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Opinion Saudi Arabia should be held accountable, no matter what this Trump adviser said

February 15, 2019 at 6:08 p.m. EST
Tom Barrack, chief executive of Colony Capital and a confidant of President Trump, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Regarding the Feb. 14 news article “Billionaire apologizes for remarks on Saudis”:

CNN interviewed Thomas J. Barrack Jr., President Trump’s inaugural committee chairman and friend, at the Milken Institute’s MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and he had some interesting and very scary perspectives on Saudi involvement in the murder of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi. He made two points that have no relevance to the crime committed. The first was that the United States does not have the moral authority to criticize Saudi Arabia due to its own record, and the second was that we do not understand the rule of law as it exists in the kingdom.

Khashoggi was murdered outside the kingdom, so the laws of the kingdom are not relevant. The laws of the host nation, Turkey, are relevant, and they were violated. In this country, we believe all people have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We value the right to free speech, fair treatment under the law and due process. All of these fundamental rights, which we should always stand up for, were violated by the Saudis in Khashoggi’s case.

Someone in Saudi Arabia needs to be held accountable. If that is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, so be it. With regard to Mr. Barrack, it appears he was very willing to cave on our American values and the rule of law (though he has since apologized for his statement). Is it any wonder the inaugural committee he was involved with is now under investigation?

Frederic A. Riley, Alexandria