Trump Mulls Letting Turkey Kill U.S. Resident to Help Saudis Get Away With Killing U.S. Resident

[tulc]

Trump May Let Turkey Kill U.S. Resident to Help Saudis Who Killed U.S. Resident

In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal earlier this week, Marco Rubio wrote that Donald Trump’s brand of nationalism is not a creed that subordinates enlightenment values to zero-sum tribalism — as French president Emmanuel Macron had recently suggested. Rather, the Florida senator argued that the president’s nationalistic ethos was rooted in his deep appreciation for America’s “identity as a nation committed to the idea that all people are created equal, with a God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

There are more than a few problems with the thesis that Donald Trump only puts “America First” because America does the same for the concept of universal human rights. But an especially conspicuous one is that the president disdains the concept of human rights more than he reveres his fellow Americans.

Or so Trump’s handling of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder would suggest. From the moment the Turkish government revealed that Saudi agents had killed a Washington Post columnist — and legal U.S. resident — in Istanbul, the American president made it clear that he viewed the murder as less of a moral atrocity than a PR headache.

To review: In order to help an Islamist theocracy get away with kidnapping and executing one American immigrant, Trump is (reportedly) trying to find a legal rationale for letting another Islamist nation imprison (and possibly execute) a different American immigrant.

If this is true, then it seems safe to say, contra Rubio, that Trump is less of an American nationalist who harbors a deep commitment to human rights than an American solipsist who is ready and willing to abet crimes against humanity if he believes that he stands to benefit personally from doing so.

tulc(KAG by ignoring human rights?)

 

[HTacianas]

Trump May Let Turkey Kill U.S. Resident to Help Saudis Who Killed U.S. Resident


tulc(KAG by ignoring human rights?)

That article is laughable. There was once a time when journalists vetted sources and verified them before publishing a story. Now they just make up ridiculous accusations regardless of the facts and attribute it to some anonymous administration official.

 

[tulc]

That article is laughable. There was once a time when journalists vetted sources and verified them before publishing a story. Now they just make up ridiculous accusations regardless of the facts and attribute it to some anonymous administration official.

...or not...
Trump administration officials last month asked federal law enforcement agencies to examine legal ways of removing exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, according to two senior U.S. officials and two other people briefed on the requests. The effort includes directives to the Justice Department and FBI that officials reopen Turkey's case for his extradition, as well as a request to the Homeland Security Department for information about his legal status, the four people said.
tulc(noticed that instead of presenting anything to counter the OP there was just an ad hominem offered)

 

[The Barbarian]

Trump's former national security advisor was being investigated over a plan hatched by the Turkish president, to kidnap Gulen and smuggle him back to Turkey.

Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, is under investigation for involvement in an alleged plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident cleric living in the US and fly him to an island prison in Turkey in return for $15m, it was reported on Friday.

The report in the Wall Street Journal is the latest of a string of allegations facing Flynn, a retired general and former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).

Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian manipulation of the 2016 US election, has already indicted Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and another senior fundraiser on charges including money laundering. A former foreign policy adviser has pleaded guilty to perjury.

Mueller is now reported to have gathered sufficient evidence to bring charges against Flynn and his son, Michael Flynn Jr, which would bring his investigation another leap closer to Trump.

The fact that no indictment has been made public may only increase concerns for Trump’s legal team. Flynn has expressed interest in an immunity deal and Mueller, in his dealings with former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, has shown himself ready to negotiate.

The former national security adviser’s company, Flynn Intel Group, is allegedly under scrutiny for failing to register work it did for interests linked to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Flynn is in legal jeopardy for his statements to investigators about his contacts with representatives of the Turkish and Russian governments.

The new allegation, that Flynn and his son engaged in a conspiracy to arrange the rendition of Fethullah Gülen to the Erdoğan government – which accuses the cleric of plotting an abortive coup in July 2016 – could if confirmed result in even more serious charges.

In September, the Wall Street Journal reported a meeting about the plan, in which former CIA director James Woolsey is said to have participated. Friday’s report describes a second meeting involving both Flynns at the 21 Club restaurant, a prohibition-era New York speakeasy patronised by Trump, in mid-December. According to “people familiar with the investigation”, it was at this encounter that the $15m payment was discussed.
Ex-Trump aide Flynn investigated over plot to kidnap Turkish dissident – report

Apparently, the offer is still standing.