Just before the weekend, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released

a report.

This document plainly stated the United States official conclusions on the death of Saudi

dissident and journalist Jamal Kashoggi.

It was the kind of document that Slates Josh Keating had been waiting for.

But he says, if you look at this thing, it's almost too straightforward.

Well, it didn't take too long to read.

It's three pages for including the cover.

And just a few paragraphs, really.

There aren't a lot of details here.

Just a simple list of 18 names.

People the US government thinks helped kill Kashoggi just over two years ago.

And then this logical conclusion that it would be highly unlikely that Saudi officials

would have carried out an operation of this nature without the authorization of crown

prince Muhammad bin Salman.

Sometimes he goes by his initials, and BS.

Mostly tells us what we already knew, which is that crown prince Muhammad bin Salman

was almost certainly the man who ordered the killing of Jamal Kashoggi in 2018.

The brevity of this document.

Josh says it tells you something about how President Biden's thinking about the Middle

East has evolved.

You know, what's interesting is Biden during his campaign promised to treat Saudi Arabia

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