What the heck is going on with Trump and Saudi Arabia?
On Saturday night, prominent Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, at least 10 other princes, four ministers and tens of former ministers, the owners of three major television stations and the head of the most important military branch of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were arrested.
Also, a helicopter carrying prince Mansour Bin Migrin & several officials crashed in Abha killing everyone on board.
After two days of silence, Trump just tweeted support for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the mastermind behind the arrests -
I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing.…
....Some of those they are harshly treating have been “milking” their country for years!
Here is a partial list of recent events affecting Saudi Arabia —
- A week ago, Kushner made a secret visit to the kingdom and reportedly spent time with the crown prince, according to The Washington Post and Politico. No one knows what was discussed and why.
- Couple of days ago, Trump personally lobbied Saudi King Salman to list the Saudi Arabian Oil Co. on the New York Stock Exchange in a phone call after he tweeted - “Would very much appreciate Saudi Arabia doing their IPO of Aramco with the New York Stock Exchange. Important to the United States!”
- On Saturday, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri in a bizarre move resigned during a trip to Saudi Arabia, from Riyadh, saying his life was in danger and accused Iran of meddling in the region.
- Today, Abbas Heads to Saudi Arabia in Unplanned Visit to Discuss Iran, Trump's Peace Push — www.haaretz.com/...
- Earlier today, Saudi Arabia charged Iran with ‘an Act of War,’ raising threat of a military clash, because of a missile fired at its capital from Yemen — www.nytimes.com/…
- The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said today that it will close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. www.reuters.com/...
- Also today, “Saudi Arabia accused Lebanon of declaring war against it because of aggression by the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi‘ite group Hezbollah, a dramatic escalation of a crisis threatening to destabilize the tiny Arab country.” www.reuters.com/...
In Dec 2015, Trump had threatened Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who had been critical of Trump. Alwaleed is one of richest men in the world, a major Clinton Foundation donor, and a big investor in Apple, Twitter, Citigroup and 21st Century Fox
MBS was appointed Crown Prince on 21 June 2017, following his father's decision to depose Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef, making him heir apparent to the throne.
Trump’s recent statement on his trip to Asia, adding gasoline to fire -
Did Trump know this purge was about to happen? Did he facilitate it or help engineer it or send a green signal?
Is Trump trying to ignite WWIII, before Mueller gets to him? And, will Trump let Saudi Arabia, China North Korea and Japan do the fighting, while we sell aircraft, bombs and missiles?
Hopefully, knowledgeable kossacks can connect the dots and provide some insights into these developments.
Further Reading
- Subir’s excellent diary www.dailykos.com/… on the Kushner-MBS connection.
-
“The Saudi Royal Purge — with Trump’s Consent” — www.newyorker.com/...