Cynical sanctions

The United States has imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials for their role in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist.

Cynical sanctions

The United States has imposed economic sanctions on 17 Saudi officials for their role in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist.

Big deal.

If the US government was serious about expressing displeasure at official involvement by Saudi authorities in the murder it would impose sanctions on the state as a whole.

It would also consider the role Turkish authorities believe was played by the powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder. The Saudis insist he had nothing to do with it but they have lied before, denying any knowledge of Khashoggi’s disappearance, then offering contradictory explanations for his death.

Khashoggi, a royal insider turned critic of Saudi policy, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Confining so-called sanctions to a small group of lower level officials is nothing more than a cynical attempt by the Trump administration to ensure that America’s lucrative arms trade with the Saudis is not jeapordised.

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