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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Horgad who wrote (143944)	10/18/2018 5:43:31 PM
From: TobagoJack	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 218621

A moron concocted the apparent wet-work plan executed flawlessly (per / to plan), if the Saudis MBS actually responsible. Kim of n.korea executed (apparently) a much ‘better’ plan, in broad daylight in front of witnesses, video-taped, and then got to share a meal w/ trump. The Putin protocol, if Putin responsible, is not as in-your-face as the Kim approach, but not infantile as the Saudi wet-work.

To: Horgad who wrote (143944)	10/18/2018 8:03:05 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 218621

turks seem to be tee-ing up team usa dribbling out details of the meeting w/ pompeo; details that may or may not have happened, to see how pompeo and trump plays it without knowing what the turks would next dribble and how this sort of dribbling leaves much time for other players on the game court to manoeuvre to position and do whatever, especially if someone plans to turn off the flood light at critical juncture let us see how good the players are as the script unfolds it is not even clear there are only two teams on the court i count, and in no particular order saudi arabia turkey iran israel syria yemen usa russia eu uk china, and even ... n.korea s.korea, and therefore ... japan oops, left out teams WaPo / Amazon, NYT, WSJ, Republicans, Democrats, Fox, CNN, ... SNL, and ZeroHedge and given that un noted the 15 suspects (and inevitably later, their master(s)) should be extradited etc etc, i am supposing helping to cover up a crime is itself a crime even the consulate janitor should be worried, never mind leadership of complicit states zerohedge.com Turkish Officials Played Audio Recording Of Khashoggi Murder To Pompeo: ReportIn the latest conflicting report over WaPo columnist Jamal Khashoggi's demise, ABC reports that according to a Turkish official, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heard an alleged audio recording of Khashoggi's murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Contradicting the official White House narrative, the anonymous official said that the recording was played in meetings in Turkey on Wednesday, and that Pompeo was given a transcript of the recordings. However in refutation of the ABC report, the State Department denied Pompeo had heard the recording, although it did not address whether he had been given a transcript. "The secretary addressed this yesterday. He has not heard a tape," spokeswoman Heather Nauert told ABC News in an email. During his flight back from Istanbul, Pompeo was asked if he had heard the audio, to which he had a non-committal response: "I don’t have anything to say about that," he said. Separately, ABC News has also learned that Turkish officials believe that Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate following a struggle that lasted eight minutes and that they believe he died of strangulation. On Thursday morning, Pompeo met with president Trump to brief him on his visits to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman. While Trump had previously asked to hear the recording, it was unknown if Pompeo shared the transcript with the president, but soon after the meeting the president "changed his tune", and while earlier in the week Trump questioned whether the audio recording existed and cautioned against blaming Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s disappearance, on Thursday afternoon his administration abruptly canceled a visit to Saudi Arabia by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to attend a large investment conference hosted by the Crown Prince, whom Turkish officials have reportedly claimed was behind Khashoggi's killing. Later on Thursday, Trump told reporters that "it certainly looks like" Khashoggi was dead. "It certainly looks that way to me, it's very sad," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One to attend a political rally in Montana. The president also repeated what he said over the weekend, threatening that the consequences for Saudi Arabia, if they are found responsible "will have to be very severe. It's bad, bad stuff." For now, Trump said the United States is waiting for the results of several investigations but will then make a "very strong statement." After his meeting with Trump, Pompeo told a press conference that the Saudis should have "a few more days" to finish their investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance. Careful not to push too far, Pompeo also stressed the "long strategic relationship" that the U.S. has with Saudi Arabia, and described the country as an "important counter-terrorism supporter." For much of the past week, Turkish officials claimed that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, and that a group of 15 Saudi men flew to Istanbul around the time of Khashoggi’s disappearance. A close friend of Khashoggi, Turan Kislakci, told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday that Turkish government and security officials had told him that Khashoggi was dead. "They said, 'We have audio on this. We know all the details about what transpired,'" said Kislakci. "They said, 'We were able to access this the first day, and we have various other evidence on this.'" Kislakci claimed that the tapes reveal that after Khashoggi went into the Saudi embassy, he was given documents to sign. Khashoggi refused, and was killed.

To: Horgad who wrote (143944)	10/18/2018 8:40:44 PM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 218621

forgot then there is pakistan, a player, and if pakistan, then india turning into a party ejinsight.com Pakistani poker: Playing Saudi Arabia against China Pakistani and Chinese national flags fly next to containers at a workers camp operated by China Overseas Ports Holding Co. in Gwadar, Pakistan. Photo: Bloomberg James M. DorseyOct 11, 2018 10:38am Desperate for funding to fend off a financial crisis fuelled in part by mounting debt to China, Pakistan is playing a complicated game of poker that could hand Saudi Arabia a strategic victory in its bitter feud with Iran at the People’s Republic’s expense. The Pakistani moves threaten a key leg of the US$60 billion plus Chinese investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a crown jewel of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative. They also could jeopardize Chinese hopes to create a second overland route to Iran, a key node in China’s transportation links to Europe. Finally, they grant Saudi Arabia a prominent place in the Chinese-funded port of Gwadar that would significantly weaken Iran’s ability to compete with its Indian-backed seaport of Chabahar. Taken together, the moves risk dragging not only Pakistan but also China into the all but open war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Pakistan’s first move became evident in early September with the government’s failure to authorize disbursements for road projects, already hit by delays in Chinese approvals, that are part of CPEC’s Western route, linking the province of Balochistan with the troubled region of Xinjiang in north-western China. In doing so, Pakistan implicitly targeted a key Chinese driver for CPEC: the pacification of Xinjiang’s Turkic Muslim population through a combination of economic development enhanced by trade and economic activity flowing through CPEC as well as brutal repression and mass re-education. The combination of Pakistani and Chinese delays “has virtually brought progress work on the Western route to a standstill,” a Western diplomat in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad said. Pakistani Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, in a further bid to bring Pakistani government expenditure under control that at current rates could force the country to seek a US$12 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has cut US$2 billion dollars from the US$8.2 billion budget to upgrade and expand Pakistan’s railway network, a key pillar of CPEC. Rashid plans to slash a further two billion dollars. “Pakistan is a poor country that cannot afford (the) huge burden of the loans…. CPEC is like the backbone for Pakistan, but our eyes and ears are open,” Rashid said. The budget cuts came on the back of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party projecting CPEC prior to the July 25 election that swept him to power to as a modern-day equivalent of the British East India Company, which dominated the Indian subcontinent in the 19th century. PTI criticism included denouncing Chinese-funded mass transit projects in three cities in Punjab as a squandering of funds that could have better been invested in social spending. PTI activists suggested that the projects had involved corrupt practices. Pakistan’s final move was to invite Saudi Arabia to build a refinery in Gwadar and invest in Balochistan mining. Chinese questioning of Pakistan’s move was evident when the Pakistani government backed off suggestions that Saudi Arabia would become part of CPEC. Senior Saudi officials this week visited Islamabad and Gwadar to discuss the deal that would also involve deferred payments on Saudi oil supplies to Pakistan and create a strategic oil reserve close to Iran’s border. “The incumbent government is bringing Saudi Arabia closer to Gwadar. In other words, the hardline Sunni-Wahhabi state would be closer than ever to the Iranian border. This is likely to infuriate Tehran,” said Baloch politician and former Pakistani ports and shipping minister Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo. Pakistan’s game of poker amounts to a risky gamble that serves Pakistani and Saudi purposes, puts China whose prestige and treasure are on the line in a difficult spot, could perilously spark tension along the Pakistan-Iran border, and is likely to provoke Iranian counter moves. It also risks putting Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, who depend on China economically in different ways, in an awkward position. The Saudi engagement promises up to US$10 billion in investments as well as balance of payments relief. It potentially could ease US concerns that a possible IMF bailout would help Pakistan service debt to China. A refinery and strategic oil reserve in Gwadar would serve Saudi Arabia’s goal of preventing Chabahar, the Indian-backed Iranian port, from emerging as a powerful Arabian Sea hub at a time that the United States is imposing sanctions designed to choke off Iranian oil exports. A Saudi think tank, the International Institute for Iranian Studies, previously known as the Arabian Gulf Centre for Iranian Studies (AGCIS) that is believed to be backed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, argued last year in a study that Chabahar posed “a direct threat to the Arab Gulf states” that called for “immediate counter measures.” Written by Mohammed Hassan Husseinbor, an Iranian political researcher of Baloch origin, the study warned that Chabahar would enable Iran to increase its oil market share in India at the expense of Saudi Arabia, raise foreign investment in the Islamic republic, increase government revenues, and allow Iran to project power in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. Husseinbor suggested that Saudi support for a low-level Baloch insurgency in Iran could serve as a countermeasure. “Saudis could persuade Pakistan to soften its opposition to any potential Saudi support for the Iranian Baluch… The Arab-Baluch alliance is deeply rooted in the history of the Gulf region and their opposition to Persian domination,” Husseinbor said. Noting the vast expanses of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Husseinbor went on to say that “it would be a formidable challenge, if not impossible, for the Iranian government to protect such long distances and secure Chabahar in the face of widespread Baluch opposition, particularly if this opposition is supported by Iran’s regional adversaries and world powers.” Saudi militants reported at the time the study was published that funds from the kingdom were flowing into anti-Shiite, anti-Iranian Sunni Muslim ultra-conservative madrassas or religious seminaries in Balochistan. US President Donald Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton, last year before assuming office, drafted at the request of Trump’s then strategic advisor, Steve Bannon, a plan that envisioned US support “for the democratic Iranian opposition,” including in Balochistan and Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan province. All of this does not bode well for CPEC. China may be able to accommodate Pakistan by improving commercial terms for CPEC-related projects and Pakistani debt as well as easing Pakistani access to the Chinese market. China, however, is likely to find it far more difficult to prevent the Saudi-Iranian rivalry from spinning out of control in its backyard. – Contact us at english@hkej.com BN/RC James M. Dorsey Senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer syndicated column and blog.