Thread by @WinWithoutWar

Shocked and horrified. That is our feeling after reading this bizarre statement by @realDonaldTrump that excuses the murder of Jamal #Khashoggi and seeks to justify the intentional starvation of up to 13 million people in #Yemen. Let’s unpack this. 1/8
whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat…

It is telling that the statement starts by placing blame Iran, not on Mohammed bin Salman, front and center in the defense of murder and lawlessness. Conflict with Iran is both a prized goal for the administration and an lazy appeal to Trump’s base. 2/8 lobelog.com/trumps-march-t…

Trump then turns to the key issue, money. He has signaled time and again that no atrocity is too great for him to pass on the riches of Saudi Arabia. The children of Yemen and the activists of Saudi Arabia are the unwilling sacrifices to the his deities of profit and avarice. 3/8

Because of this obsession with profit over all, the U.S. has refused to create any accountability for MBS and that has led to the very impunity that got #Khashoggi murdered. 4/8
thehill.com/homenews/admin…

Most disturbingly, Trump asserts that we can never really know the truth. That as long as MBS denies he is responsible we cannot hold him responsible for his actions. “Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” is simply a demand that we ignore truth when it suits or profits Trump. 5/8

But there is truth. Khashoggi was murdered (even our own CIA agrees), people in #Yemen are dying. And MBS is responsible. And we are complicit. No amount of assertion to the contrary will make those things untrue. 6/8

Trump’s statement is an attack on reality itself. One designed to prioritize imagined profit over human lives and dignity, and one designed to set the stage for more war and oppression. 7/8

Next week the Senate can strike back and resist this narrative of terror and violence by voting on #SJRes54, legislation to end unauthorized U.S. military support for the Saudi and UAE-led intervention in Yemen. We hope they make the right choice. 8/8