A Pen, A Prince, and A President
The Khashoggi connection to Trump's Saudi strategy
“Saudi Arabia wasn’t always this repressive,” wrote journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his first article for the Washington Post (the news organization formerly known for upholding democracy).
The year was 2017 and Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and U.S. resident, had recently walked away from everything he knew and loved – his home, his job, his grown children, and his country – in pursuit of journalistic freedom. He found that in America, enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He longed to use his voice for good, writing, “To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.”
He wrote, indeed…
Mr. Khashoggi wielded his pen to criticize the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for arresting intellectuals, clerics, journalists, and social media posters who dared to publicly chastise the Kingdom. He called Saudi Arabia, under the de facto rule of Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), “unbearable.” Government corruption, according to Khashoggi, had been rampant. He accused MBS of “revisionist history,” of censoring books, and muzzling the press. He advocated instead for a “marketplace of ideas.” He was also clear in his advocacy for women, logically arguing that men and women should enjoy the same rights.
For expressing those liberal viewpoints, he was barbarically murdered.
In Oct. 2018, Jamal Khashoggi left Virginia en route to Turkey. Hoping to secure the necessary paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancé, he walked into the Saudi consulate, located in Istanbul. It would be the last thing he did on this Earth.
Investigations into Jamal’s disappearance followed. Separate intelligence reports, published by Turkish officials and America’s CIA, concluded: Mr. Khashoggi had been drugged, smothered with a plastic bag, slaughtered into transportable parts by a bone saw, and disposed of like common garbage. His murder had been premeditated. (I mean, of course it was! The killers – believed to be members of Saudi Arabia’s notorious Tiger Squad - dismantled security cameras and brought a fucking BONE SAW to the hit!) Lastly, intelligence experts concluded “with high confidence,” that the assassination had been ordered by the crown prince himself. The findings made for bombshell headlines in the free world.
Time Magazine nailed it when they named Jamal Khashoggi a Person of the Year, writing that authoritarian regimes silence their dissenters because, “all despots live in fear of their people.”
In Saudi Arabia, there was a sham trial and sham sentencings for minor players of the crime. All predictable. But even on the world stage, little changed in the aftermath. The injustices committed against Jamal Khashoggi went largely unpunished and, aside from the intense fear of retribution felt by journalists around the globe, life went on.
Donald Trump, then serving his first term as President of the United States, called the murder “terrible,” but not terrible enough to interrupt business deals. He referred to Khashoggi as an “enemy of the state” of Saudi Arabia and dismissed claims of MBS’s involvement. Bob Woodward later revealed, in his book “Rage,” that Trump bragged of “saving [Mohammed bin Salman’s] ass” following Jamal’s murder. That tracks.
Trump went on to make an $8 billion Saudi arms deal that he had to override Congress to secure. Then, 6 months after leaving office, his son-in-law and advisor, Jared Kushner, received a $2 billion infusion of cash from the Royal Fund, deposited into Kushner’s untested and unproven investment fund. (Notably, in 2018, MBS had bragged Kushner was “in his pocket.”)
Claims of Saudi corruption under MBS are nothing new. High ranking officials, including members of the royal family, have been implicated in crimes involving embezzlement, money laundering, bribery, and more. But, as a totalitarian monarchy, there’s little to be done about it. Royal decrees are the law of the land, and suggestions of royal corruption are considered treasonous. As an example, bin Salman’s government sentenced Salma alShehab to 27 years of prison. Her crime? She tweeted in support of women’s rights.
Fast forward…
Donald Trump, now in his second term, just returned from a “diplomatic” tour of the Middle East, a trip Sen. Chris Murphy says was fast-tracked because Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were the quickest to toss money and gifts his way.
As anyone watching daily headlines is aware, Trump has verbally accepted a $400 million luxury jet from Qatar as a no-strings-attached “gift.” For her part, AG Pam Bondi, a former Qatari lobbyist, sees no problem with this bribe. (If I wrote comedy, I’d strive for *this* level of absurdity.) And there’s more…Last year, Eric Trump cut a branding deal with the Qataris for a Trump golf course, built by a Saudi Arabian developer. The same developer is set to build an 80-story Trump Tower in the UAE. And let’s not forget about LIV Golf, the pro golf tournament known for hosting events at Trump-owned properties and funded by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund (PIF).
Perhaps to show their appreciation, Saudi Arabia, run by a man whose ass Trump purportedly saved, really rolled out the red carpet for him, complete with wild splash and dazzle meant to impress the world’s most superficial man. If the mobile McDonald’s wasn’t enough, the camels really brought it home! The whirlwind trip was as transactional as ever and Trump Family First, always staying true to his brand. America? What’s America got to do with anything?
Trump notably brushed off human rights abuses. Aren’t people tired of hearing about torture, corruption, and real-life assassins? Come on, that’s so yesterday! What the Middle East needed was LOVE, said the man without a heart. They’ve just been “starving for love” from the United States…And the man who longs to be an American King – the man who dreams of wielding absolute power through presidential decree, no matter the harm, felt he was EXACTLY the right guy for the job.
Jamal Khashoggi once wrote, “We should not need to be reminded of the value of human life.”And, of course, we shouldn’t. But I contend there’s value in such reminders. A life – especially one lived in the service of good works – continues to grace humanity with lessons far beyond the grave. And what of the freedom Jamal bravely spoke of – his quest for equality within the Saudi Kingdom and the elusive journalistic freedom that he ultimately gave his life for? In the last piece he ever wrote, he praised the Washington Post for publishing versions of many of his columns in Arabic, allowing Saudi citizens to read about American democracy. As a Saudi citizen himself, he surely knew the risk of his dissent, but he wasn’t swayed. After all, he could speak, when so many others could not.
- Bren Witkemper, Guest Contributor
Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/jamal-khashoggi-mohammed-bin-salman-us-report
https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2018-the-guardians/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-saudi-crown-prince-says-kusher-was-in-his-pocket/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund.html
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-mbs-saved-hisass
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/jamal-khashoggi-what-arab-world-needs-most-free-expression
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