The world has been captivated by the recent murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi had been an outspoken critic of the way Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enforced its religious values, and their policy on the war in Yemen.
He went into a self-imposed exile in the U.S. from Saudi Arabia and wrote columns for the Washington Post criticizing the policies of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman.
On Oct. 2, Khashoggi walked into the Saudi embassy in Turkey to finalize paperwork regarding his wedding to Turkish doctoral student Hatice Cengiz.
What happened then has been the source of much confusion and criticism.
Given the evidence provided by the Turkish government, it appears that Khashoggi walked into a death trap set up by the Saudis.
Turkish officials told the New York Times that Saudi agents had, “Dismembered his [Khashoggi’s] body with a bone saw they had brought for the purpose.”
The 15 Saudis accused of the murder arrived on a charter plane at 3:13 a.m. Oct. 2, and departed the same day they arrived.
Saudi officials now admit that Khashoggi was killed inside the embassy by a team of rouge agents, but only after two weeks of denying the event took place.
So far his body has not been recovered, though Turkish police has searched the consulate and the nearby Saudi consul’s residence.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia initially claimed that the 15 men had been tourists, but have since walked that assertion back.
This excuse is by no means a new one.
In March, Russian operatives targeted retired Russian military intelligence officer and double agent Sergei Skripal during his stay in the United Kingdom in an attempt to neutralize him. The attempted poisoning by nerve agent ultimately failed, but left Skripal in the hospital until May.
The excuse given was that the attempted murderers were on vacation in an insignificant village.
U.S. Sanctions against Russia went into effect on Aug. 27, but have had little, if any, affect on relations between the U.S. and Russia.
In fact, the sanctions seem more like an obligation than a statement. President Donald Trump has stated many times that he looks to improve the relationship between the two countries, but what message has that sent to Saudi Arabia?
If Russia can ostensibly get away with murder, why can’t they? Unfortunately, this makes a weird amount of sense.
It’s not just countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia who are murdering innocent people; the U.S. and our allies are just as guilty.
The wars in Iraq and Iran have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
This is not even mentioning CIA backed coups in foreign countries such as Kuwait, Yugoslavia, Palestine and many more.
The MK Ultra experiments conducted by the CIA used American citizens in an attempt to manipulate their mental states using abominable tactics like the drug LSD, sensory deprivation, isolation and sexual and verbal abuse.
The bombs Saudi Arabia used to kill civilians in Yemen have been linked back to the U.S.
“Saudi Arabia has been a very important ally of ours in the Middle East. They’re a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment, but other things,” Trump said to reporters in the wake of Khashoggi’s death.
The amount of weapons Saudi Arabia has promised to purchase from the U.S. total $110 billion.
Trump is more focused on the economics of the situation rather than setting a precedent for the consequences of murdering dissenters, which fits his claims that the free press is the, “enemy of the people,” like a glove.
The checkered past of the U.S. has seemingly given the world free-reign to do as they please, but someone has to stand up for justice and morality.
The battle between globalization and nationalism is in full swing.
Which side are you on?
