This week has seen a plethora of news come out in relation to the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi. It was a whirlwind of punches being dealt as a consequence of the worldwide outrage.

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U.S. Sanctions 17 Saudis for Connection to Jamal Kashoggi Murder

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Some Saudi nationals have ended up on the naughty list in the U.S., with a total of 17 being sanctioned as pressure mounted on the White House to respond in some way. This includes sactions for Saudi Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, a former aide to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the alleged leader of a 15-man hit team, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb.

The sanctions fall under the Global Magnitsky Act of 2012. It was created to punish Russians thought to be responsible for the death of egregious human rights offenders. It allows the U.S. to sanction people considered "egregious human rights offenders". This includes freezing their finances and forbidding them to enter the U.S. No proof of guilt in any crime is required for the sanctions to be applied.

The U.S. needs allies within the Saudi kingdom, especially to help maintain the petro dollar world dominance that keeps the U.S. afloat. Canceling the $110 billion arms deal is something that would produce undesirable consequences for the U.S. Former CIA officer Bob Baer speaks of this relationship in an interview with CNN:

"We’ve always turned a blind eye to what’s going on in Saudi Arabia – right from the very beginning. Saudi Arabia is a volcano right now. We don’t have players there on our side [other than MBS]. What worries the White House is that this country could pop."

responding to claims that the Crown Prince didn't know of the operation to take out Khashoggi, he said "the Saudis don’t have rogue operations – ever. It has never occurred."

5 Saudis Get the Death Penalty for the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi

The kingdom is trying to look like it's punishing those responsible for the murder of Khashoggi. Maybe it is, or maybe these are just the ones who have to take the fall to protect the Crown Prince. Saudi Arabia public prosecutor Sheikh Shaalan al-Shaalan is seeking the death penalty for 5 suspects among the 11 charged in the murder of Khashoggi.

The public prosecutor said the Crown Prince had "no knowledge" of the operation, clearing him from facing any punishment. Earlier in the case, five senior intelligence officers were dismissed, and 18 Saudi nationals were arrested. A total of 21 suspects are now being held in connection with the hit. Five of them are believe to have been part of "ordering and executing the crime" and are being charged to face the death penalty. CNN reported

The prosecutor said that the former Saudi deputy intelligence chief, Ahmed al-Assiri, ordered a mission to force Khashoggi to go back to Saudi Arabia and formed a team of 15 people.

They were divided into three groups, the Saudi Public Prosecutor said: a negotiation team, an intelligence team and a logistical team.

It was the head of the negotiating team who ordered the killing of Khashoggi, the prosecutor said.

CIA Says Crown Prince Ordered Hit

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Contrary to what the public prosecutor says, the Crown Prince is involved. As mentioned earlier with the quote from former CIA agent Bob Baer, the Crown Prince knew about the hit, and was surely ordered by him.

According to the Washington Post, the CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did indeed order the hit team to assassinate Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October. This is likely to put some strain on the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

Anonymous sources said the CIA analyzed all the soures of intelligence they had, including the a phone call from Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi ambassador to the United States who is also the prince’s brother, asking Khashoggi to go to the consulate to pick up documents. The CIA says Khalid made the call because the Crown Prince -- his brother -- told him to. A U.S. official said:

"The accepted position is that there is no way this happened without him being aware or involved."

CIA analysts say Crown Prince Mohammed has such "firm grip on power" that he isn't in any danger of losing it or his throne, even with the Khashoggi scandal. They also link some of the 15-member hit team to Mohammed through many of them having served on his security team. Apparently Crown Prince Mohammed thought Khashoggi was a dangerous Islamist with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the CIA theory.

Senate Proposes Ban on Arms Sales To Saudis

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The U.S. applying sanctions to 17 Saudi nationals isn't doing enough, and some senators are out to apply more punishments to Saudi Arabia. A Senate proposal made by Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) was killed on Thursday Nov. 15 that proposed blocking $300 million in arms sales to Bahrain, the Saudi-coalition ally in the war on Yemen.

But another bill has been proposed which asks to suspend all weapons sales to the Saudi Arabia. It's part of the "Saudi Arabia Accountability and Yemen Act of 2018" introduced by Bob Menendez (R-New Jersey) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) who lead Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee. This jeopardizes the $110 billion arms deal that Turmp helped broker.

A supporter of the previous bill that targeted Bahrain instead of Saudi Arabia, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), said:

"It is long overdue that we end U.S. complicity in Saudi Arabia’s atrocities. We must end all U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s genocidal war in Yemen now."

Sen. Menendez said the 17 sanctioned SAudi nationals was "not enough" from the White House in response to the Khashoggi affair, adding his new bill is "putting teeth behind these demands with regular oversight, sanctions and suspension of weapons sales and refueling support."

The co-spondor of the bill, Sen. Graham added:

"This legislation is an important way to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for various acts in Yemen as well as the death of Jamal Khashogg."

Trump said he wasn't for the halting of weapons sales as it would hurt American jobs and the relations with the Saudis, while the kingdom would just go deal with other countries to get it's weapons. But it seems the tired excuse of "jobs" and "someone else will just sell it to them anyways" doesn't matter to the senators who are trying to make Saudi Arabia hurt.

Will these new measures pass, and get the U.S. to reverse it many years of supporting the deaths of thousands of Yemeni civilians as an ally in the Saudi-coalition against Yemen? Or will the war-mongering continue?

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References:

• US sanctions 17 Saudis for involvement in Khashoggi murder including Crown Prince aide
• Five Saudis Face Death Penalty Over Khashoggi Killing; Crown Prince Cleared
• CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
• "It's Not Enough": US Senate Proposes New Bill To Ban Arms Sales To Saudi Arabia

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Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.

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