The next political "disappearance" -- prominent Saudi dissident disappears in Istanbul

One does not question or - Heaven forfend! - criticize the Sauds. One submits. Silently.

Bulgarian journalist who had been investigating official corruption raped and murdered.

WHY in the fuck did he go into the Saudi consulate? He knew how they felt about him

To get his divorce papers R3 His Turkish fiancée was waiting outside.

Russia tried to disappear Assange last Christmas Eve.

R4. I know that was the reason, but he had to know the huge risk involved. There must have been another way.

...Do government buildings in Saudi Arabia have designated "murdering and dismembering" rooms?

Not trying to make a joke, that's what the article makes it sound like.

Apparently he believed the consulate was relatively safe, r6, because it was full of non-violent diplomat types ("The consular staff, he assured them, 'are just ordinary Saudis, and the ordinary Saudis are good people,' recalled one of his lunch companions"), and besides, his fiancée was waiting for him right outside the gate (and waiting, and waiting...)

He didn't know that 15 killers, er, agents, the Saudis had flown in -- some of them carrying diplomatic passports! -- were waiting inside for him.

R5 Isn't Assange working for the Russians?

Shocking how brazenly the Saudis have been violating basic diplomatic norms -- like when they kidnapped the Lebanese PM on a visit to Saudi and made him sign a resignation -- since Prince Whatshisname took over. That guy's a true fanatic -- all the narcissism and ruthlessness of a sociopath, but in pursuit of a specific end.

This will not end well for the entire Near East.

So it's true: they really did murder and dismember the guy right inside the Saudi consulate, according to Turkish investigators.

Unbelievable. I feel like I need a reality check -- but then I've been feeling like that since 2016.

This is an extremely disturbing story. If they did it, they did it with Trump's blessing.

"The official described a quick and complex operation in which Mr. Khashoggi was killed within two hours of his arrival at the consulate by a team of Saudi agents, who dismembered his body with a bone saw they brought for the purpose.

'It is like ‘Pulp Fiction,’ the official said."

It just gets more and more surreal:

"Mr. Erdogan was informed of the conclusions on Saturday, according to several people with knowledge of the briefings, and he has since dispatched officials to anonymously tell myriad news outlets, including The New York Times, that Mr. Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi Consulate."

The (powerful, even dictatorial) head of a country whose investigators have discovered a murder has sent officials to ANONYMOUSLY tell news outlets the facts? Instead of, you know, releasing an official report or sending out his press secretary? WTF????

He wants to make it clear that he okayed the murder, probably as a warning to others, but knows he can't come out and say it without harming his international standing. Thus, the anonymous comments from officials.

Sorry, I just can't stop posting on this story, because it is SO bizarre. The Saudis made a snuff video of killing Khashoggi!

"Turkish intelligence had obtained a video of the killing, made by the Saudis to prove that it had occurred...'There is a video of the moment of him being killed,”'Kemal Ozturk, a columnist in a pro-government newspaper and the former head of a semiofficial news agency, said in an interview."

Oh, and you know Trump has wet dreams about doing this with all the reporters he hates, r12.

[quote] Mr. Erdogan was informed of the conclusions on Saturday, according to several people with knowledge of the briefings, and he has since dispatched officials to anonymously tell myriad news outlets

Turkey by way of Erdogan is allied with the Ayatollahs of Iran against Saudi. There is a major credibility issue here, particulary in light of the post-coup actions against anyone considered even a possible dissident.

The Saudis are terrible for doing this and I do not like Mohammed bin Salman at all. However, I would be shocked if the US does not do the same kind of thing. The real surprise is how sloppy the Saudis were.

I still can't figure his going in, when he had recently told a colleague, IIRC at the New Yorker, that he feared the Saudis wanted him dead.

Apparently he decided they were all just harmless bureaucrats in the building, which I guess they were; killers were flown in from elsewhere to meet him there.

Does seem odd that he didn't put together that it was a trap, but maybe he REALLY wanted that divorce.

This is very similar to the Skripal poisonings by Russia or the Korean in Malaysia.

An authoritarian country sends assassins abroad after its citizens - and gets away with it.

See the pattern.

Is he related in any way to Adnan Khashoggi (1980s high flying billionaire whose daughter, Nabila, was the it girl for awhile... also sold his yacht to Trump)?

Thugs gonna thug.

Trump is envious.

Good question r22. Now that you mention it remember that khashoggi too. Bet ya Jared and Trump also know about this lots. This khashoggi was at their bete noire WaPo.

Don’t forget R10 that Jared supposedly gave him a list of “enemies” and was in S. A. right before this nut consolidated power.

Saw-Die

He was Adnan's cousin apparently.

Right now Israel and Saudi are far more concerned about the diplomatic and military cooperation they quietly engage in behind the scenes then they are with the public trade issue.

This Saudi murder is utterly disgusting. And yet, Americans, addicted to oil, and Trump, addicted to real estate revenues, will continue sucking their asses.

There has to be Saudi usa Israel triangulation going on here. Britain will lead the international outcry because of Russian assassinations on their soil.

It will come out soon. The clues will be in Khashoggis writings and coverage.

Good discussion on O'Donnell about how trump pals with dictators like Duterte and Urban, and the US is no longer looked to for moral authority.

Hmm. The proverbial is hitting the fan.

Anyone followed the money to find out why khashoggi had to die!