President Biden told reporters on Sunday that one of Saudi Arabia’s top diplomats did not give a truthful account of his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto leader.
Biden met with MbS in Saudi Arabia on Friday and told reporters afterward that he raised the issue of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist who was killed by Saudi agents at Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. US intelligence later concluded that MbS ordered the killing.
Biden said he confronted MbS about the killing and made clear that he views the crown prince as personally responsible. But Adel al-Jubeir, a top Saudi diplomat who attended the meeting, said he didn’t “hear” Biden directly blame MbS. “I didn’t hear that particular phrase,” al-Jubeir told Fox News.
“The president mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also made the point that American presidents — this is part of the agenda of every American president,” al-Jubeir added.
Arriving back in Washington, Biden was asked by reporters if al-Jubeir’s account was truthful, to which he simply replied, “No.”
The Saudi government maintains that MbS was not behind Khashoggi’s killing and described the incident as a “terrible mistake.” In the meeting with Biden, MbS said the US has also made “mistakes” and brought up the torture and sexual abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison that was carried out by US military personnel.
MbS also raised the issue of the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was gunned down by Israeli forces in May. The US has acknowledged that Israeli forces likely killed Abu Akleh but downplayed the idea it was intentional even though eyewitness accounts and multiple investigations concluded it was a targeted killing.
Biden was in Israel before visiting Saudi Arabia and called for an investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing but didn’t confront Israeli leadership about it or condemn the incident.
Who cares Porky Pig Khashoggi was an irritant to the Saudi Royal family who didn’t know when to stop running his mouth.
Not our problem as he was a Saudi citizen and NOT and American!
Khashoggi was an American citizen.
He had legal permanent US residency, but was not a citizen.
Yep, you’re right. I shouldn’t trust Google/Bing search result without digging deeper. Thanks for the correction.
It doesn’t change that we should care about what happened.
You need to check your facts. He resided in the US but was NOT and American citizen. However you spin it he is not our responsibility!
He was an intelligence official inside the Saudi intelligence apparatus, and apparently on the losing side of internal infighting.
There is a huge literature of the “spy thriller” genre, about how very dangerous it is to be on the losing side of internal intelligence infighting. That was not just on the Other Side, our own took risks too, or so say our novelists who always claimed insider knowledge.
He ran to the US, and got shelter and US residency from a US intelligence agency. He did not however remain in that place of safety, but rather exposed himself “one last time” in ways common to the dramatic themes of such literature.
That does not justify killing him. It does however explain better what happened than most of our media bone-saw narratives.
In comparison, the recent murder of a US citizen journalist by Israel (Shireen Abu Akleh) had no excuse except the routine murder of an inconvenient Palestinian or sympathizer (like Rachel Corrie). She was just a journalist, on a first assignment.
MBS actually confronted Biden about that, and now Biden is lying to us about that.
MBS used good tactics. Threw it right back in Biden’s face.
Take a polygraph, … but I know who my money ‘s on.
Results would be worth saving in GOLD
It’s irrelevant really. The fact that after the meeting the Saudis diss Biden who came there to beg for various things says enough.
I’m wondering if a polygraph test can detect whether Biden answered truthfully with his senility having made him into such a blathering old fool.
“In the meeting with Biden, MbS said the US has also made “mistakes” and brought up the torture and sexual abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison that was carried out by US military personnel.”
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. We make MBS look like a choir child.
On this, Biden is a liar. Blatantly.
Of course he does, he can’t remember what happened. Senility affects memory.