In
the six weeks before Khashoggi’s disappearance, MBS not only
managed to anger the U.S. military-industrial complex but the world’s
most powerful bankers.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
1
Amid a
chorus of condemnation directed against his leadership following the
slaying of controversial journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman – popularly known by the moniker MBS –
condemned Khashoggi’s murder in no uncertain terms on Wednesday,
calling the deed a “heinous crime that cannot be justified”
and promising “justice” for those who killed him. MBS’
statement came after dozens of media reports, the majority of which
had cited anonymous sources from within the Turkish and U.S.
governments, revealed the grisly details of the journalist’s final
moments and the subsequent attempt by his killers to cover their
tracks.
Yet,
while MBS may expect the international calls for his ouster to lessen
following his recent admission and apparent behind the scenes
deal-making, he is likely mistaken. Indeed, much of the outrage
directed at MBS for his alleged role in Khashoggi’s death has
little to do with the murder itself, which is being used as a pretext
to justify replacing MBS with a more “reliable” tyrant to serve
as Saudi crown prince.
This is
because the real reason the knives have come out for MBS is not a
single extrajudicial killing – a practice the Saudis have long used
with impunity – but instead the fact that, in the six weeks prior
to Khashoggi’s sordid fate, MBS not only managed to anger the
entire U.S. military-industrial complex, he also enraged the world’s
most powerful financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and
CitiGroup.
In a
recent report on the Khashoggi affair, MintPress detailed how
MBS had endangered the $110 billion weapons deal with the United
States that Trump has often touted as proof that he is creating jobs
and is a proven “deal maker.” However, far from a signed
contract, the “deal” was instead a collection of letters of
interest and letters of intent. Over a year since the deal was
first announced, it has since become clear that MBS no longer intends
to purchase all $110 billion, as shown by his decision to let the
deadline pass on the purchase of the $15 billion Lockheed Martin
THAAD missile system. The Saudis let that deadline come and go on
September 30, just two days before Khashoggi walked into the Saudi
consulate in Istanbul and never came out.
However,
it turns out that — a few weeks before the Lockheed deadline had
come and gone — MBS had endangered another lucrative deal, one
that was valued in the trillions and seems to have been a major
factor in his rapid ascent to the powerful position of crown prince.
Source,
links:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-real-reason-the-knives-are-out-for-mohammed-bin-salman/251051/
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