The mystery concerning the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been solved. The Saudi regime have announced that on 2 October,he got involved in a fistfight in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and he was killed. We are expected to believe that one man took on 18 men in a fight! This sounds like a bullshit cover story designed to place the blame on others and limit the damage done to Saudi Arabia's image.

Why were those men in the Consulate? Who sent them? The news is that arrests have been made and senior officials have been sacked. US President Donald Trump is more than willing to accept this version of events. He knows how important Saudi Arabia is strategically, and the commercial links that exist between the US and the House of Saud. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is keep to project an modern image of the Kingdom, and the death/killing of this journalist has been an embarrassment. He probably thought that the West would look the other way. Afterall, Saudi Arabia has intervened in Yemen, committed atrocities like warplanes bombing of a school bus on 9 August resulting in the death of 40 children. Guess where the bombs were made?

Unlike Barack Obama, President Trump does not even bother mentioning irritating things like human rights, freedom of the press or the rule of law. He does not believe in any of them. He is all about the bottom line and balance sheets. Trump will try to avoid sanctions especially if it will impact on American jobs, which of course, will harm his base.

Do you recall the days when Saddam Hussein was the West's friend? Just after the Iranian Revolution, he thought he could do anything. In 1980, he invaded Iran with the West's tacit approval. In 1988, he even used chemical weapons against Iranian troops. In 1990, he hanged an Iraqi journalist who was a British resident, called Farzad Bazoft, claiming he was an Israeli spy. The West did nothing. Saddam was seen as a vital counterweight to Iran, and there was the commercial angle. A lot of money was invested in Iraq. British government ministers and American politicians performed verbal gymnastics explaining why sanctions would be counter productive. Sound familiar?

On 2 August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Saddam Hussein probably thought the West would do nothing. He miscalculated. Will the Saudis make the same mistake?Keep watching.