If a foreign journalist living in America and writing about the Iranian government’s noxious policies were murdered by agents of Tehran, the president of the United States would take it as evidence of the need for tough action. Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, however, was a Saudi writing about the Saudi government, which is a U.S. ally.
After Khashoggi disappeared while visiting Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul, Donald Trump was a portrait in timidity. “We want to find out what happened,” Trump bleated more than a week later. What happened is pretty clear. The Turks have told U.S. officials they have audio and video recordings of Khashoggi being tortured and killed inside the consulate.
Regrettably, writes Steve Chapman, Trump responded with the limp evasions he reserves for tyrants who have seduced him. If it turns out that the Riyadh regime murdered Khashoggi, Trunp said, “it would be a very sad thing.” But he also proclaimed that our relationship with the Saudi government is “excellent.”
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