Juan Cole - Biden’s Double Standards: Iranian Civilians under severe US Sanctions but not accused Saudi Murderer Bin Salman

By Dilip -

The Biden administration on Friday declassified and released a CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman bears responsibility for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 3, 2018. President Biden will not, however, impose sanctions on Bin Salman. Apparently the only punishment will be that Biden won’t talk to the crown prince, only to his father, King Salman.

CBC: “U.S. intelligence report blames Saudi crown prince for murder of Jamal Khashoggi”

But in fact, secretary of defense Lloyd Austin just spoke with Bin Salman earlier this week, because the latter holds the portfolio of minister of defense, and so is the proper counterpart for military relations. On Feb. 19, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of the Central Command that covers the Middle East, said that the US was seeking more “back up bases” in Saudi Arabia in case of hostilities with Iran…

https://www.juancole.com/2021/02/standards-civilians-sanctions.html

Martin Chulov: Saudi women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul released from prison // Bill Law: Can America’s Favorite Police State ever Change?

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