Trump and Saudis plunge America’s ‘bright shining city’ into darkness
President Trump thinks that the Saudis’ latest explanation for the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – that he died in a fistfight at their consulate in Turkey – is “credible”.
Fifteen Saudi men were flown into Turkey and entered the consulate shortly before Khashoggi’s appointment there. One of these, Dr Salah al-Tubaigy, is a forensic pathologist who routinely cuts up human bodies in autopsies and arrived equipped with a bone saw. They all left Turkey hours later, and the Saudi consul has since fled. Khashoggi reportedly had an electronic device on him which transmitted audio evidence of his torture and death. His body has yet to be found. Trump’s opinion, therefore, would be laughable if it did not come from a US president at a critical time when the free world is in desperate need of strong leadership, not moral cowardice.
Presidents John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan once described the United States’ role in the world as a “bright shining city on a hill” – an example of truth, freedom and decency, giving hope to countries ruled by corrupt gangsters. I sincerely hope that this will be the case one day, but under the current president the US tragically is fast becoming more akin to a festering trailer park sinking into a Mississippi swamp.
Andy Phillips
