Trump tries to deflect

Top Republicans slam Trump for statement backing Saudi Arabia

Top Senate Republicans slammed President Donald Trump for his statement backing Saudi Arabia in the wake of the death and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, tweeted Tuesday, "I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia."

The criticism follows an official statement the White House released Tuesday, under the subject line "Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia."

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Later in the day at a news conference, Trump said he was "not going to destroy the economy of our country" over Khashoggi's death by giving up arms deals to Saudi Arabia.

Of course, nobody has asked him to do that.

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday, "One thing I learned during the Obama years is that when you look the other way regarding problems in the Middle East, it seldom works out."

Graham said former President Barack Obama "chose to look the other way as Iran took increasingly provocative actions," and said, "Each time it led to even worse Iranian behavior and created even larger problems for the future."

"Likewise, it is not in our national security interests to look the other way when it comes to the brutal murder of Mr. Jamal #Khashoggi," Graham continued.

That bullshit drive-by shot at the Obama administration is standard Trumpist shit from a guy who has more and more become a mini-me for the asshole in the White House, doubtless aimed at diminishing the anger his criticism will arouse in the Duce.

Of course, the issue is not the arms deals and not the close cooperation of the Saudis and the US in the Middle East, but the prince in particular and his criminal leadership.

The US should freely and fully criticize him and such features of the Saudi regime as the following.

Saudi Arabia tortured activists including women, rights groups claim

Saudi Arabia has tortured, sexually harassed and mistreated several human rights activists detained since May this year, including women, two leading international rights groups have alleged.

Activists were repeatedly tortured by electrocution and flogging, leaving some unable to walk or stand properly, with marks on their bodies and uncontrolled shaking of the hands, Amnesty International said, citing three separate testimonies.

One of the activists reportedly tried to take her own life repeatedly inside the prison, according to the testimonies, Amnesty said.

"In one reported instance, one of the activists was made to hang from the ceiling, and according to another testimony, one of the detained women was reportedly subjected to sexual harassment, by interrogators wearing face masks," the rights group said in a statement Tuesday.