by
Julio Gonzalez, M.D., J.D. "Okay. Let's just pretend THIS is real. . ." Judge in Seventeen Again while holding Ned Gold's law degree. Last night, The Wall Street Journal reported the statement by the Saudi Arabian Attorney General admitting that Saudi Arabian nationalist and Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, had been killed in the country's Turkish consulate. Amazingly, the explanation provided by Saudi Arabian news agencies and the Saudi government is so patently absurd that it, in and of itself, speaks to their backwardness. In short, Saudi Arabia expects us to believe that Mr. Khashoggi, an out of shape, middle aged man who is known for fighting only with his pen and not his fists, actually allowed himself to get into a fight with 15 Saudi Arabian thugs while sitting in a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey. Even if he was sufficiently foolhardy to allow himself to get into such an altercation, Saudi Arabia next wants us to believe that the 15 "agents" were unable to subdue Khashoggi without killing him. Even if you argue that Khashoggi had suffered some sort of medical emergency such as a heart attack or stroke, the good faith response would have been to immediately transport the victim to a Turkish hospital. We know, of course, that this did not happen. The Saudi Arabian explanation is (frankly) so stupid and amateurish that it insults the intelligence of the recipient audience. In fact, it may well be that their usual audience, the Saudi Arabian people and their regional partners, are so kept in the dark that they buy this nonsense from their officials, but Saudi Arabia must suspect that their explanation cannot fly in the United States. Americans are arguably the most media savvy people in the world. Practically every American who has been paying attention to this story is aware of the events leading to Khashoggi's death. They have already heard of the alleged existence of audio recordings depicting Khashoggi's violent death while inside the Saudi Arabian consulate. They are aware that 15 Saudi Arabian nationalists flew into Turkey and made their way to the Saudi Arabian consulate in anticipation of Khashoggi's arrival and left shortly thereafter. They know that Khashoggi only went to the consulate seeking documents that would allow him to marry his fiancé who was waiting for him outside of the building while he was being killed. They know that Khashoggi is hated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and that the ostensibly progressive Crown Prince is amazingly repressive and intolerant to views opposite his own. They also know that Khashoggi previously left Saudi Arabia because he feared for his life. And they know that Khashoggi went into the consulate building and never came out, at least under his own power. So, who would ever be stupid enough to posit a story as ridiculous and ill-contrived as this and expect Americans to buy it? Oh yeah. I forgot. Barrack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice as evidenced by the story they contrived when they tried to explain the attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi. It is very likely that, at this point, President Donald J. Trump knows what happened inside that building. He knows this because Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had to have listened to the recording of Khashoggi's murder while visiting Turkey last week. We can conclude this with certainty because if the tape were not real, Pompeo would have said so publicly. And if he did listen to the tape, he would have been duty bound to report his findings to the President. So now, President Trump finds himself in an unenviable situation. He has little choice but to preserve a strained relationship with a repressive dictatorship in a region where no one wears a white hat. There is a reason why the President will likely accept the Saudi's explanation for Khashoggi's death, and it has to do with Iran, and terrorism, and evils greater than being forced to accept a lie. Dr. Julio Gonzalez is an orthopaedic surgeon and lawyer living in Venice, Florida. He is the author of The Federalist Pages and serves in the Florida House of Representatives. He can be reached through www.thefederalistpages.com to arrange a lecture or book signing.
3 Comments
Gina Arabitg, MD
10/20/2018 04:54:00 am
I think you should have CAPITALIZED “IS” in the last paragraph.
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Robert Greenwald
10/20/2018 05:57:44 am
I agree and disagree with Dr Arabitg. She is correct in that the only worthwhile statement to us Americans is in the last paragraph. Unless Dr. Gonzales was writing a lesson for prosecutors, I C no purpose to this particular blog. It just adds fuel to the liberals who would like to use this argument to the detriment of our President.
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Loren Bartels
10/20/2018 06:33:02 am
We have much for which to be thankful. We have to remember that only Israel is a democratic republic in the Middle East, only Israel. We have to remember that all Muslim nations are variations of authoritarian tribalism in which disagreements with power structures put one’s life and liberty at risk. But, not just Muslim nations. Remember that Putin, an authoritarian, regularly imprisons and/or murders former spies and others. We have to keep in mind that the head of Interpol has been detained and hidden by China. Of course, we all know that Kim Jong Un murdered his uncle, personally and had his half brother killed. And, that is among nations with an industrialized base of sorts, nations that trade with the West. Realize that in Iran, dissidents are regularly tortured and hanged. Realize that in Syria, Sudan, the Congo, and Libya, disagreements lead to assassination. Realize that in places like Argentina and Venezuela, political assassinations are not unheard of.
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Julio Gonzalez, M.D., J.D.Dr. Gonzalez is an orthopedic surgeon and lawyer who served as State Representative for South Sarasota County in Florida for four years. He is the author of Heathcare Reform: The Truth, The Federalist Pages, and The Case for Free Market Healthcare. Archives
April 2019
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