Andrew J. Bacevich, The Trump Administration’s “Diplomacy of Deference”

Andrew J. Bacevich Trump’s actions are constrained by what Saudi and Israeli leaders are willing to tolerate Iran’s seizure of a British-owned oil tanker transiting the Persian Gulf has let loose a fresh round of media war chatter. Yet should another Persian Gulf War actually occur, who would benefit? Not America, that’s for sure. The central theme of present-day American policy regarding Iran is deference. Nominally, US policy is made in Washington. Substantively, it is framed in Riyadh and Jerusalem, with the interests of the United States figuring only minimally…

Douglas A. Yates: Khashoggi murder exposes agenda; selective narrative distorts reality

 By Douglas A. Yates In near lockstep, the media industry used the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to elevate his status to a journalist, a truth-teller. The Saudi official in exile is presented as a champion of peace and justice in the Mideast. However, when the claims are matched to Khashoggi’s life, the resulting profile suggests pertinent facts are missing. In the 1980s, Adnan Khashoggi (1935-2017), Jamal’s uncle, was among the richest men in the world. Backed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Adnan was a premier weapons dealer for…