Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence. From CNNPolitics Simply put, in invoking the state secrets privilege, the most senior US intelligence official is trying to prevent the revelation of classified information in legal proceedings triggered not by an adversary, but by one...
Tag: Mohammed bin Salman
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Deputy Saudi Intelligence Chief Indicted for Khashoggi Assassination
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is a friend of the Trump White House and a business partner with Jared Kushner. He deploys the Saudi spy service, known as the General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) to suppress critics at home and, Turkish prosecutors say, to assassinate them abroad. Turkish officials have indicted 18 men in connection...
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‘Electronic Authoritarianism:’ How MBS Rose to Power in Saudi Arabia
A new biography of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), by Ben Hubbard, describes how he perfected “electronic authoritarianism.” From Fred Hiatt’s review in the The Washington Post the most fundamental change the headstrong crown prince has brought about, Hubbard shows, is to turn a “soft-gloved autocracy” that featured multiple centers of power, and...
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Iran Isn’t Another Iraq. Its a Different Kind of War
President Trump’s policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran has generated Tehran’s policy of “tit for tat,” and the results worry the world. Drones downed. Tankers seized. Insults exchanged. Yet both countries say—and act—like they don’t want a shooting war. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini said in May, “We don’t seek a war and neither do...
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Will Khashoggi Doom Saudi Arabia’s Hollywood Play?
Vanity Fair says yes. The Saudi crown prince, now suspected of ordering the assassination of Khashoggi, had positioned himself as a big player in Hollywood, promising to invest hundreds of millions in movie production. It was romantic. While Netflix was falling in love with the Mossad, other Hollywood titans were swooning for the Saudi crown...