Free Republic

Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should not attend an upcoming investment conference in Saudi Arabia amid an ongoing investigation into the country's possible involvement in the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing earlier this month in Turkey. "I don't think he should go," Rubio told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," adding that he doesn't think any US officials should continue with their usual business in Saudi Arabia until Washington gets to the bottom of Khashoggi's disappearance. "I don't think any of our government officials should be going and pretending...

The Palestinian Authority President delivered his statement on Sunday as pressures mount on Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement on Sunday in which he voiced "full confidence" in Saudi Arabia and praised its leaders for their support for the Palestinians. The statement, which was published by the PA president's office, quoted Abbas as saying he has "absolute confidence" in Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. "Palestine was - and shall remain - on the side of Saudi Arabia," Abbas said....

President Trump on Monday suggested Saudi Arabia might not be responsible for the fate of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based journalist whose disappearance has sparked an international outcry. Trump told reporters at the White House that "rogue killers," and not Saudi officials, may have gotten to Khashoggi. The president cited no specific evidence, but noted he had just spoken with Saudi King Salman, who denied that Riyadh was involved. "I don’t want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?" Trump said. The president said King Salman's denial "was...

In high school, Jamal Khashoggi had a good friend. His name was Osama bin Laden. “We were hoping to establish an Islamic state anywhere,” Khashoggi reminisced about their time together in the Muslim Brotherhood. “We believed that the first one would lead to another, and that would have a domino effect which could reverse the history of mankind.” The friendship endured with Jamal Khashoggi following Osama bin Laden to Afghanistan. Khashoggi credited Adel Batterjee, listed at one time as one of “the world’s foremost terrorist financiers” by the Treasury Department, with bringing him to Afghanistan to report on the fighting. ...

Political parties aligned with the German government of Chancellor Angela Merkel lost over 21 percent of the popular vote in yesterday's Bavarian state election. The Christian Social Union lost its majority and the Social Democratic Party lost half its support from the last election in 2014..... The Speaker of Sweden's Parliament, the Riksdag, will now give the task of forming a government to another party leader. Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson abandoned his effort to form a new government.... A very disturbing lead story appeared on the BBC website overnight. A story detailing the notion of chemical attacks in Syria...

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said President Trump must respond with more than “just words” if Saudi Arabia is found to be behind the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi or it would undermine the United States’ reputation as a champion of human rights. “I’m glad the president didn’t tie his hands in terms of exactly what we are going to do. But it needs to be very strong and meaningful, it can’t be symbolic, it can’t just be words,” the Florida lawmaker said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Trump has threatened “severe consequences” against Saudi Arabia but hasn’t gone...

Since President Trump criticizes US journalists for propagating fake news, it's incomprehensible that he would care if a foreign country murdered a journalist. That's the kind of twisted, bizarre logic that Ali Velshi employed while guest hosting Joy Reid's MSNBC show this morning. Velshi put it to Amy Kremer of Women Vote Trump PAC that it was difficult to square Trump's criticism of the media with the concern he expressed over the possible murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi government. Kremer patiently explained to Velshi that the two matters are entirely different: [snip] Velshi's...

It seems to me the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, last seen in Istanbul, is Erdogan-brand Turkish taffy, a confection of sugary lies made to inflame Americans against the Saudis and aid the far more dangerous to our well-being mullahs of Iran I confess to prejudice in this matter. I think Iran is a grave threat to the world, and the Saudis are aiding us in constraining the mullahs. Like Matthew Continetti, I believe the Saudis are now an important counterterrorism ally and roiling the waters there would disrupt “energy markets, create pockets of instability in which jihadists and Iranian-backed militias...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 9 praised cooperation between Ankara and Budapest. “Our cooperation with Hungary within the scope of international organizations such as NATO, Council of Europe and European Union is exemplary..." “We will move forward with concrete steps to reach $5 billion trade volume." He also met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and addressed a business forum. After the business meeting, Erdogan officially inaugurated the restored Tomb of Gul Baba in the capital Budapest and paid a visit to the Budapest Turkish Memorial Cemetery. At the cemetery, Erdogan laid a wreath at the tomb of the...

The missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has caused world leaders to focus on not only the role Saudi Arabia may have played in his disappearance but also its role in the Yemeni civil war. The missing Saudi journalist (a U.S. resident) is apparently the victim of a political assassination of the sort that occurs much too frequently throughout the Middle East and the world, e.g., Iran, Pakistan, Russia, China, et al. No journalists should be subjected to threats of intimidation or threats on their life, much less murder for expressing political opposition. Saudi Arabia must be required to make a...

The Turkish newspaper Sabah has revealed that the journalist Jamal Khasshogi, who was murdered in Istanbul, had entered the Saudi consulate with an Apple iWatch smartwatch that documented his interrogation and murder. According to the report, Khasshogi first approached the consul's room and was then dragged by two senior intelligence officers to a second room where he was interrogated and tortured until he was murdered. On the recordings are shouts of Khasshogi and the security men. He was then dragged into a third room at the consulate, where his body was dismembered. According to the report, the Saudis realized that...

A story broke last week that an Arabic journalist named Jamal Khashoggi who was working for the Washington Post had disappeared and was presumed dead. The official story is that Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on the afternoon of October 2. Immediately (and suspiciously) media stories that appeared to be coordinated appeared, pointing the finger of blame for Khashoggi’s disappearance at Saudi Arabia, in general, and at the country’s Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, in particular. It was alleged by anonymous sources for several days that Khashoggi had been abducted and then killed at...

On October 12, 2018, a Turkish court freed U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson whose arrest on terrorism charges just over two years ago had fueled a diplomatic crisis. Since July, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had collectively tweeted about Brunson’s case almost two dozen times. Even in hyper-partisan Washington, Brunson’s plight received bipartisan support. In a quiet meeting only later disclosed, Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)  met  President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to lobby for Brunson’s release. Brunson’s release reportedly comes after a  deal  negotiated by National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike...

.....I never had anything to do with "The Kingdom" except in so far as it was an intelligence collection or analytic target of the US. I never worked in retirement for any company that did contract work for Saudi Arabia. That was a deliberate choice for me. I know the place well and it has ALWAYS been a sinkhole of medieval theocratic barbarism adorned with modern infrastructure that was constructed by foreign contract "slaves". When I arrived in SA many years ago to be military attache in the US Embassy, I discovered that my five immediate predecessors were all retired...

Newly freed American pastor Andrew Brunson prayed over President Trump in the Oval Office and asked God to fill the president with “supernatural wisdom,” after returning to the U.S. on Saturday for the first time in nearly two years. Trump quipped that he probably needs prayer more than anyone else in the room, which included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and several senators. Brunson kneeled next to Trump, who remained sitting in an armchair, and put his hand on the president’s shoulder as he prayed with head bowed and eyes closed. “Lord God, I ask...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump welcomed American pastor Andrew Brunson to the Oval Office on Saturday, celebrating his release from nearly two years of confinement in Turkey that had sparked a diplomatic row with a key ally and outcry from U.S. evangelical groups. Brunson, who returned to the United States aboard a military jet shortly before their meeting, appeared to be in good health and good spirits. He thanked Trump for working to secure his freedom and then lead his family in prayer for the president. "You really fought for us," he told Trump. "From a Turkish prison to...

What a POWERFUL prayer!!! Don't miss this. GOD is directing and protecting President Trump....watch this freed Pastor pray for our President.....amazing. God Bless Our REPUBLIC!! At link: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/10/freed-pastor-brunson-kneels-down-and-prays-for-president-trump-in-white-house-video/

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Saturday said that Israel will not provide fuel or gas to Gaza if conflicts continue. Liberman halted the transfer of fuel to Gaza on Friday, after several Gaza terrorists who detonated a bomb on the Israel-Gaza border fence and attacked an IDF position inside Israel. "As long as the violence in Gaza - including sending incendiary balloons and burning tires opposite Israeli towns - does not cease completely, we will not renew the provision of fuels and gas to Gaza," Liberman tweeted. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that conflict...

CNN host Jake Tapper said Friday that President Trump appears to be tougher on singer Taylor Swift than on the Saudi Arabian government "President Trump has been harsher about Taylor Swift this week than he has about [Mohammad Bin Salman]," Tapper said on CNN's "The Lead," referring to the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Tapper's comment came amid reports that Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. The Post reported Thursday that the Turkish government said it has video and audio recordings that prove Khashoggi was killed. Khashoggi went missing...

President Donald Trump has said the US will inflict "severe punishment" on Saudi Arabia if the kingdom is found to be responsible for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He said he would be "very upset and angry if that were the case", but ruled out halting big military contracts. Mr. Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government, vanished on October 2 after visiting its consulate in Istanbul...…