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Trump former inaugural committee chair defends Saudi Arabia
Last edited Wed Feb 13, 2019, 04:34 PM - Edit history (1)
Update: Trump confidant Thomas Barrack apologizes for saying U.S. has committed ‘equal or worse’ atrocities to killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (Washington Post)
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Source: Associated Press
Trump former inaugural committee chair defends Saudi Arabia
February 13, 2019
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The man who led President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee said America is in no moral position to criticize Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse,” Tom Barrack, a real estate developer, said Tuesday at the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. His remarks were reported by Dubai’s daily English newspaper, Gulf News. The report said Barrack strongly defended Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom is misunderstood by the West.
Despite international outrage, Trump decided not to impose harsher penalties on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the October death and dismemberment of the Washington Post columnist inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The columnist, who lived in Virginia, had written articles critical of the kingdom, but Saudi Arabia insists the crown prince did not order the killing.
Critics in Congress and high-ranking officials in other countries accused Trump of ignoring human rights and giving Saudi Arabia a pass for economic reasons, including its influence on the world oil market.
-snip-
February 13, 2019
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The man who led President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee said America is in no moral position to criticize Saudi Arabia over the killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse,” Tom Barrack, a real estate developer, said Tuesday at the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. His remarks were reported by Dubai’s daily English newspaper, Gulf News. The report said Barrack strongly defended Saudi Arabia, saying the kingdom is misunderstood by the West.
Despite international outrage, Trump decided not to impose harsher penalties on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the October death and dismemberment of the Washington Post columnist inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The columnist, who lived in Virginia, had written articles critical of the kingdom, but Saudi Arabia insists the crown prince did not order the killing.
Critics in Congress and high-ranking officials in other countries accused Trump of ignoring human rights and giving Saudi Arabia a pass for economic reasons, including its influence on the world oil market.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/0e3f05bf9bf64c72a7becff18226b129
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Source: Washington Post
Trump confidant Thomas Barrack apologizes for saying U.S. has committed ‘equal or worse’ atrocities to killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
By Felicia Sonmez and Josh Dawsey February 13 at 3:16 PM
Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire real estate investor who is one of President Trump’s closest confidants, apologized Wednesday after defending Saudi Arabia in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing and saying the United States has committed “equal or worse” atrocities.
Barrack’s remarks on Khashoggi, made Tuesday at a summit in Abu Dhabi organized by the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute think tank, were first reported by Dubai’s Gulf News.
-snip-
In a statement Wednesday, Barrack called the murder of Khashoggi “atrocious” and “inexcusable” and apologized for “not making this clear in my comments earlier this week.”
But he appeared to suggest that responsibility for the killing should not rest on Saudi leadership.
“I feel strongly that the bad acts of a few should not be interpreted as the failure of an entire sovereign kingdom,” Barrack said, maintaining that “rule of law and monarchies across the Middle East are confusing to the West.”
-snip-
By Felicia Sonmez and Josh Dawsey February 13 at 3:16 PM
Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire real estate investor who is one of President Trump’s closest confidants, apologized Wednesday after defending Saudi Arabia in the wake of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing and saying the United States has committed “equal or worse” atrocities.
Barrack’s remarks on Khashoggi, made Tuesday at a summit in Abu Dhabi organized by the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute think tank, were first reported by Dubai’s Gulf News.
-snip-
In a statement Wednesday, Barrack called the murder of Khashoggi “atrocious” and “inexcusable” and apologized for “not making this clear in my comments earlier this week.”
But he appeared to suggest that responsibility for the killing should not rest on Saudi leadership.
“I feel strongly that the bad acts of a few should not be interpreted as the failure of an entire sovereign kingdom,” Barrack said, maintaining that “rule of law and monarchies across the Middle East are confusing to the West.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-wake-of-khashoggi-killing-trump-confidant-thomas-barrack-defends-saudi-arabia-says-us-has-committed-equal-or-worse-atrocities/2019/02/13/5ed0f5e4-2fb3-11e9-86ab-5d02109aeb01_story.html
