The Murder Of Jamal Khashoggi and How It Came To Be About Trump

 

On October 2nd, Jamal Khashoggi, a US resident and Washing Post columnist was reportedly killed at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul. While there were reports that he may have been kidnapped at first since SA hasn’t released any evidence to suggest he’s still alive with two weeks past and under increasing pressure, it is all but certain that he is dead. What we know so far is that a team of 15 Saudis landed in Turkey, at 3:13 am and with a private charter plane, included in this team was an autopsy specialist and carried by them was a bone saw.

At first Arabia has denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s disappearance and claimed that he left the consulate but failed to provide footage from the embassy showing him leaving, despite the fact that the consulate is surrounded with cameras. Since then a story has emerged about how Khashoggi may have recorded his own torture and demise with his apple watch and that this recording was obtained by Turkish Intelligence Agencies. However several experts have weighed in suggesting that this scenario was unlikely and would’ve required Khashoggi to be connected to the wi-fi at the consulate. A more likely scenario is that The Turkish Intelligence Agencies lied about the means by which they obtained the audio recording of Khashoggi’s demise. It is speculated that these agencies had the SA Consulate bugged. The recording is yet to be released to the public.

The reactions to this event has been immediate yet divided. Most decisive and damaging backlash so far has come from companies pulling out of the conference dubbed “Davos in the Desert” that is meant to convince companies in sectors other than oil that the Kingdom is changing. With the diminishing importance of petroleum and SA’s diminishing importance in producing it (as the US has ramped up production in the last decade to historically high levels) the new crown prince of SA has laid out a plan to transform SA’s economy by 2030. The crown prince of SA has recognized that unless SA diversifies its economy that its prospects going forward are nearly non-existent. It just so happens that Davos in the Desert and similar events are critical as the nation needs these companies to start diversifying its economy at a meaningful pace. In the light of recent events here are some(not all) of the companies that have pulled out alongside most major news organizations that were to cover the event as well as the IMF and the World Bank:

  • JP Morgan Chase
  • Ford
  • Uber
  • MasterCard
  • Google Cloud
  • HSBC

While congressman from both sides of the aisle have come out saying that the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin should join the list of those who will not attend, there have been no updates from Mnuchin about the status of his trip. Furthermore the White House has come under fire after Trump said that the arms deal worth over 100 Billion USD with SA wouldn’t be cancelled over this murder, has offered an excuse on SA’s behalf by suggesting that it may have been “rogue killers” and has brought up Khashoggi status as a non-citizen(Khashoggi was a US permenant resident) in the middle of a press conference about what the next step for the administration would be. Trump has also promised “severe punishment” against SA if the allegations were determined to be true but has not offered any further details on what this punishment would involve.

The situation is still developing and a rush to judgement on what course of action, if any, may be taken on the part of the White House. Would be ill advised at this stage. It is clear however that Khashoggi’s murder has already severely damaged SA’s plans for the future.