The Fine Journalistic Art of Innuendo

The Fine Journalistic Art of Innuendo

Corpus Delicti Has No Place in the Mainstream

Guardian: Crown Prince’s wings clipped as Khashoggi death rattles Riyadh

Beware: There are no corroborating attributions for any of the statements in the body of the above-linked article. Hedda Hopper herself didn't insinuate as blatantly as the Guardian does!

Not to mention that "death rattles" is a callous, ham-fisted, poor-taste allusion.

The article begins:

• "Six weeks after Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by Saudi agent ..."

Stated as fact, yet still no body has been produced and all that's offered is an audio tape of sounds - you know, like a radio play: "Oof, biff, bam, ouch, stop that, you're killing me, buzz, buzz (bone saw)".

Pardon me, but I remember when all we had was radio and the sound effects were amazingly realistic.

• In private ... senior members of the House of Saud, including the crown prince, are partly blaming Turkey for the global revulsion, which they say could have been contained if Ankara had played by “regional rules”.

Who are they? And why do I feel a shudder at the term "regional rules". Sounds like a Mafia code of silence. Why would anyone even admit out loud to there being such a set of "rules"?

• “They say they were betrayed by the Turks,” a regional source said. “That’s where they are in their most private thoughts.”

Says who, again?  A professional mind reader? Or maybe the floor sweeper who will say anything for money and anonimity?

• ... some decisions are now being made away from the ubiquitous crown prince, who Turkey alleges directly ordered the assassination, and has since tried to deflect blame to fall guys, including his most prominent domestic aide.

Some decisions ? Name one, please. Ubiquitous? MBS is everywhere at once?  Like God? Well, they'll never bring Him down. Solutions will be found.

His most prominent domestic aide?  Who is that?  Over here the word "domestic" means somebody who does the dusting and cleaning (see above reference to floor sweeper).  What's his/her name? Does he/she just answer to "Pssst, wanna make a buck?"

• The return to Riyadh earlier this month of Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, the sole surviving full brother of monarch, King Salman, has been widely interpreted as a first step in the restoration of an old order, in which decision making was made after extensive consultation among elders.

Widely interpreted? Maybe that's a typo.  Maybe they meant to say "wildly".  Has there been any official statement by any named Saudi person to that effect?

"... in which decision making was made"?  Now that's just plain gibberish.

"... after extensive consultation among elders"?  Which elders? Was there an official straw-drawing, or what?

• “MbS [the common acronym for the crown prince] has had his wings clipped,” the source said.

"The Source"?  I order my tech supplies from them. They're fairly reliable.

• “He was blaming the Americans for betraying him initially,” said the regional source.

Oh, the regional source. Probably doesn't sell tech supplies, just unsubstantiated gossip.

Then the Guardian drifts off into old news. Filler, I guess.

• “We saw [US secretary of state Mike] Pompeo talk strongly about Yemen,” said a British diplomat ...

Pompeo's statements about Yemen were in all over the news in October. No need to quote an unnamed British "diplomat".  Ran out of innuendo, did they?

More blah, blah ... and then back to MBS:

• “It’s in everyone’s interests to find a way forward that world leaders can just about live with,” an official with responsibility for Saudi security policy said.

Must be true; it came from "an official with responsibility". He sweeps the floors and he's also responsible for making sure the kitchen door is locked at night.

• ... the UAE, Britain, France and Germany had been given audio tapes that recorded the killing of Khashoggi, who was killed by a team of 15 security officials who had flown to Istanbul and lain in wait for him to enter the Saudi consulate ... Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Canadian spies had listened to audio depicting the last moments of Khashoggi’s life. Germany later followed suit, in what appeared to be a co-ordinated effort to maintain pressure on Riyadh.

Final proof that the audio tapes are proof. Everybody, including "Canadian spies" have been given access to the tapes, so they must be genuine, right?

Oops, here's a tiny section where a source is actually named:

• ... [MBS's] chief domestic aide, Saad al-Qahtani, was sacked two weeks after the assassination ... as was a deputy intelligence chief.

A no-name intelligence chief, mind you. He must have been important, or else non-existent.

But the domestic "aide" may have been sacked for leaving the kitchen door unlocked. Come on, he couldn't have been important or they wouldn't have named him!

• Mohammed bin Salman insists he played no role and his defenders have insisted the hitmen over-reached in a bid to please their masters.

Wow, that last sentence is a dilly. MBS has no-name "defenders". And there were no-name "hitmen" who "over-reached in a bid to please their no-name "masters".

• Intelligence officials [unnamed] in the region, and in Europe remain incredulous [unsubstantiated] at the claim.

Only the corporate media can get away with mere innuendo. Bloggers have to back up everything they say or else they're just ... you know ... bloggers.

Also on YYC: The Khashoggi Canada Connection