The leaked CIA conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month has caught Trump in a double-bind given his and Jared’s bro-romance with MbS. It was promptly downplayed by the State Department which suggests that Gina Haspel (CIA) and Mike Pompeo (State) aren’t quite on the same page, assuming she knew about the leak. It certainly contradicts the Saudi government’s claims that MbS was not involved in the killing.
Gina Haspel, born delightfully on the same day as Theresa May, 1 October 1956, certainly does not get on with Pompeo. Their relationship chart has a volatile composite Mars opposition Uranus square Mercury Sun Venus.
And she’s no better with Trump since her Pluto is conjunct Trump’s Mars and Ascendant with her Saturn in Scorpio on his IC is in square – which looks like trouble in waiting.
It also gives the Saudis a headache since removing MbS from his chief-of-everything role would look like a failure of judgement by his father King Salman. His elevation to Crown Prince on 21 June 2017, announced at 6.19am in Riyadh, has tr Saturn square the midheaven exactly now for a considerable setback; and will jitter and jangle through the next few months with tr Saturn opposition Mars in December and then square Jupiter in January and finally conjunct the Descendant by February and Pluto in March 2019 which sounds like restrictions coming firmly down on him. This chart has a ruthless Mars opposition Pluto and more pointedly a Jupiterian Yod inconjunct Neptune sextile Venus, which can be self-defeating through wild over-confidence. So January 15th to 23rd might be a time to watch when tr Saturn puts the brakes on his recklessness.
MbS’s relationship with Trump is sagging badly through this month and December with tr Neptune square the composite Jupiter; as it is thrown off course at the same time by tr Uranus square the composite Venus Mercury, repeating in February; and worse squaring the composite Sun in March for further ruptures. With discouraging pressures continuing through 2019/2020.
Just read from AlArabiya (Saudi backed newsagency):
“#SaudiArabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said that he has directed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to focus on developing human capabilities and the kingdom’s younger generation.”
Sounds like a demotion, for now. He went too far.
It’s sometimes hard to keep up with these things, but I remember Gina Haspel has had her own issues with torture tapes in 2005, participating in destruction of tapes from a CIA “black site” in Thailand while Chief of Staff of Clandestine Service without consulting CIA lawyers. Later on, she could not get a permanent nomination as Director of Clandestine Service because of this incident. This was also an issue during her Confirmation Hearing, luckily for her, she found some bipartisan support.
That said, I think CIA acted preemptively here because of Haspel’s past.