The Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is at it again.  Gulling, wooing, and grinning his way into the establishment of another country, he is greasing palms and making deals.  Effusive and flattering of his host, this time US President Donald Trump, he received a state welcome on 18 November rarely afforded visiting dignitaries: a red carpet viewing of fighter jets, a horse mounted guard of honour, and feast in the East Room.  He was also promised the much sought after F-35 fighter jets as part of a defence arrangement elevating Saudi Arabia to the status of “major non-NATO ally”.  Along the way, MBS has done much to deter those who wish to remind him of a wretched human rights record and the barbaric habits of a state he claims to be modernising. 

The gaudy occasion risked being sullied by a question from Mary Bruce of ABC News.  Intended for the Crown Prince, it inquired about his role behind the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.  The death squad responsible for strangling and dismembering the unsuspecting Khashoggi had been dispatched with his blessing, numbering among them a forensic specialist, a bone saw and a body double.  Many of its members hailed from bin Salman’s own protective guard, the Rapid Intervention Force.

Trump’s intervention was........

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