Iran sanctions reinforced
Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:24 pm
Trump yesterday (via his Pompeo surrogate) announced that those who buy oil and gas from Iran will no longer have tariff waivers after May 1. Probably to be expected, and as we know from the glowing globe display, Trump will continue to see his and Jared's interests as being aligned with the Saudis.
The Saudis yesterday executed 37 people of whom 34 were identifiable, from their names, as Shias. One of them was Khaled bin Abdel Karim al-Tuwaijri. (To be clear, I think that is one of the few Sunni names on the list.) It is not clear to me if this is the same guy - usually just named Khaled al-Tuwaijri - who was the head of the Royal Court under King Abdullah, the prior king, and who was removed from office by MBS. We know that Khaled al-Tuwaijri disappeared shortly after Salman became king. I think it won't be long before we hear of some Khashoggi-related executions which may be either real (the actual killers executed to shut them up permanently) or fake (some poor petty thief pulled from the jails and executed under a false name to give the appearance of justice while the real killers yuk it up in some villa somewhere with a nice pension. Brunei would be a nice place to retire, I'm told.
I have no idea whether they are the same guy or if, if it is one and the same, he was involved in terrorism within the country. But to me it's very weird and extremely counterproductive that we continue to support the murderous Saudis - remember Khashoggi? - and double down on the Iranians whom most of the world believe to have been comporting with the agreement signed with the US and others.
None of these guys are angels and a certain amount of pragmatism is always necessary. But what is happening makes no sense to me.
The Saudis yesterday executed 37 people of whom 34 were identifiable, from their names, as Shias. One of them was Khaled bin Abdel Karim al-Tuwaijri. (To be clear, I think that is one of the few Sunni names on the list.) It is not clear to me if this is the same guy - usually just named Khaled al-Tuwaijri - who was the head of the Royal Court under King Abdullah, the prior king, and who was removed from office by MBS. We know that Khaled al-Tuwaijri disappeared shortly after Salman became king. I think it won't be long before we hear of some Khashoggi-related executions which may be either real (the actual killers executed to shut them up permanently) or fake (some poor petty thief pulled from the jails and executed under a false name to give the appearance of justice while the real killers yuk it up in some villa somewhere with a nice pension. Brunei would be a nice place to retire, I'm told.
I have no idea whether they are the same guy or if, if it is one and the same, he was involved in terrorism within the country. But to me it's very weird and extremely counterproductive that we continue to support the murderous Saudis - remember Khashoggi? - and double down on the Iranians whom most of the world believe to have been comporting with the agreement signed with the US and others.
None of these guys are angels and a certain amount of pragmatism is always necessary. But what is happening makes no sense to me.