia

War in Yemen

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Comments

Submitted by snoopydawg on Fri, 10/26/2018 - 10:47pm

"The Horrified Hypocrites”

Thanks, Linda

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:32am

@snoopydawg As per usual. Morality as

@snoopydawg As per usual. Morality as atomized sensationalism. There are no consistent principles at work.

Really, how could there be?

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by irishking on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:44am

just a great clip

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

god bless Harry Shearer.

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:51am

@irishking No kidding. He even

@irishking No kidding. He even visually cites the Clintons' involvement in all this. Smart, smart guy.

By the way, glad to "see" you.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by dkmich on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 7:44am

Thanks for the link. Interesting news. Good to know those ruling elites are all alike. Greedy as all hell and indifferent to how they murder people and how many. Some just like to hide their atrocities, others don't.

But if the Saudi power structure were ever to crumble in the wake of the Khashoggi scandal, there would likely be chaos because there is no alternative to replace it.

Since when do we care about that? All we care about is oil and money. It is very possible that it could be a good thing. Maybe the globe would dump oil for energy, and bomb makers would have to blow up the US or build our infrastructure instead.

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:45am

@dkmich Apparently bin Salman has

@dkmich @dkmich @dkmich Apparently bin Salman has done something that fiddled with the elite's plans.

Huh. I googled "bin Salman" and look at one of the first things that came up:

How Mohammed bin Salman Turned Saudi Arabia Into an Investment Wasteland

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/26/how-mohammed-bin-salman-turned-saud...

Some gems from this article:

"From 2016 to 2017, foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia plummeted by an astonishing 80 percent, from about $7.5 billion to about $1.4 billion, according to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. Net capital outflows were also way up—largely because wealthy Saudis were moving money abroad, noted Phillip Cornell, an expert in the Saudi economy at the Atlantic Council."

"...both savvy outside investors and many Saudi businessmen no longer had faith in the kingdom, considering “the crown prince’s authoritarian tendencies” and “capricious economic policy choices,” Cornell said."

Since obviously authoritarianism abounds, and neither the Atlantic Council nor anybody else in real power in this country gives a shit, I'm guessing the real problem lay in the "economic policy choices."

Digging through the article to find actual information on those policy choices, I come up with this:

"For example, the swift outflow of money has forced Mohammed bin Salman’s government to put in some informal capital controls—but that only made foreign money even more reluctant to come in. The Saudi government has cost itself credibility by promising to balance the budget and reduce unemployment to 9 percent only to back away from those pledges."

Anybody know what those "informal capital controls" are?

Any reason the elites would give a shit whether Saudi Arabia's governmental budget was balanced, or how many of their people are unemployed?

EDIT: On re-reading, the "informal capital controls" seem to have followed the exodus of foreign money, not preceded it, so, although clearly the elites don't like those controls (as Mr. Cornell of the Atlantic Council said), that couldn't have been the impetus for the global financial elites to try to spank bin Salman and stand him in a corner.

What did he do (probably in late 2016 or 2017) that pissed them all off?

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by sny on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 1:41pm

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

What did he do (probably in late 2016 or 2017) that pissed them all off?

MBS was appointed crown prince/heir in June 2017, but then the article doesnt say exactly when the dropoff happened either. I can certainly see the Saudi royals seeing the writing on the wall and moving their money out before MBS' appointment, but did MBS have enough power to make decisions affecting external investors then (or would they know that he was a future tyrant, given how the west fawned over him then)? My understanding is that his primary responsibilities in 2016 were Vision 2030, which doesn't seem to me to have a bearing on this.

In short, more information is needed before accepting this article's conclusions.

#2 #2 #2 Apparently bin Salman has done something that fiddled with the elite's plans. Huh. I googled "bin Salman" and look at one of the first things that came up: How Mohammed bin Salman Turned Saudi Arabia Into an Investment Wasteland https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/26/how-mohammed-bin-salman-turned-saud... Some gems from this article: "From 2016 to 2017, foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia plummeted by an astonishing 80 percent, from about $7.5 billion to about $1.4 billion, according to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. Net capital outflows were also way up—largely because wealthy Saudis were moving money abroad, noted Phillip Cornell, an expert in the Saudi economy at the Atlantic Council." "...both savvy outside investors and many Saudi businessmen no longer had faith in the kingdom, considering “the crown prince’s authoritarian tendencies” and “capricious economic policy choices,” Cornell said." Since obviously authoritarianism abounds, and neither the Atlantic Council nor anybody else in real power in this country gives a shit, I'm guessing the real problem lay in the "economic policy choices." Digging through the article to find actual information on those policy choices, I come up with this: "For example, the swift outflow of money has forced Mohammed bin Salman’s government to put in some informal capital controls—but that only made foreign money even more reluctant to come in. The Saudi government has cost itself credibility by promising to balance the budget and reduce unemployment to 9 percent only to back away from those pledges." Anybody know what those "informal capital controls" are? Any reason the elites would give a shit whether Saudi Arabia's governmental budget was balanced, or how many of their people are unemployed? EDIT: On re-reading, the "informal capital controls" seem to have followed the exodus of foreign money, not preceded it, so, although clearly the elites don't like those controls (as Mr. Cornell of the Atlantic Council said), that couldn't have been the impetus for the global financial elites to try to spank bin Salman and stand him in a corner. What did he do (probably in late 2016 or 2017) that pissed them all off?

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 2:21pm

@sny Given that its main

@sny Given that its main (read only) source is that guy from the Atlantic Council, your point is well taken.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by The Liberal Moonbat on Sun, 10/28/2018 - 1:21pm

Stop calling plutocrats/military-industrialists "elites"

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal They're not. They're not "TPTB", either. They're neither godlings nor Ubermenschen.

They're just rich, and only as "powerful" as people believe they are.

It should go without saying that the measure of a man cannot possibly be determined in dollars and cents.

Gods and heroes do walk among us - but they're not these macro-mediocrities. Everyone's got to stop validating what is nothing more than, shall we call it, 'grand theft ego.'

I keep thinking of Shift the Ape from The Last Battle, the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia - there are too many people, especially these days, who can't (or won't) see past the various specific offensive allegories, but if one does, that character actually strikes me as one of the most underrated villains in all of English literature: A contemptible mediocrity who, in a benighted age, presumes to hijack a mantle of greatness he doesn't understand, only to sour people on the very idea of greatness, when that is precisely what the world needs most. When the cats are away, the mice will play.

#2 #2 #2 Apparently bin Salman has done something that fiddled with the elite's plans. Huh. I googled "bin Salman" and look at one of the first things that came up: How Mohammed bin Salman Turned Saudi Arabia Into an Investment Wasteland https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/10/26/how-mohammed-bin-salman-turned-saud... Some gems from this article: "From 2016 to 2017, foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia plummeted by an astonishing 80 percent, from about $7.5 billion to about $1.4 billion, according to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. Net capital outflows were also way up—largely because wealthy Saudis were moving money abroad, noted Phillip Cornell, an expert in the Saudi economy at the Atlantic Council." "...both savvy outside investors and many Saudi businessmen no longer had faith in the kingdom, considering “the crown prince’s authoritarian tendencies” and “capricious economic policy choices,” Cornell said." Since obviously authoritarianism abounds, and neither the Atlantic Council nor anybody else in real power in this country gives a shit, I'm guessing the real problem lay in the "economic policy choices." Digging through the article to find actual information on those policy choices, I come up with this: "For example, the swift outflow of money has forced Mohammed bin Salman’s government to put in some informal capital controls—but that only made foreign money even more reluctant to come in. The Saudi government has cost itself credibility by promising to balance the budget and reduce unemployment to 9 percent only to back away from those pledges." Anybody know what those "informal capital controls" are? Any reason the elites would give a shit whether Saudi Arabia's governmental budget was balanced, or how many of their people are unemployed? EDIT: On re-reading, the "informal capital controls" seem to have followed the exodus of foreign money, not preceded it, so, although clearly the elites don't like those controls (as Mr. Cornell of the Atlantic Council said), that couldn't have been the impetus for the global financial elites to try to spank bin Salman and stand him in a corner. What did he do (probably in late 2016 or 2017) that pissed them all off?

—

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Wed, 10/31/2018 - 10:32am

@The Liberal Moonbat They are in control

@The Liberal Moonbat They are in control of the English-speaking world, much of Europe, and much of the Middle East and Africa. I'm willing to say that however you want me to say it, including repeating "the people who are in control of the English-speaking world, much of Europe, and much of the Middle East and Africa." That implies no superiority of character or skill, except that they were foresighted enough to get the jump on everybody else for about 30 years. But even that foresight was based on most of the rest of the population assuming that they lived in a stable civil society, albeit one riddled with severe injustices, not a sabotage shitshow that was taking apart every human civilization it could get its hands on for the loot.

My mistake, for instance, was in assuming that there was a sizable faction of well-connected wealthy people that didn't want the world to burn. If that were true, my political activities of 2000-2010 would have made sense. Sadly, because my original assumption was wrong, everything I tried was a house built on sand.

I'll abandon the word "elite" because its original meaning implies superiority. I'll not abandon my analysis of power and how it operates in my world until I get new data, or a highly convincing new interpretation that suggests to me that the financiers, the fossil fuel barons, the weaponsmakers, and organizations like the CIA, the NSA, MI5, MI6, and Mossad, are NOT running the English-speaking world, much of Europe, and much of the Middle East and Africa.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by Cant Stop the M... on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:48am

My question's not rhetorical; I hope somebody on here

knows more about foreign policy than I do. Nobody's been more surprised than me that the Saudi Arabians have begun to be actually held accountable for anything, given that we accepted it without a murmur when a bunch of Saudis came over here and murdered a few thousand of our civilians.

—

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Submitted by Big Al on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 11:32am

Oh ya, there's that.

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal How soon we forget.

Submitted by Linda Wood on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 11:32am

I'm hoping

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
all the disconnects are happening now because the 9/11 Victims' lawsuit may finally be allowed to take place against the Saudi princes named in the suit, one of whom is the current king.

One of the last things to happen in the Obama administration was JASTA, The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, passed by Congress, narrowing the scope of the legal doctrine of foreign sovereign immunity.

http://www.uniset.ca/other/cs5/349FSupp2d765.html

349 F.Supp.2d 765, RICO Bus.Disp.Guide 10,804
United States District Court, S.D. New York.
In re: TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
Burnett v. Al Baraka Inv. & Dev. Corp.
Ashton v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army
Tremsky v. Qsama Bin Laden
Salvo v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army
Burnett v. Al Baraka Inv. & Dev. Corp.
Federal Insurance v. Al Qaida Barrera v. Al Qaeda Islamic Army
Vigilant Insurance v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Nos. 03 MDL 1570(RCC), 02 CIV. 1616, 02 CIV. 6977, 02 CIV. 7300, 03 CIV. 5071,
03 CIV. 5738, 03 CIV. 6978, 03 CIV. 7036, 03 CIV. 8591.
Jan. 18, 2005.

… 3. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Federal Plaintiffs claim that “[m]ore than any other factor, al Qaida’s phenomenal growth and development into a sophisticated global terrorist network were made possible by the massive financial, logistical and other support it received from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, members of the Saudi Royal family, and prominent members of Saudi society.” Federal Complaint ¶ 398. Further, the Federal Plaintiffs allege September 11 was “a direct, intended and foreseeable product of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s participation in al Qaida’s jihadist campaign.” Id. ¶ 425. Specifically, the Kingdom allegedly maintained and controlled several of the charities within al Qaeda’s infrastructure. Id. ¶ 399. The Federal Plaintiffs claim Saudi Arabia knew the threat that these charities posed particularly to the United States, and did nothing to stop it. Id. ¶¶ 400-02. The Kingdom allegedly used its relationship with the Taliban to sustain al Qaeda in the mid-1990s. Id. ¶¶ 403, 407. To the extent the Federal Plaintiffs rely on actions by members of the Saudi Royal family as allegations against the Kingdom, they [*787] make no claim that these individuals were acting on behalf of or at the behest of the Kingdom. See, e.g., id. ¶ 420 (claiming that in January 1999 Princess Haifa made payments to Al-Bayoumi, a Defendant alleged to have paid rent on behalf of two of the hijackers). Finally, Plaintiffs allege that members of the Saudi Royal family provided support to al Qaeda in their official capacities as members of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. Federal Complaint ¶¶ 426-464.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Sat, 10/27/2018 - 1:50pm

Everytime I think of the Khashogi hit...

I think of Goodfellas:

For most of the guys, killings got to be accepted. Murder was the only way that everybody stayed in line. You got out of line, you got whacked. Everybody knew the rules. But sometimes, even if people didn't get out of line, they got whacked. I mean, hits just became a habit for some of the guys. Guys would get into arguments over nothing and before you knew it, one of them was dead. And they were shooting each other all the time. Shooting people was a normal thing. It was no big deal.

We had a serious problem with ~~Billy Batts~~ Jamal Khashoggi. This was really a touchy thing. ~~Tommy'd~~ MbS killed a made guy. ~~Batts~~ Khashoggi was part of the ~~Gambino~~ Neocon crew and was considered untouchable. Before you could touch a made guy, you had to have a good reason. You had to have a sitdown, and you better get an okay, or you'd be the one who got whacked.

Khashoggi was a made man in DC. Nobody in Yemen is.

—

The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Submitted by The Liberal Moonbat on Mon, 10/29/2018 - 9:48am

It's a bit like with Trump

Corporate journalists adored him...right up until he made the blunder of personally threatening THEM. It's like they're just covering their own fleshy asses.

—

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!