(TargetLiberty.org) – A shocking report has revealed that four Saudi agents who murdered a journalist in 2018 were trained in the US. The killers went through a program approved by the State Department the year before joining a hit team that flew to Istanbul to murder Jamal Khashoggi.
On June 22 the New York Times reported that, in 2017, four Saudi agents attended a training course run by Arkansas-based Tier 1 Group, where they learned surveillance, close-quarter battle and defensive techniques. In 2018, the same four were part of a 15-strong team sent to the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul to “confront” Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose work had angered crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Khashoggi’s killers received paramilitary training in the US under a deal authorised by the State Department pic.twitter.com/6O7XnkWNpk
— TRT World (@trtworld) June 24, 2021
The contract, approved under a State Department license during the Obama administration, was for training of the Saudi Royal Guard devised to protect Saudi leaders. Seven members of the assassination team were allegedly bin Salman’s personal bodyguards – who are supplied by the Royal Guard. There’s no suggestion that the State Department or Tier 1 knew their trainees were involved in actions against Saudi dissidents, but that raises its own questions about how thoroughly foreign trainees are vetted.
The events of 9/11 taught us to be careful who goes to our flying schools, but one would expect paramilitary training to have higher standards.
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