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| Saudis gave Obama aides suitcases full of jewels: Former US official | |
| 2018-06-07 | |
[PRESSTV] A former top aide to ex-US president Barack ObamaIt’s very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth- or sixth-most interesting person.... says Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... gave a delegation of United States officials visiting the kingdom for the first time large suitcases containing jewelry worth tens of thousands of dollars. Obama’s speechwriter and former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes wrote in his newly-released memoir that Saudi authorities gave White House aides the suitcases on their arrival to Riyadh in June 2009. In the book, entitled "The World As It Is," Rhodes explained that after landing in Saudi Arabia, the US officials were taken by golf carts to "identical housing units amid the rolling desert." "When I opened the door to my unit, I found a large suitcase," he wrote. "Inside were jewels." Rhodes explained that he initially thought it was a bribe aimed at him because he was Obama’s speechwriter; but he later found that others in the delegation had received "suitcases full of jewels" as well.
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| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Ah, but you're worth it! :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2018-06-07 23:59 |
| #3 A large suitcase full of jewelry ought to be enough to retire on several times over ‘Struth. I recall during the six months I worked at that wonderful jewelry store in 1981-‘82, falling in love with an absolutely fabulous necklace in the showroom: 18” long, 18 karat yellow gold set with graduated diamonds leading down to a 2 caret, eye clear, pear shaped emerald at the throat. As I recall, the wholesale price was around $10,000. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2018-06-07 21:48 |
| #2 large suitcases containing jewelry worth tens of thousands of dollars. I doubt it. A large suitcase full of jewelry ought to be enough to retire on several times over. And who appraised the jewelry? |
| Posted by: gorb 2018-06-07 10:40 |
| #1 'Tens of thousands of US$' is trivial. Did Iran pay much, much more? |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2018-06-07 09:29 |