Times of India: Khashoggi Mystery

The death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul puts a spotlight on Saudi-US relations and investigations that seem more about spinning stories to ease public concerns than getting at the truth. “The Khashoggi mystery is proving hard to solve not because it is such a tough case to crack, but because the known facts are too simple to reach anything other than a damning conclusion,” writes Nayan Chanda for the Times of India, adding the Trump administration is hesitant about “imposing sanctions and cancelling tens of billions of dollars in weapons deals, which would hurt American workers and invite arms sales from rivals Russia and China. It would affect the carefully constructed alliance of US, Israel and Saudi Arabia to isolate Iran and prevent its bid to achieve regional hegemony.” Missing from US policies and rhetoric of recent months are comments on values and human rights. Powerful forces in Saudi Arabia and the United States hope that the outrage fades and they can get on with business deals and war. – YaleGlobal