This is obviously a con-job by the Turks in collusion with the Iranian Gov't intended to frame MBS & drive a wedge between USA & Saudi Arabia.
It's far too convenient that the Turks have "audio recording" evidence of the mans murder. The Iranians knew they couldn't announce such a thing to the world, so they bade Turkey to do so.
3
@VickValoure
Don't trust the Turkish leadership; that's for sure. But the fact remains that Mr. Khashoggi's fiancée waited outside the Saudi Consulate for hours. He went in. He never came out. Where is he? Explain that!
2
@VickValoure
You’re confusing Times’ readers with Alex Jones listeners...
If Saudi Arabia is innocent, they should release security footage of Khashoggi leaving the embassy.... that’s it. Simple as that.
Let the Saudis make the laughable argument that there’s no security camera...
3
@VickValoure What seems obvious to Trump supporters like you often finds its progenesis in respected journalistic sources like Infowars. I have no idea what happened inside that embassy and neither do you, but most things in life tend to be just like they appear to be.
2
Mr. Kristof offers excellent analyses and arguments for finally doing the right things regarding Saudi Arabia.
But I wish he and the press would focus attention on a key question about the recent escalations in SA abuses. Did Saudi money flowing into the pockets of Donald Trump and Jared Kushner lead to promises that the US would turn a blind eye to Saudi excesses?
It is known that Trump and Kushner have received past Saudi bailouts; that in 2017 Kushner was shopping around the Middle East for a $500 million loan; and that Trump openly pursues SA investments in personal properties in SA and elsewhere. And what facts are hidden?
And when Trump made his first foreign visit as president to SA, it was like a scene from The Godfather--a grateful debtor bowing and showing thanks to his benefactor. Then the Saudis, Trump and his troupe of White House and Wall Street schemers partied like boiler room scammers after a huge swindle.
Since that visit, the Saudis have done what they please. And even now, after a murder that would embarrass even Putin in its brutality and treachery, Trump finds it hard to criticize the Saudis and makes only vague promises about doing something.
The bottom line is that Trump and Kushner are personally benefiting from Saudi money while ignoring Saudi actions that harm the US, the world and thousands of human beings.
The conflict of interest is clear. How can that even be debatable?
But a better word is Treason.
187
@Thomas Wright = Sadly it's not just Jared and Donald. Remember from earlier wikileaks, the obscene amount of money Saudi Arabia donated to the Clinton Foundation. As long as we are dependent on oil and Big Oil is Big Money and Money is able to drive politics in this country - it seems we will always have politicians cozying up to Saudi Arabia.
1
Good column but I would add Thomas Friedman to the
"American acolytes played for suckers." His early column praising MBS to the skies was sickening at the time and
today is totally disgusting. Friedman -- shame on you!
102
The benefits to the U.S. of arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been exaggerated by Trump and his administration. Trump's belief that we should do nothing about the murder of reporter, Khashoggi, lest it jeopardize the arms sale agreement is shameful. It is the response of a true sociopath.
63
Saudi Arabia has been playing the US government for suckers for generations. They have played US presidents like puppets going back at least as far as Truman. Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative, doesn't matter. This is just more of the same.
26
Saudi Arabia did indeed play Kushner, Trump and other Americans for suckers but it won't stop them from racing to the desert to stuff their own pockets with more riches.
28
Let's not forget that Canada has taken these criminals on straight-up. We were met with total silence or derision for our troubles. But we are holding firm against that autocratic regime.
Who exactly are the lock-em up worthy "elites" that Trump and his supporters like to talk about and claim they are different from?
72
We hear tons about how we promote "democracy" in the world. But since the Mexican American war, if not before, we have occupied, colonized, and backed puppets (think the way we effected the convenient independence of Panama) to our perceived advantage. We go to the Dark Side often, frequently and repeated.
Media routinely publishes the Ministry of Truth lines... take the horror of Navalny being blocked in Russia (where he would not come in even 3rd, and how do we deal with the eventual day there when perenenial #2 wins?) while in Brazil the far and away #1 is IN PRISON!
Maybe we should start with ending our expediency of backing despots(or political puppets) who do nice for our oligarchy.
Why not start with: freeing the people trapped in Saudi Arabia from tyranny. Set up a Republic. Export Democracy like we did in 1790.
How?
It is sacrilege (get out you Qurons) to defile a body. Even an enemy's.
Use that to end the House of Saud, and our oil slimed history of support for it.
28
FEIGNED OUTRAGE
I have watched for decades as the right has feigned outrage every time truth has challenged their right to rule. Starting with the Jim Crow south to the Nixon impeachment, to Iran Contra to the Bork self disqualification to Clarence Thomas, to Iran and Iraq to Trump, to Kavanaugh any time the truth threatens the narrative of America's right wing feigned outrage became the friend of your so called "conservatives".
It matters not that anyone who has watched the Kavanaugh hearings with any modicum of objectivity knows in every cell in their body that Kavanaugh cannot bring anything but cynicism to the Supreme Court.
Two months ago our Minister of Foreign Affairs spoke truth to power when she condemned Saudi Arabia for locking up, torturing and murdering her friends whose only crime was telling the truth to their readers. Thanks to people like Chrystia Freeland and John Ralston Saul Canadians knew Freeland spoke the truth we understood what The Guardian was saying when it wrote that Canada stood alone.
Socrates and Jesus are part of the canon of Western literature because we know the truth is disconcerting and Nixon, Reagan and Trump lived to tell lies, lies and more lies.
We knew the Saudis were outraged because Freeland told the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The feigned outrage of the world's most conservative State has laid bare the truth.
It is time for those who love America to talk about feigned outrage.
36
Trump and Jared were not played. Jared deliberately cultivated him over the objections of Tillerson and McMaster. Woodward's book underscores his pivotal role in building that alliance and jacking up the arms sales' numbers to cement the alliance. Jared sought him out because MBS was was willing to throw the Palestinians under the bus, bully, kidnap, buy or sell other leaders to get them to endorse the cruel Peace Plan that Kushner and two former Trump lawyers had concocted with Bibi. When news of Khashoggi's possible murder first appeared, Politico reported that "a senior White House official with responsibility for the Middle East" pointed to Iran being the top priority and tried to sweep this story under the rug! Not hard to guess that that was Kushner. Beyond the complicity of Trump and Kushner in the ascendance of MBS, the New York Times was also complicit. It was only too happy to paint him as a modernizer and reformer with glowing opinion pieces by at least two of its columnists, and to overlook his corruption and brutality at home and abroad in Yemen and Syria.
93
"America can also make clear to the Saudi royal family that it should find a new crown prince.'
This needs to happen now. The Magnitsky Act was made for this. The royal family has cleaned house before, and it can do so again. If Cheltenham or Fort Meade have intercepts of MBS planning this little escapade, then those need to be shared and the little prince needs to be held responsible. It's time to remind them that we control the cash.
20
The only question is the dollar amount and form of bribing the US for Trump not taking any significant action. The potential arm deal is only the start.
30
So the United StAtes would sit back on this murder so as not to lose money on. Weapons deal
And.... most likely on Trump family businesses?
21
I am surprised to see Kristof focus on this case. As he and others have said in other columns, the real catastrophe is the war in Yemen. Suppose that Khassogi shows up tomorrow, would that mean it is ok to be allied Saudi Arabia again?
I'm glad to see that criticism of MBS is finally getting some traction but bothered that it focuses some much on this one case.
46
Tump cares nothing about protecting human and civil rights.
There's a proposal to change National Park Service rules in order to limit demonstrations and protests in Washington D.C., especially near the White House.
The rights of a free press obviously mean nothing to him, since he considers the press "the enemy of the people" - his words.
He apparently has no issue with torture, having said so on the campaign trail and nominated Gina Haspel to run the CIA.
Then there's the Trump policy of taking children away from their parents at the border and putting them in "detention centers." Now his administration is trying to start separating children from their parents once again.
Trump's "in love" with Kim Jong Un (his words) and cozies up to Putin, both dictators credibly accused and widely understood to be responsible for multiple political assassinations and acts of brutality.
Mr. Kristof is right about US enabling Saudi brutality. Some support the Saudis for misguided security and foreign policy reasons. Others have fallen for MBS's manufactured image as a good guy; others just want to cash in.
Trump expressed reluctance to block the billions in revenue that the US receives from arms sales to the Saudis, some of which are being used to kill women and children in Yemen.
And how much did Trump and Kushner busineses rake in from Saudi sources since Donald Trump was elected president?
Does anyone really expect Trump to "punish" the Saudis in any meaningful way?
67
What happened to Mr. KHashoggi in the Saudi Consult in Turkey brought to the forefront to what is happening to dissidents in Saudi Arabia. MBS is Putin like, hope dece3ncy will prevail in dealing with this man. Someone needs to tell Trump that there is more to life than Money and Ego, something called decency and human rights.
32
Sadly Trump admires the power exercised by MBS and wished he could operate in that fashion. Bragging of how much money the Saudi's funneled into Trump family businesses and real estate holdings Trump is beholden to the Prince. If he could only signal his support without congress interfering is his latest dilemma. Trump has not made money from Canada so he uses American trade policy to punish them while Ivanka and Jared are anxious to cash in on wealthy Saudi ,this family values money above all. The prince is following the Trump playbook deny deny deny and like Putin ,TRump will snuggle up to a rich powerful dictator over the interests and values of America.
50
Thank you Mr. Kristof for your compelling editorial. Trump is never going to hold the Saudis responsible for Mr. Khashoggi's death, primarily because it will cost him millions of dollars personally, as well as his company, and the money means more to Trump than anything.
Upon the confirmation of Khashoggi's death the Senate should open a full investigation. Under the Magnitsky Act all lobbyists for Saudi Arabia should be sanctioned, as well as those operating under FARA on behalf of Saudi Arabia. The full force of retribution should be brought down on them. The despots of the world have been given free reign by Trump to harm journalists every where, because OUR misbegotten President has declared the press as the "enemy of the people". It is his fault that the moral authority of the U.S. has been destroyed, and has gives tacit permission for journalists worldwide to be slaughtered like animals. Just last week a female journalist in Hungary was raped and killed for her writings, then Khasoggi, Putin has killed and imprisoned his own journalists, the onslaught has begun. It is time to hold all of these despots accountable, including our own.
57
Mr. Trump,
Congratulations! You are a fantastic comedian!
The North Koreans are laughing at you. The Syrians are laughing at you. The Israelis are laughing at you. The Chinese are laughing at you. The Russians are really, really laughing at you. Now the Saudis are laughing at you too.
And it will get even better! Your impotence, gullibility, ignorance, narcissism, and naivete will continue to increase the laughter from around the world.
70
I don’t see what the hubbub is about here. Khashoggi was a Saudi citizen, as much as the press tries to paint him as an American because he worked for an American newspaper. A consulate is treated as sovereign territory by host countries. And Saudi Arabia is well known for brutal punishments. So this really is a case about a Saudi citizen being killed in Saudi controlled territory by the government. How many times a week does that happen?
2
We shouldn't be selling SA firecrackers let alone some of our most sophisticated weapons. Congress must act immediately to put a stop to this nonsense.
13
Why won't Trump punish the Saudis? Just follow the money.
13
Why do I feel like I'm reading a Dem version of Fox News instead of the NYT? Yes. Trump and the Reps are behaving badly- but we know that.
Instead, all space is given to what bad things Reps and Trump & family are still doing. But we also need to know how to help change that.
We need the NYT to give headlines and space to the Dems and how they are different than the Reps/Trump. And they're not doing that.
They could certainly make a difference in the Nov. 6th elections if they told people how to get in touch with and donate to Dems running for office. How many commenters does it take to make the NYT publish an article about how more people can get in touch with and support Dem candidates?
I notice that the 2-3 times I've tried to do that myself my comments are never okayed for publication - that's okay, I'm not part of the NYT. But they DO need to give that info to their readers themselves.
Time is running out for us middle class readers to get that info and join together with our small donations to make a large amount amongst us so the Dems get some publicity nation-wide.
Also the NYT needs to hit hard and often on the possibility that our votes won't count at all because of the voting machines losing or changing our votes. The info is out there for their writers to explore and talk about, but it isn't being done.
Other than Krugman, I just don't see their writers exploring this oh-so-important area - and this at a time when we desperately need the publicity!
10
"If he could be feted after kidnapping a Lebanese prime minister and slaughtering Yemeni children, why expect a fuss for murdering a mere journalist?"
Why indeed? Nicholas Kristof, your humanitarian credentials are impeccable but I am baffled that the attention you and your colleagues have given to the sustained US-enableed, Saudi-executed crimes against humanity in Yemen has been fairly modest in comparison to the attention to the fate of just one man, a journalist, who was foolish enough to walk into a nest of vipers. (Did Khashoggi not believe his own writings about the Saudi regime?)
5
Follow the money, see where the money goes, see how the money buys power, the ultimate objective...if you do this you'll find at the end of that rainbow trump and the crown prince rubbing their hands together in glee.
trump's rationale for continuing with the arms sales to the saudis is as insane as the gun lobby's claim that guns don't kill people.
Eisenhower was right because it is all about money, the greedy disease contagion of unregulated capitalism gone amok. Demagogues like trump and the prince are the priests of that religion.
14
This dreadful act is what happens when you let a pallid child named Jared, who's married to your daughter, conduct the foreign policy of the United states.
He does it back channel, in secret, outside diplomatic norms, and with lining the Trump and Kushner pockets as the goal.
Will somebody please take away his security clearance and get him out of our government, before it's too late?
29
It is not Bush, Obama or Trump's fault. The fault lies in the American voter. We allow ourselves to be lied to. We continue to support news outlets like CNN and MSNBC who lie to us regularly. We allow these news corporations to fire the truth-tellers by continuing to support theirt product. We allow ourselves to be manipulated by lies like the Iraqi army throwing a few babies on the floor to steal incubators, and even reward the news and public relations firms that spread these lies instead of prosecuting them. Meanwhile, we enact sanctions that kill 500,000 children and then unleash a war that killed a another million because Bush' national security apparatus told us Saddam was going to atttack us whioe he could not even bring all of iraq under his control. American stupidity allowed Bush to wage was against Iraq when it was Iraq's very enemy who attacked us. Our CIA, FBI and NSA lie to the world, the American people, our elected representatives and to the American people themselves. And, we continue to allow it by electing and re-electing people like Pelosi, McCain, Clinton, Obama and Bush. We continue to support the deep state in its fight against Trump. But the end is coming and so will our corrupt leadership that spends so much time honoring itself.
2
It's beyond disgusting that we as a nation have for so long been entwined with a theocratic, medieval nation like Saudi Arabia. I don't care how many fancy buildings or Lamborghinis can be found in Riyadh. Their mindset is medieval and therefore so is the country.
19
What did you expect? These people (the various princely factions) haven't changed since they rode out of the desert in the 1920s and their treasury consisted of British Gold Sovereigns in canvas bags on their camels. The Saud family has served as the muscle for the Wahabi sect since it was founded in the 1750s. We have been kissing up to them since the late 1940s. We now back them as a counterweight to Iran and disregard their reactionary views and their actual closeness ideologically, but not religiously, to our enemies in the region.
22
Kashoggi's life is, or was, precious, and he deserves justice, and Trump's "tepid response" is outrageous and hints at his and Kushner's vast corruption.
Still, I am baffled: the Saudis bombed a busload of Yemeni children--all lives as precious as Kashoggi's--yet any outrage over that and the Saudis' other massacres of civilians has blown over.
Is it such a big deal because Kashoggi was a journalist, so other journalists identify with him and play up the story?
If that is what it takes to bring a smidgen of justice to that tyrannical, cruel regime, I'm grateful for it, but the many other innocent victims deserve more of our remembrance than they're getting.
12
Nic, Trump admires Dictators, Of any sort. This sickening action, undoubtedly approved by MBS, will only increase his respect and admiration tenfold. He will also be extremely JEALOUS.
Seriously.
8
I am betting that Trump and his administration will end up doing absolutely nothing as long as Jared has financial interests in Saudi. Trump never saw a dictator he did not like, and he totally LOVES this Saudi despot.
16
I love your fantasy-- Trump caring about human rights! What's next-- he'll actually pay taxes? Good for a laugh.
23
The United States under the direction of Donald J Trump will do nothing except talk about what he might do. You can’t believe a word this president says. Just like he led a bunch of fools to believe he gave the FBI a free hand at investigating the sexual misconduct of Justice Kavanaugh. Of course he didn’t we find out. All you have to do is deny the charges and he will accept your denial, if he thinks you are aligned with him and his policies.
8
Dear Mr. Kristof,
you are right on all accounts regarding MbS.
Still, what happened to make the NYT change its mind about this guy?
People like me, who have years of first hand experience with the kingdom and its ruling family, have warned against MbS and his friends for years.
It wasn't even the first murder he and his friends committed.
Remember his way of interning his competition in the Riyadh Ritz?
Not all of those that had to get in there also came out alive.
Quite a few disappeared without a trace.
So this is not new, like the close ties between US money and ARAMCO.
What is new is the love affair like submission under a de facto ruler just because they had a sword dance and a glowing orb ceremony.
And yes, Kushner is part of the deal.
Who better to sell the Potemkin style theatre by MbS, the Muslim ruler that will allow women to drive than a Jew?
This is simply a PR stance by MbS which is now falling apart after one murder too many.
And no, the US will not impose sanctions against the kingdom or MbS because they are the enemy of the enemy of the US, Iran.
Wait and you will see that the crowd already has moved on and in a few days this episode does not matter any more.
16
The foreign policy of the US has consistently sided with Saudi Arabia and her oil and this incident will be no exception despite Saudi- one of the most repressive theocratic regime who sponsored most terrorists in the 9-11 attack.
11
Thank you Mr. Kristof for speaking out about this matter. So many other journalists have shown no such courage and integrity (even from your own newspaper) for not only recognizing what kind of awful person the Saudi Crown Prince is, but calling him out for his repressive and thuggish behavior, and just as importantly, calling out those politicians, business leaders and companies who are still doing business-as-usual with this guy.
Mr. Khashogii will NOT be reappearing. He was brutally tortured, murdered and cut into pieces with a bone saw like an episode of The Sopranos, directed by the "mob boss" the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia M.S.B. Turkish intelligence not only have audio proof of the torture and killing of Mr. Khashoggi, they also have video of the murder and dismemberment. It is almost certain our intelligence services have been shared this evidence and the president has also seen this.
We all know what a horrendously repressive and sickening society Saudi Arabia is: The public beheadings of dissidents, the chopping off of hands for theft, the brutal lashing of women who dare ask for equal treatment, the siege warfare in Yemen that is killing thousands of civilians and starving millions of children. How we, and the west, can have anything to do with such a sick society is absolutely beyond me, let alone have cozy military (we refuel their bombers on the way to Yemen) and business dealings with them.
42
We “all” don’t “pray” that Jamal reappears, since many of us are atheists. The one thing we can all do is denounce authoritarian rule around the world.
10
Well said. As a Canadian I am proud that our foreign minister and government stood up for women in Saudi Arabia that have been jailed by the Saudi Prince. This is something that your country did in the past. You now have a president who vilifies the press as “enemies of the people” and shrugs his shoulders when a despot friend kills journalists.
14
Sorry, Nicholas,
If a Prince Murders ANYONE, That's Not a Hiccup.
Are journalists more important than anyone else?
I think not.
5
Truism these days: Money talks and Money Rules. A shallow, greedy way of life promoted and supported by our disloyal GOP: Minority now rules as democracy fades.
It is much like one of the 'triggers' they use to keep us divided, pursuing something they call 'freedom of religion' which is noting more than a permission to discriminate for their so called religious base. Actual freedom of religion is written into the constitution already for all to see.
Trump displays his disgusting hypocrisy by pretending to pray with that pretend Christian Turkey released, and giving a disturbed celebrity an oval office charade to attract black voters. All this while a large chunk of FL is basically wiped out by a storm. People have died, including Jamal Khashoggi. Where is Trump? Hosting daily political scenes and rallies. Kemshi rules.
6
Yesterday night I listen to my Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Like Trump is obviously considered the disappearance and possibly the murder of a journalist as a hiccup. And Canada, like the USA will not stop the sale of armor vehicles to Saudi Arabia.
8
Mr. Kushner is best buddies with the prince who likely ordered the torture, murder, and dismemberment of the journalist. We know them by the company they keep.
Mr. Trump attacks others endlessly with lie after lie, but he cannot say anything at all about the prince who is likely a torturer and murderer. Trump has called for more torture and has demonized journalists endlessly. Besides, the prince is a customer of his.
Mr. Mnuchin will still attend the Saudi Davos, and thus give it the White House's endorsement, though the prince is a likely murderer, 8 million Yemenis are starving, etc.
The ignorance, corruption, undemocratic values and implied violence of Trump, Kushner et al. is a welcome sign for autocratic murderers. Nobody is easier to con than a con man.
29
When you live in certain countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, China just to mention a few, and you oppose their leadership, you can expect harsh redults. Their form of government does not allow for dissent.
5
My condolences to you Mr. Kristof. This has been a travesty.
If a Palestinian bombs Israel, Israel will annihilate that person's family home because his parents didn't stop it. Saudi terrorists attacked us in 2001 and we have never held them accountable. Our President instead invites them here with much fanfare so he can cash in on any sales from weapons and sales he may personally gain. Now the Saudi Prince sent 15 men to kill a US resident and do we finally hold the Saudis responsible? No. Trump will do nothing to the Saudis if only for the fear they would not buy real estate from it. Congress needs to act, because our President never will.
23
"We all pray" is perhaps better stated as "we all prey"
There is no hope of peace let alone a reasonable expectation of iso long as we accept the fantasy of beseeching non-existent gods.
Speak the truth or stay enchained.
3
Our country went to war under the pretense that Irak was responsible for 9/11 knowing that the vast majority of terrorist committing the biggest terrorist attack in the US originated from Saudi Arabia. This was fueled by by a form of Islam that is tolerated and promoted by the Saudi monarchy. Instead of labeling Saudi Arabia as a terrorist regime we sell them highly sophisticated weapons and look the other way way when they commit war crimes with these weapons making us complicit in it. This is what has become America - it is ugly, shameful and heart breaking.
15
What has happened at the embassy is tragic.A reporter goes into the embassy and doesn’t emerge.A blind person would know what has
occurred. And on Saudi TV they are saying the men went to get hair transplants!!!!!Such a very sad day for the world.
1
It will not be long before Trump turns the US into this kind of Dictatorship.
9
''In the end, Saudi Arabia played Kushner, Trump and his other American acolytes for suckers. ''
Not true. The Trump family got the money, financing, and defense contracts it wanted, and always was always aware of the stench. All that mattered was money.
Suckers are the ones at the rally with the "Drain the Swamp" cards. And those of us that thought such zombies could be awoken, and brought back to life with reason.
10
The USA and Saudi Arabia are controlled by two textbook narcissists. There is no room in their thought process for anyone- anyone at all. It's all about them. Everyone else is an expendable pawn.
4
@Lawrence It's actually not likely that Trump and his family were aware of any stench coming from the Saudi royal family. It's called "nose blindness" -- you know, as in the Febreze commercial where the teenage boy can't smell the stench in his room because he's been marinating in the odor of filthy socks for so long.
5
Trump, Kushner, et al may well be suckers in many ways, but in this case it's clear that they simply have no interest in defending NATO, traditional western values or anything but their own financial interests.
7
"Frankly, it’s a disgrace that Trump administration officials and American business tycoons enabled and applauded M.B.S. as he imprisoned business executives, kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister, rashly created a crisis with Qatar, and went to war in Yemen to create what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis there. Some eight million Yemenis on the edge of starvation there don’t share this bizarre view that M.B.S. is a magnificent reformer."
And wasn't it a disgrace that your employer --- until this past Friday --- was sponsoring a $12,000 per person trip to Saudi Arabia?
6
Our president embraces the dark side for the love of money.
3
Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his base wouldn't care; M.B.S. thinks the same the same way. They both think they are above the law and that consequences are for other people. Their only values are greed and selfishness.
4
Trump the Negotiator is all wind all the time. Since he’s taken the arms deal with SA off the table, and he won’t dare slap an oil embargo on the Saudis, what’s left in his bag o’ tricks. A stern talking to, perhaps? Sending Bolton/Pompeo to Riyadh for “discussions?”
Or, more likely, will he create another distraction to draw attention away from the murder of a respected journalist? Is it time for Trump to launch a nuclear tweet on North Korea? The NFL Players Association? Taylor Swift? How about Hillary. We’ll always have Hillary.
Koshoggi will soon be forgotten, like a searchlight switched off. After all, King Salman knows what he’s doing, right?
4
Trump's main thought regarding Khashoggi is probably, "Why can't I get rid of these meddlesome Washington Post reporters too?"
2
Has everyone forgotten the Bushes connection to the Saudi's.
2
This outrageous murder is tragic and gruesome for many reasons. An innocent has been done to death in diplomatic premises. In addition, Saudi Arabia needs a reformist prince who can modernize Saudi society, prepare for a transition to democracy, and form an alliance with other Arab states to broker a deal between Israel and the Palestinians and contain Iran.
It's a pity that MBS cannot be such a prince. He is a tyrant, and no person of conscience should have anything to do with him. This being said, who can be surprised that Trump and his cronies are cozying up to him.
6
Trump is simply envious of someone who is called the Crown Prince and murders journalists. This, in addition to personal financial gain, explains such a tepid response from the White House.
9
Lie down with dogs and wake up with fleas or in this case blood on your hands. Funny how we talk very little in the press about what is going on in Yemen at the hands of the Saudis. Nor do we talk too much about who ostensibly was responsible for 9/11. They are a despotic country and we know how Trump and his followers love a good despot. My hope is that the rest of the civilized world will shine a light on what has happened to this brave journalist. The image of Jamal being tortured and then dismembered will not leave my weary brain. Just one more example of the barbarity that happens with the blessing of this administration.
12
I hate the president of our country. But past presidents have been propping up murderous dictators for decades. Trump is just following a pattern, albeit a disgusting one.
4
What am I missing?
All the 9/11 terrorists on board those planes were Saudis, yet we retaliated against Iraq.
And we sell guns to the Saudis ?
Who have just murdered and dismemberd a journalist.
23
Ours is not a formal, diplomatic relationship with Saudi. It is a personal one for Trump and Jared; and is all about $$$$. The dollars do not reflect a relationship with the American people or our government; they do not reflect representative government at all. They represent the kleptocracy initiated by this president, managed through his administration, enabled by the GOP. VOTE!!!
6
Talk about fake news. Trump's claim that our economy would be hurt to the tune of $110 billion in lost arms sales is an exaggeration, many of the arms deals aren't even approved or signed yet. As the saying goes you can't eat potential.
Regardless of the dollars it is time to climb out of bed with the Saudis. Our morals should not be for sale at any price. Trump wants to drain the swamp? The swamp is getting bigger and bigger, the sucking sound of the quicksand is deafening. How in the world are we ever going to be a credible super power again even? Maybe the whole notion of superpowers is flawed, but do we really want to abdicate our responsibility to be leading contributors to a more ecologically viable, moral, tolerant, sane, and peaceful planet? We may not be God's gift the world, but certainly Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia and other totalitarian regimes around the globe do not have better answers.
The big elephant in the room is still being ignored. If the scientists are correct we have 12 years to put down our swords. Nationalism will not help. Only an unprecedented world effort along with a major change in our thinking will give us an even remote chance to save the planet from the consequences of climate change.
2
"In the end, M.B.S. played Kushner, Trump and his other American acolytes for suckers."
Thank you for having the courage to write this column. Playing them for suckers is putting it mildly. The Crown Prince's money is propping up Trump and Kushner businesses, thus they are compromised. This is the reason for the emoluments clause in the constitution. The fact that the current congress is looking the other way will, hopefully, be rectified in 23 days.
With the chaos, immorality and incompetency that is Trump, it is easy for this travesty against humanity to get lost in the shuffle. If Mr. Khashoggi indeed has been murdered, Kushner and Trump have blood on their hands. It is disgusting that they are aiding and abetting M.B.S. when it is clear that he is committing murder and mayhem across the region if not the globe. Trump and his ilk value nothing over the almighty dollar.
When Trump was elected, I dreaded that bodies that would lie in the wake of his gross incompetency and greed. It is sadly coming to pass.
8
When Donald appointed the little princeling Jared to be in charge of the Middle East, it was bound to end poorly. The hidden genius blithely supplied his new pal MBS with classified CIA briefing material obtained via his perusal of the President’s Daily Brief. Consequently, MBS could identify his enemies more accurately as he planned his round up at the Ritz. I wonder if Khashoggi’s name was included?
Donald has had time to go to rallies and to head to his golf course today, but not to call King Salman. He obviously has no interest in getting to the bottom of this. He has every intention of sweeping it under the rug. And all this outrage from GOP senators like Corker, Rubio, Flake will blow over in 48 hours, as he knows full well. And when he does finally call, it will be just like his conversations with Putin: denial. Do we really think King Salman will say oh yes indeed, MBS ordered Khashoggi murdered and dismembered?
America does not need Saudi Arabia. We ought to isolate them financially and reclaim some moral standing. Guess we will need a new administration for that.
6
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince bin Salman did play Kushner, Trump, and all their crew for suckers. Which in international affairs they repeatedly are, most seriously regarding both North Korea and the Middle East.
It just goes to show that you can't cheat an honest man.
2
Trust fund wastelings are notoriously easy to manipulate. You flatter them, you tell them they are on third base because they hit a triple, you laugh at their jokes, you complement their taste, etc. etc.
It eats at them in the lonely night. But rather than stop the folly, they just redouble their efforts, and seek more empty praise and hollow connection.
And the Trumps, well, the Trumps are a once in a lifetime family of this pathetic need for people to assure them they are not a fraud.
Careless people, desperate to be careless.
1
I admit that I am one of those hysterical people who have compared Mr. Trump and his entourage to fascists, but I was wrong. Trump and is henchmen are much more akin to the mafioso than fascists. Neither Trump nor his toady Kushner it appears, have paid taxes in years. Both men pal around with killers and thugs. They disdain common decency and the laws that govern the rest of us. They lack any moral base for their actions. Their government puts babies in cages, appoints accused sexual abuseers to the courts, and fawns over dictators. What is the more important value, America: 100 billion dollars in arms sale to a brutal foreign government, or saving the lives of honest journalists and the civilian population of Yemen? Our Godfather chose the later. Which do you choose?
7
The US has been in bed with Saudi Arabia for decades. Somebody should investigate and tote up the value of weaponry sold by McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing and Lockheed Martin since 1980. Follow the money.
Trump is a hollow, rapacious, and vicious chicken hawk. He didn’t come out of nowhere.
5
Well, why not murder him? He is just one of "the enemy of the people". Those behind cages at Trump rallies, spit at, shouted at, raged at by the inflamed adherents to this administration.
All those who fomented this atmosphere are responsible for this murder, those who stood back and still refuse to stand up have blood on their hands. But, as long as they win re-election, get judges approved, line their pockets and see their stocks rise, all is good.
This is just one more of the same, those who speak up shall be squashed and those who reap the benefits face no consequences. It's sickening, it makes me ashamed. It, sadly, will make no difference.
4
Three thoughts.
1. I am sorry for the pain you are going through.
2. "Western companies should back out of M.B.S.’s Future Investment Initiative conference later this month. That includes you, Mastercard, McKinsey, Credit Suisse, Siemens, HSBC, BCG, EY, Bain and Deloitte, all listed on the conference website as partners of the event."
Would you have written this a month ago and added the NY Times to you list?
3. "America can also make clear to the Saudi royal family that it should find a new crown prince. A mad prince who murders a journalist, kidnaps a prime minister and starves millions of children should never be celebrated at state dinners, but instead belongs in a prison cell."
4. Is that really what it takes. And what do you think that would do? How can any substantial good come out of anything the Royal Family does. And where does the U.S. have any moral legitimacy to make that demand. It is a massive part of the problem. There and everywhere.
Again I am sorry at the pain you are going through. And the horror of what you are confronting.
1
The GOP is not longer the GOP. It's the Party of Trump (POT), as in, the country's gone to POT. Trumpubicans are corrupted to the core, and the murder of Khashoggi is just the latest in a long list of obvious examples that Trump and his family and cronies are mobsters and they are compromised by dirty money donations from immoral, corrupt foreign regimes.
Wake up America - the Trump "administration" is an ongoing, slow motion 9-11 like attack.
3
There is not a single pejorative term that one could apply to the House of Saud that would capture the disgusting malignance of it's barbaric crimes against humanity and promotion of a savage and merciless terrorism across the planet. I am supremely disgusted that the US government and Trump in particular are genuflecting to these murderous thugs in the name of money. Money for Trump, Money for the blood dripping hands of the US Military Industrial Complex.
If anything Mr. Kristof, your column is far too restrained in it's indictment of the MBS and his promoters at the White House.
20
What is all the brouhaha? trump base & republicans don’t care if a journalist was killed in a foreign country. They don’t care if they are killed in America (US/Divided). trump has said he could kill someone & not lose a supporter. All that matters is the lies they are being told during the mass hypnosis of the rallies of praise for the glory of trump.
9
I guess the murder of Khashoggi is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. But if the U.S. ever really stood for human rights, we would've cut ties with Saudi Arabia years ago for its treatment of women, for its barbaric floggings and beheadings, and certainly for its genocidal war on Yemen.
7
Nick, what this administration should do and what they will do are completely different. We don't have a leader in our President, we have a man who is making money for himself and his family and making suckers out of the American people.
9
Can it be any doubt that both the Saudi and U.S. government know if Jamal Khashoggi is dead or alive. It's unfortunate that apparently this who-knows-what game has to be played out until somebody blinks. Presidential leadership in normal times would demand answers, but anyone who thinks Donald Trump gives a flip about the fate of a possibly murdered journalist is badly misinformed.
4
Trump, the leader of the free world, continues to encourage violence against journalists... they are "the enemy of the people." Henrik Ibsen would be appalled. Trump's sin is hardly one of omission Nick Kristof, and should this President be wrenched from his post as a consequence of his many legal violations, he has already said enough to his knucklehead minions to cause riots on the streets of America.
5
Did Jesus say anything about the brainwashing ads stuffed in the middle of the movies, the songs and the sport events?
No, he didn’t! But do you know whether that’s wrong?
Everybody involved in it has betrayed the truth, from the big business, the Hollywood, the government and the free press.
Everybody keeps their mouth shut and participate in it!
That’s the faith. It gives you the courage to speak the truth.
Where is the American Khashoggi?
1
The faith always teaches you the principles, so whatever happens in a couple of millenniums you will be able to make a distinction between the right and the wrong.
You will know when somebody is trying to fool you and impose the wrong system of values upon you…
Saudi royals have been playing us for suckers for years, using ther oil and their weapons purchases to buy their way out of "hiccups" like 9/11, genocide war in Yemen, the beheadings and flogging of women and support for our enemies while pretending to be our friends. MBS thought Trump's monumental ego and Kushner's fervid support for an Israeli-Saudi alliance would let him, literally, get away with murder. But he went too far, making his country an international pariah just as it needed more international investment to make up for declining oil revenues. I wouldn't be surprised if the crown prince's older relatives turn on him and remove his crown, if not his head.
3
I am in total agreement with you Mr. Krisrof. Saudi Arabia, interestingly enough is a country barred to Jews, except Kushner and we might note that for the present, broadly defined, the USA, Israel and Saudi Arabia have fascist governments with human rights problems.
Like the with UK there is special relationship between the USA Saudi Arabia. I remember 9/11/01 very well. I was in Foley Sq. at the courthouse steps when the 2nd tower was hit and in City Hall park when the 1st tower collapsed and hundreds of ash covered people came running for their lives and I joined them. All non military flights were grounded no airlines or private jets flew, except for those carrying Arabs out of the USA.
There was of course a government investigation. It found that 15 of the 19 highjackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia. The 9/11 Commission released a report but some of its findings were marked top secret and never made public and the involvement of Saudi Arabia in the attacks and who might have had advanced warning are still kept from public view. I wonder, who profited the most from those attacks and why did the Bush43 administration fail to find and kill Osama bin Ladin, whose father is one of the riches men in Saudi Arabia?
Why would you think that the flow of Saudi cash into the pockets of Trump & Co., is going to be endangered by the killing of a reporter for the WaPo, and as such is according to our so called president an enemy of the people,
6
OMG, is this gonna play out like the Putin and Kavanaugh debacles? Trump will ask the Prince if he did it, the Prince will deny it "strongly," and then Trump will sell weapons to this monster?
I'm barely over the SCOTUS mess as a survivor of abduction and molestation by a teen wearing a DC area private school's sweatshirt. And police no longer have my "loving parents" report or the case notes. They showed me a photo of another suspected boy wearing the same school's emblem. Was this who my assailant had been waiting to join him?
3
Clearly, M.B.S. is a sociopath. This is yet another ruthless, unfit leader the U.S. has backed, if not put into place outright, perhaps because of our own self-motivated, unfit leadership. A lot of the mess in the Middle East goes directly to Kushner, who has used it as his personal bank to bail out his loser 5th Ave building and save his family from bankruptcy. He, like Trump, puts himself first about all, and in answering his own Zionistic tendencies has ensured the Middle East will never have peace. The Trump White House can't leave soon enough.
13
Nick, you yourself have faced life threatening scenarios as you’ve presented to us a world we’d never otherwise see. Creeps like MBS and his autocratic confrères are the planet’s bringers of misery. Their lust for power and wealth is matched only by their enablers, the corporate interests whose maniacal drive for wealth and power make for a perfect match.
So children die horribly, women are chained at the ankles, a journalist is blithely dismembered, while a president smooches his purchase order for big bad bazookas and issues his verdict: sad.
It must sometimes seem useless or worse, Nick, to put your life on the line so we might know the truth. But please keep at it. Maybe one day the decent faction of humanity will rise up, look at that dead child face down in the dust outside her house, and declare lights out on that half a billion dollar yacht.
4
This may be a little low-brow for the NYT, but as part of its ten year 450 million dollar deal with Saudi Arabia, the WWE has a stadium show in Saudi Arabia planned for November 2. The previous Saudi Arabia show was, if nothing else, a great propaganda coup for Saudi Arabia, during breaks in the action the WWE Network would play infomercials about how wonderful the host country has become under Mohammed bin Salman.
I wonder if the McMahon family cares enough about their reputation to cancel the show and not act as a propaganda tool for a foreign country?
4
Nick, Trump has many far more important things to do than to worry about Khashoggi. He has elections to win and his own countrry to wreck.
November 6 becomes more and more important.
5
This story is like a nuclear depth charge. When it goes off the World will shake, sheikh.
It is going to blow any second. Has there been a more thrilling story in the last 50 yrs?
1
Your Royal Highness M.B.S.;
The "fake media" has been putting a lot of pressure on me to do something about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. So I have been forced to speak up about his case.
But I want to assure you that in spite of what you may see in the American press, I have no intention of changing any American policy with regards to your Magnificent Kingdom.
I remain your loyal servant,
DJT
4
We're shocked--shocked, I tell you!--that this barbaric man from this barbaric nation has behaved this way.
Let's get this straight: any country in which half of the citizens (here, women) is enslaved by the other half (men) should long ago have been boycotted by every other nation. And, no, before someone says it, this is not a "cultural" issue (something some people always claim when the abuse is just of women). It's slavery, like any other. Women in this ugly country can't see a doctor--or even leave the house--without their owners' permission.
Boycott SA until it demonstrates it's ready to join the 21st C. I don't want the Saudis' dirty oil. I'll gladly pay more for gas and alternative energy (and no, I'm not rich, just a teacher). I don't want my country's products being sold to these barbarians either.
Kristof should've been protesting the abomination of SA and its daily human rights abuses long ago instead of waiting to be upset about his friend the journalist.
He ends his article with "A mad prince who murders a journalist, kidnaps a prime minister and starves millions of children should never be celebrated at state dinners, but instead belongs in a prison cell."
You'll notice he didn't include "sanctions male ownership of women" on that list of atrocities. Guess as a woman I just don't count, Nicholas? Oh yes, that's right: the abuse of women in SA is just their "culture", isn't it. So, not a problem. Journalists, though? Well, that's another matter.
10
"In the end, Saudi Arabia played Kushner, Trump and his other American acolytes for suckers."
On reading that subtitle, was anyone else reminded of Henry James?
Of "The Portrait of a Lady"?
Of Isabel Archer and Madame Merle?
Just wondering.
1
Is there such a thing like a Saudi Society? We know about the glitzy modern cities in the Arab Kingdomes and the hundreds of princes, the freedom to drive a car of the wealthy princesses, the expensive toys like yachts and palaces they own. We don't know anything about the existence of real society. Where and how do average people live in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates? With all the oil wealth what is their standard of living, are the people poor, or middle class? It appears to be a taboo existence? Why is it a taboo subject for the western MSM? something is very rotten, all we know is that Sharia law rules.
4
Consider that, for months and months, our president shouts that journalists are the enemy of the people, and then consider that a "trading partner'' of the U.S. murders a journalist. Our president has emboldened dictators, and thus has blood on his hands. Shame on him.
1
Except that if the journalist is an enemy of the people and the prince is an American, an Egyptian, an Israeli, a North Korean, a Russian, a Saudi or a Turk then it is a just and noble execution.
Well, Nick, I’m as sick or sicker than you are; we have a friend that lives in Istanbul, raising a family there. Graduated Amherst College and Columbia. I was among the sick when IKE had the CIA assasinate the duly elected Mossadech and turn Iran over to Shah Pahlavi. Decades of slaughter followed. We have not apologized. Remember that? I liked IKE as a boy, I voted for JFK, at 21, I was ignorant of the Kennedy clan behavior with women. It was not pretty. Remember Mary Jo Kopechne?
Journalists are in trouble everywhere. This is an assault on democracy. Our GOP is indifferent. Democrats are so weak. Where is the outrage? Saudi Arabia and Iran are not decent, it’s that simple. But, are we?
If we are going to take this world to a better place, we must shed Trump, and find decent leadership. Our people must hunger for decency, not bullies.
And we must apologize for so much. It is never too late to say we are sorry.
Turkey complains. How many journalists are jailed and threatened in Turkey?
What has Trump done to confront his own banality?
Has he apoligized for promoting violence? Has he admitted just one of his lies?
It’s good to know Obama was born in the states. Trump was enraged at the White House press dinner.
Were I to speak there, he would probably ship me to Saudi Arabia.
2
"In fairness, he did allow women to drive"? What the What? Shouldn't that line have been deleted?
2
Nick, I share your anger and disgust. You're absolutely right about our fawning administration, particularly the buffoon-in-chief, toward MBS. Saudi Arabia is as Neanderthal now as it was a decade ago, backwards and bloodthirsty. I can't forget that video taken by one of the playful young boys on that school bus in Yemen that was bombed by the Saudis. And now, with the probability that Khashoggi was assassinated, MBS just keeps on doing whatever he pleases. And our own government, with the most mentally-challenged "leaders," just keeps on fawning. I am thoroughly disgusted with both sets of leaders.
5
Trump keeps gassing on about not wanting the U.S. to lose a billion $ arm sale with the Saudis.
That money is now BLOOD MONEY.
Force Trump to act like a human being and turn his back on the murderous Saudi regime.
Jamal Khashoggi was a hero. Trump cannot continue to besmirch his memory.
2
The murder of Mr. Khashoggi has nothing to do with the journalism or Trump but with the power of faith.
First we have to redefine the concept of faith. It has nothing to do with the religions, the clergy, the priests or the churches but exclusively with your personal ability to make distinction between right and wrong, good and bad and to change this world.
If you let anybody else make the decisions in your name you haven’t understand the faith. If you let the presidents, the princes and the clergy decide whether to start a war on the opposite end of globe, whether you should drive a car or be afraid of government or let the rulers make you hate a half people around you, then you aren’t the believer but just a follower.
The faith empowers you to make your own decisions. If you depend on somebody else to do it on your behalf, you are just an old-fashioned sucker.
Have you wondered why the prince hasn’t killed any clergy member in Saudi Arabia or why the Roman Emperors didn’t kill any Pope? The clergy sticks to the talking points preapproved by the earthly power. The priests never dared to cross the line in a sand.
But, if you are true believer, then the kingdoms are terrified of you and want you murdered because all their armies cannot protect them from the simple truth.
That’s how you become a martyr – by just speaking the truth to the power. If you have to grab a sword nobody cares about you. The people minds are changed by the words, not by the swords.
1
Trump has already made it abundantly clear..... he cares more about arms sales, and appeasing Israel and his evangelical hardliners in the US, than he does about human rights, anywhere....
5
The Saudi's killed 3000 civilians in NY. We destroyed a country pretending they did it. Bush was complicit, O. was complicit and Trump is high fiving the same crooks from his knee-pads.
Because of money.
Tens of millions starve and die in Yemen, as we refuel and sell munitions and logistics to the Saud's.
Because of money.
America is complicit.
All for money.
WE kill children...for profit.
9
How many journalist must the Saudis kill in order to break the supposed sale of arms deal?
Two, ten, thirty?
2
Next time you buy gas, take time to make sure it's not from Saudi Arabia.
Oil. You forgot the word, "oil."
4
WRONG -> "In the end, Saudi Arabia played Kushner, Trump and his other American acolytes for suckers. "
RIGHT -> "In the end, Saudi Arabia, Kushner, Trump and his other American acolytes played American for suckers. "
9
Totally agree!!!!!
2
MBS did indeed play Kuchner.
Kuchner bribed Saudi by giving them defacto leadership of the Arab world in return for Saudi withdrawing any backing from the Israeli apartheid and slow genocide in Palestine.
Basically Kuchner put Israel's interests above ours.
I have yet to see any major commentary draw this most obvious link
8
Saudis are sending message to journalists. Blatant, Brutal, Barbaric. Khashoggi was entering Saudi Consulate. They could've gotten him at his hotel, anywhere. Trump this is on you--- and your abhorrent rhetoric towards journalists.
5
I would like to hear how Mr Kristof thinks we should deal with 'worldly' access-hounds like Thomas Friedman and David Ignatius who will do anything to look open-minded about accessing the Kingdom's wealth.
1
MBS has agreed to keep oil prices low until the US midterms. They could dismember a dozen journalists and the Republicans still wouldn't lift a finger.
8
The US Consulate is about 2 miles from the Saudi Consulate. I suspect that whatever the Turks have 'heard' has also been recorded by the Americans, and that it is not good. If there was evidence that Khashoggi left alive the US would have that and would probably have leaked it by now. If the unpublished evidence is as condemnatory as implied let's hope our government has the spine to act decisively in sanctioning the Saudis.
There used to be a well-known phrase in the USA - even among atheists/agnostics: "There but for the grace of God go I."
Seems like a pretty simple equation. If you were Mr. Khashoggi, or his fiancee, or his family member - would you not want this looked into carefully?
It's not that difficult to understand. And Mr. "Fake News" no doubt contributed to the loss of Mr. Khashoggi's life. That's not difficult to understand, either. "Many people say" that MBS said as much....
3
The Saudi royalty have only managed to stay in power by keeping the people in check/happy by splashing cash around.
Now the cash is going on weapons it'll be the stick and not the carrot.
2
The USA is an oligarchy. It cares not for people or human rights. It cares only for wealth and military power. It pays no attention to the morals of its foreign partners. Its politicians, especially its presidents have been close friends with Saudie Arabia for a very long time. It only cares if its foreign partners can help its own politicians become richer and more powerful. So the US will do nothing. Sorry, but that is what will happen.
5
One may only admire Trump’s timing in yanking us out of the UN Rights panel, and threatening the International Criminal Court.
1
It is so obviously all about money for Trump --personally as much as on behalf the US people. Kushner developing ties with the Saudi Prince reeks of self-interest. I predict Trump won't blame the Saudis even in the face of clear evidence -- he does that all the time anyway, witness his extramarital affairs, Obama birther theories, etc. At the same time he wont want to alienate Turkey dictator, his new pal, so in the end I see him blaming guess who? Yes, the victim of course, not around to say anything, and a mere journalist.
3
Here is the most astonishing thing to me. President Trump was willing to say in so many words that we didn't like that one of our allies murdered a journalist, but we couldn't use that as a reason to cancel our upcoming arms deal, because there was too much money involved. So that's where we've arrived—we'll do anything, no matter how immoral (tough to top killing people), if you give us enough money.
As outrageous as this seems it isn't that surprising, since it's absolutely consistent with so many of the President's policies. Maybe the best example, and one that is once again in front of us, is climate change, which is already killing thousands of people. Not only can we not do anything about it, we can't even acknowledge that it's a problem, and we must lie and pretend it isn’t happening. So the planet is doomed. Why? Because to address the problem would cost us some money. And even more amazingly, the real issue is who specifically it would hurt, our precious billionaires, who—gasp!—might be reduced to have to live on only $900 million or so!
So this is where our once-great country has sunk—our national ethics are those of a mafia hit-man. So much for "Make America great again." Sigh...
10
I am more optimistic about the future than I have ever been and it is Saudi Arabia that I thank for my optimism. The United States of America is not only my greatest hope as well as my greatest fear.
There is one word to describe the wherefore and why of my optimism and Saudi Arabia has finally laid bare the words we need to describe the rise of the right over the last 54 years and it is time to introduce the two word phrase into every political discussion.
The word is feign as in feign outrage and it has been part and parcel of right wing politics for well over half a century. From the feds imposing integration to suburban woman worried their sons will be falsely accused of rape to minorities casting illegal ballots the outrage on the right has been loud and hostile.
Our Foreign Minister spent most of her life as an economic journalist and two months ago she brought attention to the world that her friends and colleagues were being jailed, tortured and murdered by Saudi Arabia. The Saudi were outraged so much so that they broke off relations with Canada and expelled our ambassador and had their nationals leave Canada. I hit a low when The Guardian printed an article that said Canada stands alone.
Everyday more of the World understands feigned outrage is how the right has been combating the truth from civil rights to Nixon to Reagan to Clarence Thomas, to climate science to Kavanaugh and now to Saudi Arabia.
Maybe the world will learn that the outrage is feigned as in fake.
7
The Prince was there jailing and killing people as he was working on becoming the King even though he is still the Prince he is acting as if he is the leader, and no one is around to knock him off his Chair at the top. So one little reporter is just a fly to him. Even if to the rest of us that reporter is more. The Prince doesn't want his name tarnished, though the killing did tarnish it more than it was likely intended, Can't get away with things when you pick the wrong targets. Hardly anyone is yammering about Yemen When that should be top billing as well. But the USA is getting it's use of guns and butter in this case more guns than butter. Yemen is just the smallest wars that the USA wants to fight in the region, They want Iran to be pushed over toward their allies in SA. This isn't even getting started yet, as far as the Prince is concerned. Be aware that your gov'ts want IRAN to fall too.
3
Irrespective of one's political leanings ( Rep, Dem, Ind, other), this is an outrage. Rule of law, ethics, sound Western business practices all lead to one general response. This man ( MBS) and his country must be isolated, business dealings be suspended ( Yes to Richard Branson and others!!), and I will count on international Journalists to discover the real truth of what the Saudis did to this Journalist.
1
This latest atrocity by the Saudis simply puts what has been their MO for decades into very sharp focus. This is not "tarnish" on their reputation. Anyone who has a shred of concern for human rights the world over knows they have no more concern than the current administration in Washington. The president bears responsibility in some measure for this, given his campaign against any group he considers "other," and his comment that he could shoot a person on Fifth Avenue without losing stock with his base (sic.)
What the Saudi's want is a total dismemberment of U.S. political influence throughout the world and Trump is helping them intentionally or unintentionally - doesn't really matter, the result is the same.
1
This just may be Trump's worst nightmare (aside from Mueller's eventual conclusions). His Mideast policy of forcing Iran back to the negotiating table not only depends upon reissuing sanctions, but even more so upon building a coalition of Middle East heavyweights to counter Iran's ascendance. Saudi Arabia is the most important of them all, not only because of their religious moral authority in the Sunni realm, but more importantly, their impact and control on the flow of Mideast Oil. Even if American can be energy independent, the cost of oil will still skyrocket if the Saudi's embark upon another oil embargo, especially when Iranian oil will soon be banned.
The winners will be Russia and China, swooping in to supply the arms that the Saudis desire, and along with that, supplanting American influence.
The loser will be the Americans, as our petrodollar agreement with Saudi Arabia crumbles and they begin selling their oil, selectively, to China and others who stay neutral, using the new Petroyuan that China has been rolling out and using to conduct oil sales with Russia, Iran, Venezuela and others. Trump cannot afford to allow this to happen; if the petrodollar is replaced, our entire financial underpinning will unravel and the dollar will quickly lose world reserve status.
And I haven't even mentioned the threats of payback in the form of terrorism.
Let us hope the Prince finds a believable scapegoat to pin the blame upon.
@Preston
"And I haven't even mentioned the threats of payback in the form of terrorism. "
Hmmm. And Where did the 9/11 hijackers come from? Just asking.
2
How is this state-sponsored barbarity different than Putin’s dispatch of his thugs to England to assassinate a much disfavored former Russian spy, through the use of a dangerous nerve agent? Without the intervention of Congress to force a meaningful response from this coddling Administration, Saudi Arabia will, literally, get away with murder. I, for one, would like to know whether Trump and/or Kushner are conflicted with SA due to any private business interests, present or prospective.
11
Sensing lots of pro-Saudi comments and it is not surprising. Saudi is known to hire countless lobbyists, public relations and consulting firms. Moreover, Mossad has effective capability and reach of propaganda as well.
Khashiggi’s case strikes at the heart of America’s conscience built with the sacrifice of rivers of blood and mountains of treasure.
A twenty trillion dollar economy shall never sell its soul to the $110 billion dollar weapon transaction.
It is better to eat grass than support and prop a mass murderer individual and regime.
America owes it to thise who shed their blood for this value and principle. On which side of WWII do we want to be, pre or post? Saudi Arabia has presented us with this choice.
7
Kristof: "We need an international investigation...of what happened to Jamal...we also must investigate whether Saudis bought influence with spending that benefited the Trump family..."
Are you suggesting that Trump and his family members are venal? Think we all already know the answer to that one.
5
President Trump and our Congress cannot take action or pass any judgment because Prince Mohammed bin Salman is, under our system of law, innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, on the preponderance of the evidence, or according to Senator Collins' standard, "more likely than not". Surely, these allegations of murder are false because so many people have political motives to "ruin the life of a good man." President Trump and Congress must wait until a "thorough investigation" by our FBI and CIA, all confidential, of course, and within a scope limited by President Trump, is conducted and a confidential report issued to select members of Congress. They must find "credible" corroborating eye witnesses to the act, if it even occurred. People go missing all the time and turn up years later. Unless a body is found and can be identified, it is always possible that Mr. Khashoggi is still alive and hacking computers from a basement in New Jersey.
13
@abigail49
Oh MY ! Beautifully said.
Hopefully on Nov.6th we will be able to start moving towards truely "Making America Great Again" instead of making drumpf great.
VOTE !
5
If MBS is “”severely punished,” it certainly won’t be by our deeply compromised president. Whether Donald Trump is more in hock to MBS or to Prince Vlad is a toss-up at this point. What is clear is that he is depending on Saudi and Russian money to keep Trump and Kushner Inc. financially afloat, and he will plead that he’s protecting American jobs by not cancelling our arms sales to this murderous medieval theocracy.
If there is any justice for Mr. Khashoggi and his family, I think it will come from the other Saudi royals and high officials who have been on the receiving end of MBS’s displeasure and would have plenty of reasons to hate and fear the autocratic MBS. There must be plenty who would be more than happy to see him brought low. We’ll see.
4
While it looks to be almost certain that Jamal Khashoggi, was killed, I think that it's unlikely that MBS would have ordered the killing. The fallout from the killing is something that would have been quite predictable to MBS, so I don't think this is something that realistically would have been part of the plan.
Instead, I think the plan was to put pressure on Khashoggi, and in that process he may have ended up being killed. The people responsible for that may have tried to also hide this from their own superiors. We need to be aware that people like MBS who act in an autocratic way, can end up giving unrealistic orders to exert pressure on people, their subordinates will also fear their own leaders for being blamed for failure, so they'll not tell the truth about what happened.
1
Is it possible that one of the underlining reasons for the nature our current relationship with Saudi Arabia is that Kushner and Trump don't know what they are doing? Throw in apparent economic involvement between the two royal families and a dash of military hardware sales for extra measure, then let it simmer. Maybe we can send over some of our best private prison C.E.O.'s to help M.B.S. expand his prison population until Saudi Arabia becomes the worlds largest open air penitentiary.
4
_rump does not want to cut off weapon sales because he probably has invested in this (or his family has....)
So, MBS is probably aware of this and are sure there will be little or no action from the US.
This is a presidency of investors, by investors and for investors. No big surprise, really.
8
@RichardM Now that our President has declared USA as A Merchant of Arms, I wonder if Saudi Prince offers $500 Billion , or more, for purchasing Nuclear Bomb, would he agree to sell it to them? Looks like we are back to the dictum that for a developer, every thing, including an individual life, can be bought at some price.
2
"why expect a fuss for murdering a mere journalist?"
For Donald Trump, jobs are more important than" mere journalists", who cares about the journalists? Trump is not going to cut military aid to Saudi Arabia just to save a mere journalist, neither his electoral base would agree with that.
3
@Padman, it was the same attitude when hundreds of thousands of Iraqis were dying, over there, being bombed by American missiles. Cuz they were Iraqis, who cares?! Now the Yemenis are dying and the Syrians, likely from US manufactured weapons. Who cares? The military industry complex "generates jobs", that is all that Trump and all our lawmakers care.
4
Thank you, Mr Kristof, for finally mentioning the Saudi treatment of women. I don't mean to diminish what has happened to the journalist, but, at last, it's good to read someone has brought up what the prince has allowed SA
to do to women as he "modernizes" his country. I long for the day when its women's lives become as important as its money.
11
Khashoggi apparently paid the price of being an irritant to MBS. Trump, through his admiration for autocrats, implicitly gave MBS the green light. The US now stands as a nation that puts dollars above all else. We should not be surprised. Donald Trump has lived his life according to that standard. Sadness for the Khashoggi family. No one will ever think entering a diplomatic mission for a service will be safe again. I used to be an American diplomat. I fear what precedent this may set for the use of diplomatic facilities.
19
Why was the NYT, and any other news group, participating in this sort of meeting in the first place? I sure seems like a cozy relationship between power brokers, the wealthy investment class, and the media 'elite' - said sarcastically, when the media should be watching and investigating these groups.
3
@Big tuna So staying out of shindigs like this, and Davos, will help journalists watch & investigate?
2
So, I invest in Saudi Arabia and when the profit numbers come in and don't look good, what would happen if I criticize the performance of the Saudi portfolio?
It is no coincidence that Saudi kingdom killed a journalist that too in a foreign country under Trump watch. They know Trump will look away as long as they keep feeding him the money. His base could care less as long as Trump tells them he will make America great again whatever that means. He has clearly stayed this will not affect the $110 B military deal with them. Why should they care when the so called leader of the free world is on their side.
Imagine Russia doing the same thing. Entire Congress would be in uproar. But these are Saudis, our friends who sent 9 guys to destroy World Trade Center
16
I don't think Trump and Kushner were "played". They love working with the Russian mob and the Muslim theocracy in Saudi Arabia.
As far back as Jimmy Carter, the US has known it would be best for the world if we got off our Saudi oil dependence. Americans prefer to pretend we are rich and resources are endless.
11
Saudia Arabia is every bit as much of a threat to the Middle East as Iran. Trump and Kushner have been extremely successful at enabling Mohammed bin Salman's inner tyrant. bin Salman made some very superficial reforms and then proceeded to arrest, torture, kill, and steal the holdings of
anyone in his way.
All of the scandals and drama in the Trump White House have provided excellent cover for Trump and Kushner's values-free foreign policy with the Crown Prince. Lebanon? The bombing and starvation of Yemen? Not only have we not reacted to what is going on in Yemen, we're supplying the weapons and equipment.
Demonstrate for Khashoggi and the freedom and necessity of the press. Ban all arms sales to Saudi Arabia and boycott that Davos in the Desert conference.
17
Just another bit of proof why the United States is erring in choosing to back Saudi Arabia instead of Iran in the great Middle Eastern rivalry scheme.
The Americans seem to suffer from selective memory : the terrorist attacks of 2001 were orchestrated by Saudis, NOT Iraq nor Iran ! Unfortunately many more innocent lives will get snuffed out as long as Washington continues to play this irrational game of very short term gains with guaranteed long term losses....
8
@AE
Right-
and America is forced to play the game so long as it is personally profitable for 45 and Snidely Doolittle, his ever predatory son-in -law.
MBS is making them rich, their favorite position. End of story. No diplomacy, no higher consciousness for the good of humanity.
This very point is what we mean by saying we’re being dragged through the mud by this admin. Gutting the very heart of our country.
Supporting tyrants.
3
We should never forget what a great ally Saudi Arabia has been and keep rewarding them:
“They stuck it to us with their oil embargo in 1973. They thumbed their noses at President George W. Bush in 2008 when he appealed to them to bring down prices. They brazenly pumped up oil production in 2015 to make prices fall, keep market share and undermine U.S. shale-oil development.”
The United States needs green energy independence from the Saudi thugs and not an $18B per year annual oil tab which has given them the ability to whipsaw our economy. Oh, and don’t forget, almost all of the 9/11 high jackers were Saudi.
If ARAMCO ever makes it to the NYSE, the joke will truly be on us.
33
@Fabienne Caneaux You forgot to add that Osama Bin Laden was a Saudi, and Saudis funded Islamist Jihadis. We armed these Jihadis to the hilt, to help us drive Soviets out of Afghanistan. That was President Reagan’s brain child! We used OBL’s army of jihadis, funded by Saudis, against Russians, and they transformed into Al Qaida, which became a big monster of 9/11 tragedy. That led to Afghanistan and then Iraq invasion, courtesy of President Bush, leading to loss of millions of lives and trillions of $ investment. However, our national psyche has no memory, and we keep on repeating the tragedy. Of course, it does produce big Profits for armament industry! Money Rules!
3
The US administration lets persons abroad, whom it considers enemies, kill by drones (or otherwise). Just remember the killing of Osama bin Laden whithout due process. (I am sure they would also execute Edward Snowden, if they got him.)
And it is reported that the CIA attempted to kill Fidel Castro in the sixties.
So the US adminstration is not morally superior to Saudi Arabia. The current outrage over Saudi Arabia is therefore kind of hypocritical.
2
@Carsten Neumann
Hardly.
This is not about anyone‘s moral superiority.
It’s about individual lives.
Many in this world are already
citizens w/o borders.
What comes to one comes to us all.
Scorecards-childish and ineffective.
Each life truly does matter.
I spent a season in Snide.
Only increased the pain.
Takes courage to step in.
We must gather that within our self,
one by one.
2
There are too many “ ifs” regarding this still alleged crime, if one really took place. This Mr. Khashoggi fellow hates the prince and yet he naively walks into the Saudi consulate regarding a paperwork matter? So his mysterious disappearance, of his own doing it appears, calls for a major foreign policy disengagement with that “ friendly” regime, you demand? No, the President is right to tread lightly regards this mystery. Don’t forget the journalist was/is a curious supporter of another vicious dictator in Mr. Erdogen!
2
Please tell your colleague Tom that MBS would like to offer a full explanation in a personal interview in Riyadh. To demonstrate his earnestness, MBS is sending Tom a first class on Saudia. Its one way, but not to worry, return arrangements will be detailed after the appointment.
8
Elliot Abrams via the Washington Post: "MBS can repair some of the damage (though obviously not to Khashoggi’s loved ones) if he can bring himself to realize the error that has been committed. Saudi Arabia is and will remain for a very long time an absolute monarchy. What the crown prince must grasp is that his entire modernization program, indeed every defense of his own personal power, is undermined by what all the evidence suggests was a carefully planned murder. Jamal Khashoggi lost control of his fate when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Mohammed bin Salman must act quickly to regain control of his own."
In other words, just say your sorry.
@zenartisan So Eliot Abrams is saying the penalty for MBS authorizing the savage torture, murder and dis-memberment of a legal US resident and journalist working for a US based company is simply to say "sorry"?
What kind of world would we be living in if that was the penalty for capital crimes for everyone?
4
@zenartisan
Better yet, •be• sorry. To rule a Kingdom, to say you’re interested in modernization, takes more than buying arms, increasing driving permits. It calls for SA to actually come from the shadows of the forbidding, oppressive regime of murder, asassinations, subtrafuge, dirty deals (w/the likes of Kushner and tRump-the original parasite and sycophant team) and enter into life in 2018 focused on the sorely abused people of SA. He could be creating a great wave of relief, instead of fear.
MBS could choose. Nothing is stopping him from that choice. Imagine his millions of people, well fed, out from under abuse and oppression.
I can.
There are ways to inflict retribution that do not involve hurting ourselves.
$120B in contracts would pay an $80k annual salary to 500k American workers for 3 years.
Better instead to force them to buy $80B more. Tax their wallets in a meaningful magnitude. Make them pay in tens of billions.
2
So, if they pay enough money, the Saudis can murder with impunity?
4
@Captain Obvious
Sorry, I'm missing the point.
Could you help someone to see the "obvious?"
3
But you must remember, Trump accepts emoluments from this Prince. Bin Salman leases an entire floor at the Trump International Plaza in Washington DC, and the Saudi government leases more. I assume the Prince and his government also lease floors of other Trump properties.
39
Problem: you need a body to make this case, so it might be smart to get Turkey's explanation before you rush to hypotheticals. Your conclusion assumes that the Magnitsky Act itself was well informed, just as you fail to explain how an "international investigation," the Common Law, and our Constitution must be hidden behind those bars where Magnitsky disappeared, according to Browder. Get a clue before you decide on the right emotions for this story. We can wait for Turkey's proof, at least until we can clarify the object of a kidnapping plotted by the victim of violation of Carter Page's rights under a FISA Warrant. Remember? Before you speculate on Flynn's sentencing, you ought to tell us more about the politics between the Washington Post and the control over Congressional committees. How much of this money Donald hates to jeopardize as he pulls the saber out of his dancing was headed for the NRA? How do we control Jared's rent at the UN?
@Bruce Mincks
Sorry,
I recognize all the words as being English but the sentence structure isn't.
Either the transmission got garbled or your training wasn't complete.
8-(
4
If the video and audio footage the Turkish authorities claim to have of the murder isnt released you can be sure that Saudi Arabia has bought off the Turkish authorities.
Saudi Arabia is a far more dangerous country than Iran and the West knows it- authoritarian, and a hotbed of religious extremism, acting with impunity (anyone remember 9-11) and the resources to buy off its friends. Proof positive that money and power are more important than security and integrity...
16
Really. No comment on Trumps frequent reference to the media as "enemies of the people." Trump has actively promoted violence against his opponents and demonized the press.
Really. That isn't worth mentioning.
8
Trump enables despots everywhere to carry out whatever means necessary to rid themselves of critics. I've no doubt Trump would do the same, if he could. He is cut from the same cloth as M.B.S. We all know it, we're just not supposed to say it.
28
Yep, this all started under Trump. Saudi Arabia and Russia were paradigms of great nations Unser Barack Obama, right? They only started human right violations when Trump became president, correct?
1
Oh, that humanity could win over profit; then America will truly be great again. What a mess we have created for generations to come.
5
We love Kim Jong Un, who assassinated his half brother with VX in Malaysia; we praise Putin, who sent hit squads to kill dissidents and passers by with Novichuk and who condones the murder of journalists in his own country; we openly admire Duterte, who has promoted thousands of extrajudicial murders. We are ignoring egregious brutality in the Saudis treatment of their own citizens and of their neighbors. We have looked blindly at their Wahibism, which was the fire that exploded on 9/11. We will not punish the Saudis in any serious way over the assassination Jamal Kashoggi. We are accomplices in spirit and enablers, if not in direct participation.
12
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has caused lots of pain and destruction around the world, 9/11 being one of them. Yet, US with all proclamation and preaching of universal human rights, democracy, and rule of law keeps supporting and protecting one of the most brazen, effective, widespread violators of these values.
If the perpetrators of the killing of Khashoggi is not punished, then this means the end of protection for future dissidents, journalists and critics. This means all governments have free reign.
All this made possible by the silence of US administration and Congress?
Welcome back to pre-WWII.
24
@Kabir Faryad
Because personal gain and cowardice are two of 45’s hallmark characteristics, I doubt he will step back from his position, in reality.
He’ll huff and puff some, make noises, but he’s deep, deep in MBS’ pocket.
And he’s nothing if not a hotel-keep who likes the rooms full, or at least paid for each night.
We need a real president with the strength of character to call atrocities for what they are. Election Day is soon; some exceedingly good people are on the ballots. We, too, are presented with a choice. We must have better than a leech in the WH. Then, and only then, can the U. S. be expected to participate as it is meant to.
These boys in men’s clothing are ignorant, refuse to learn, and only want to rob the candy store on an international level.
It’s horrifying, repulsive to see what 45 is willing to put his hand to, just for $$$. Just for power. Living in my country, wondering why it feels so empty. 45 has attempted to loot every moral principle, sap our resources, and leverage our future. Of course he more than supports MBS. He loves tyrants; learns from them. Emulates them.
November is nearly here.
4
I love all these armchair nation leaders jumping in to comment because they have no skin in the game. Yeah, if there's proof enough, America (and the Trump Administration) will take action. But even Pres. Obama wouldn't jump to sanction Saudi Arabia until he was sure the government had indeed killed one of their nation's journalists.
1
This is the world run by the Military Industrial Complex. It's only one murder/dismemberment.
The MIC deals in dozens....this is way less than a hiccup.
5
The story of oil and money and politics isn't confined to Saudi Arabia. The entire world seems rapt by the lifestyles of the rich and famous. What else explains the Trumps or the Kardashians?
It was okay when the Kennedys occupied the White House. They came with a moral compass that wavered but corrected its course in the main.
Today's corrupt leaders are blatant pirates who can get away with almost anything.
We're still looking for the limits.
8
Yes Saudi Arabia does bad things, very bad things. But Iran is a much greater threat to world peace. Maybe Saudi killed the journalist if you trust Turkey to tell the truth. We don't know. But Assad and Iran have been killing thousands. So why the outrage over just Khashoggi?
It is clear that the reason for the media outrage is that Khashoggi is a journalist and the life of a journalist is worth many more times to the media than the life of anyone else, even thousands of Syrians. The fact that Saudi is an ally of a President that the media has been attacking from day 1 makes the media outrage more understandable and less defensible. The media cannot be both independent and protect its own members at the expense of huge numbers of victims throughout the world.
1
As I'm sure has already been pointed out, but it can't be said enough: all but 4 of the hijackers on 9-11 were from Saudi Arabia.
And yet the US power elite has been so enthralled by the Saudi wealth and oil that Bush invaded and occupied Iraq, not the country that helped mastermind a horrific attack on the US. Indeed, that business went on as usual.
According to Richard Engel, Jamal Khashoggi recorded his own death on his Apple watch, so there should be no question about what happened to him.
And yet Trump would rather bask in all those golden Saudi interiors, weapons sales, and real estate "investments," than do what is right not only for journalists risking their lives around the world, but for all of us who care about human rights.
18
Apparently he thought he was too well known in the west to be hit. Otherwise why take the risk. The operation was so brazen yet ham handed but also rather pointless since the uproar creates threats to his rule greater than a few mildly critical opposition op-eds. It seems a strange thing to have bothered with. Much of the reaction here seems to assume US Saudi relations began in 2017 when Trump took office which, to put it mildly, is rather disingenuous. Since the 1930s, when diplomatic relations were established, over and over again we have tolerated this type of thing and worse for economic and national security reasons. I don't see us breaking that pattern.
11
A careful scrutiny is required for the highest positions in the governments including the mental health of the incumbent whether he is nominated as a crown prince or as a lifetime judge to the highest court of the Nation.
16
Let's remember that it was President Obama who joined the Saudis in their invasion of Yemen. With Trump it's less about policy and more about money (surprise!) not just the $110 billion in arms sales, but his personal business ties with Saudi princes who've bought millions of dollars of his properties (yes, that ugly "emoluments clause," again). Nevertheless, the murder of a dissent journalist who, at the time was a U.S. resident with a green card employed by The Washington Post, rivals that of Russia's attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in England earlier this year. That event led to international condemnation, even from a reluctant Donald Trump. Now, Trump says, "It's [ Mr. Khashoggi] not a U.S. citizen." The attempt to brush this aside as amoral and heartless as it is will be more difficult given that U.S. intelligence was aware that the Saudis were seeking to "detain" Mr. Khashoggi and for some reason did not or were not allowed to advise him under their mandate of a "duty to warn" all U.S. residents when their lives are in danger. A murder was committed and the U.S. may have been able to prevent it. This is much more serious than even the Skripal affair. Hopefully, the Turks will share their audio and video tapes with The Washington Post or the International Criminal Court.
19
@Paul Wortman The State Department is in real control. Trump is ok with that as long as he gets his hands on the loot.
1
“ He’s not a citizen, is he?” Huh? What the hell does that have to do with the murder of a legal green card resident of the United States working as an employee with the Washington Post? Trump looking for a way to forgive MBS and the Saudi government? If they vigorously deny it, well that’s seems to be good enough for our President. Example: Ray Moore, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump.
9
America's national security interests would be much better served by:
.
1. ending the 1944 USS Quincy Agreement,
.
2. ending America's dependence on fossil fuels.
.
Imagine if even 10% of America's defense budget since the first OPEC oil crisis had been put into ending America's dependence on fossil fuels.
.
Would America now have a problem with international terrorism?
.
Would the World Trade Center ever have been attacked?
.
Think of it this way:
Every dollar spent on electrified public transit is $10 that doesn't have to be spent on defense.
5
Wake up! The goal compass is long gone. NOTHING is going to happen because the average citizen in the west does not care any more. Watch how this whole affair is quietly handled behind the scenes with each party getting its pound of flesh!
3
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi gave his life for his country; and the increasing evidence of his brazen, grisly murder - at the hands of the head of state - is rightly and chillingly told by Mr. Kristof.
It seems likely that the young prince of the House of Saud will manage to avoid the full measure of justice and prison that he deserves; but maybe, just maybe, he will be removed as head of state, if the international community keeps its nerve, refuses to conduct "business as usual" and stays the course of near universal condemnation.
That said, I can't help but think of Anna Politkovskaya and Natalya Estemirova. Their murders are believed to have been ordered by a much more cunning and murderous head of state.
How strange it is that Donald Trump and his Son-in-law have bent over backwards to defend both both of these men.
Would they have done so if the Russians and the Saudis were not such good customers of Trump's real estate offerings and hotels?
No.
29
No worries for the Saudis. Trump wants to do the same to journalists in the US and will be using them as a model for making that happen. Watch for US journalists (except for those on Fox) to start being killed under mysterious circumstances soon. Trump and the Saudis are in complete alignment here.
Mr. Kristof, please be careful and watch your back.
5
A well done piece. I do think it's important to realize that our president doesn't read and his Grand Vizier Bolton, doesn't care.
8
When it comes to Saudi Arabia’s incestuous relationship with the United States Trump and his son in law are not outliers. Our long storied history with the kingdom is replete with the kind of influence peddling and financial corruption that only great wealth can buy. From the post world war years to the Trump presidency administrations of both parties have been complicit in the growth of the Saudi’s brand of radical Islam and all the extremism and violence it has produced. Even now as the kingdom is complicit in humanitarian disasters and stokes regional conflict American financiers salivate at the opportunities Saudi wealth presents. Don’t expect the murder of one journalist to derail the oil gravy train, neither Trump nor the rest of the financial / political elite would have it so.
29
If it hasn't been obvious from his prior fraudulent bankrupt behavior , Trump and friends would sell this country down the drain to make a buck, regardless of how many bodies they step over. Trump's policies are killing and starving millions of people in the Middle East, what's one more body?
10
Trump's and Kushner's eyes are always on THEIR bottom line. More money in their pockets, paying little in taxes and still wanting more tax cuts. Human rights???? Really??? That is not how they roll especially if someone has a funny sounding name and is not a citizen.
5
How often now have we heard that Trump knows exactly what he is doing? How often have we witnessed his Congress and most rabid supporters kow-tow to this cruel disgrace of a being and encourage him on?
Mr. Kristof, I am going to go out on a limb here, but I will say it anyway: Trump is guilty by association through his silence and inaction, by his greed and lust for the Golden Calf. In other words, he is an accomplice to an alleged assassination if he continues to defend the indefensible. So is his son-in-law Jared Kushener, another entitled crook, another bad hombre.
However, it does not end just with a Middle East nation known for its oppression, suppression, and thuggery. No, this so-called president’s path of destruction is right at our southern borders. How many families...parents and children...has he thrown to the wolves in the name of racism and bigotry, his own as well as his base’s? How far have we sunk as a nation in our refusal to rein in a most amoral man?
11
You write, “We need an international investigation, perhaps overseen by the United Nations, of what happened to Jamal.”
No we don’t. What do we do if Khashsoggi was murdered? You may just chalk this up as one more example of an authoritarian Islamic regime. Then what? Are we going to send the Marines to Saudi Arabia for a regime change? And, extend their tour to Turkey, Iran, Indonesia, Jordan, Yemen, Syria or the granddaddy of all evil, Pakistan?
During the last two years, for the first time in recent history, a US President has successfully used strong and direct rhetoric to tame some of the rogue regimes from Pyongyang to Istanbul. To go after Saudis on an errand reporter is wrong and unnecessary. Trump should stay away from helping a reporter and that too a Washington Post opinion writer. He knows better.
We don't have a dog in this fight. Perhaps, US journalists should wake up and smell the camel’s milk to realize that their anarchist vitriol and institutional negativity have consequences outside the American borders.
2
@Appu Nair
Well, I guess the President's "strong and direct rhetoric", as you stated above, has successfully neutered your desire for life, liberty, and human rights including free speech. MAGA.
1
You think Turkey is BETTER now than when Trump took office? You think the DPRK isn’t building more nukes and ballistic missiles?
My goodness. That’s remarkable.
1
"Frankly, it’s a disgrace that Trump administration officials and American business tycoons enabled and applauded M.B.S. as he imprisoned business executives, kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister, rashly created a crisis with Qatar, and went to war in Yemen to create what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis there."
Isn't it also a disgrace that until this past Friday, *your* employer was offering a luxurious $12,000 per person tour of Saudi Arabia?
15
@badubois
Until this past Friday. Not then and thereafter.
1
One of these things is not like the other, but thanks for the frontiers of Whataboutism.
Saudi Arabia unlike Iran has been a long time "frend" in the middle east. Saudi Arabia beheads for capital punishment. crucifixion, forced paralysis, stoning, eye gauging, and flogging. The country is absolute monarchy totalitarian and the monarch can execute and kill at will. Such is our ally in the middle east. Iran, Saudi Arabia's rival authoritarian to be sure but compared to Saudi Arabia in the running as the worlds most totalitarian regime is a liberal democracy. We have no trouble selling the Saudi's Army while refilling their Jets while they bomb innocents in Yemen. If this one of many Saudi Slaughters makes a difference in our alliance it would be great. I am not optimistic
16
Given what Trump says about the press here, why should anyone expect him to care about a journalist from Saudi Arabia? If anything, he respects MBS as a strong leader who won’t allow disrespect.
Trump and those around him envy MBS for what he can get away with, just as they envy Putin. It’s only a matter of time before Trump gets to the point where he or someone around decides to send a similar message - if it hasn’t already happened.
We are, after all, the country that used “extraordinary rendition “ and torture after 911. We invaded a country that hadn’t attacked us.
We are the country that is ripping children away from their parents and putting them in cages.
Sanctimony is practically the state religion these days. It can happen here. It is happening here. If things don’t start turning around in November...
18
Establishing dominance over his most wealthy movers and shakers, and now making an open show of sadistic murder - an effective public execution with thin deniability - perfectly parallels the Putin procedural playbook. Also the head games played on us. Some serious plan may be afoot. Raising the price of energy? War on Israel? Torpedo our economy? If Putin's plan, it will include clean hands, straight faces, and pseudo- sympathy. This M.O. metastasizing is as serious and dangerous as can be. Hot big war would not be their best option. Maybe Putin just wants to leverage threats to the world economy or to general stability. Maybe he is trying to assemble a new union of satellite states. A retro plan for a retro man. You are so right that this is no minor matter. You nailed it.
7
This is exhibit A for why no elected official should be permitted to hold the lease on the old post office building where Trump has installed his garish bribe laundromat disguised as a hotel. It is also a demonstration of why a real President, as opposed to an authoritarianusurper, would put his businesses in a REAL blind trust.
11
A moderately literate person with a bit of time on their hands could have been assured throughout his brief dominance of KSA politics that MBS was an incompetent and erratic leader, a despot and a crook. Folk who wanted to listen and who had access to intelligence and true experts (not fascinated talking heads) would have known far more.
So there was no room for 'playing' foreign governments here--not really.
Attracted by KSA's mix of big money, moderate military power and deep vulnerabilities, governments instead lusted after a bigger piece of the pie and more influence in the Kingdom. MBS's PR campaign of 'reform' played right into these foreign interests, and gave them ideological cover against charges of KSA corruption, despotism and military adventurism.
12
It is always interesting to see the morality police in this country come out when another country uses violence in furtherance of their interests. I don’t agree that any royals (outside of The Game of Thrones) should be murdering their opponents. I just find it amusing that a country like ours with drones blowing up people on a regular basis would try to hold the high ground on this topic.
4
The decent countries of the world need to sanction the Crown Prince and his American collaborators, Trump and Kushner immediately, if an investigation proves what everyone with any sense knows is true.
That is the only way to get their attention. Hit them in the pocketbook and freeze their offshore assets.
Then, things may begin to change
9
Trump does not are about anything but his own assets.
4
"Trump has ... said that he and King Salman 'know exactly what they are doing'." It's hard to argue with that.
MBS and the terrorist apparatus of state security that he controls moved deliberately, decisively and swiftly to commit an egregious crime against humanity and international diplomacy.
President Trump has repeatedly made clear the expendability of a responsible, independent press. His past words suggest applause for the dispatch of a journalist and innocent man whose greatest crime, apparently, was to do his job.
Trump is accessory to this outrage.
4
I don't think that the arms sales should necessarily be embargoed....provided that the 16 members of the hit team, the Crown Prince and anyone else (Turkish Embassy/Consolate) are subject to the justice that Saudi Arabia would have for any common person that commits pre-meditated murder. The country has the death penalty - I can't think of a more appropriate action for such a crime.
3
Its a bit too late no? Nicholas, you are paying attention only because it is a reporter who was murdered. What about the fact that George W Bush Junior and his administration fooled the entire world and literally murdered hundreds and thousands of Iraqis and Afghans, in the name of spreading democracy? Why didn't anyone say anything then. Basically an American President can get away with murder, by doing it in broad daylight, in front of the entire world, and never ever be held accountable for it. Go, see Iraq with your own eyes, or Syria, or Yemen and trace it (the murders the destructions the decimation) back to America. We the Americans have been responsible for the deaths and wiping out of ancient civilizations, either directly or indirectly. The entire Afghan mess was because of proxy wars being played out between America and Soviet Union, the creation of Osama bin Laden, the mujahideens, the Talibans....every single of those acts can be traced back to America's role in it. We were not the "good" guys because good guys don't murder innocent people, sell deadly weapons to murderers. Go to Yemen trace back all the weapons being used by Saudis to America. We are not killing Yemenis, but we are selling weapons to Saudi to kill them. You will never get it, Nicholas. No amount of your sympathizing with women's causes, writing books about women, empowering women, work because at the core of it all, you do not understand the cruelty behind America's soul less actions.
2
Correct, and don't forget the Bush tribe has been involved with Saudi oil since Prescott Bush, at least. This is the foundation of the Bush money. They are just better at hiding it, just like they hid their entanglements with Nazi industrialists during WWII.
3
Nick Kristof, your courage in writing this piece is commendable. The corruption of this U.S. president is in perfect alignment with the Mad Prince and his House of Saud.
It is shameful that the International Community is not standing firm against the medieval horrors of this rogue state, and that American interests are even considering participation in its conference.
Any American business that sponsors or attends must be outed so that it can be boycotted and blackballed.
5
@Pauline Notice: Mnuchin is there. So much for U.S. standing up for what is right.
1
"Frankly, it’s a disgrace that Trump administration officials and American business tycoons enabled and applauded M.B.S. as he imprisoned business executives, kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister, rashly created a crisis with Qatar......".
Yes but should not be surprising. Most Americans and those of us who have watched Trump's turbulent career over the past 35 yrs had no delusions about Trump morphing into a civilized, presidential person. He hasn't disappointed.
5
Mafia tactics in a mafia run world where the people, journalists included, have to go along with the wishes of the Don.
Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are the most prominent examples. What worries me most is that the US is redrawing the line between autocracy and democracy. And it is getting to be a very thin line.
11
And it is shameful that we have not assigned ambassadors to middle east countries. Sounds like we don't want to know what is going on in them.
Remember the old joke about a guy offering a gal a sum for her favors? She recoils at how stingy his offer is, asking what kind of girl he thinks she is? We know what kind of girl you are, he replies, now we're just bargaining about the price.
Apparently the price for the USA is $110 B, give or take. Good to have that established.
Harriet
6
So much to dislike about the Saudi's. Please explain again why Iran is the big boogeyman?
21
This was the best Saudia Arabia could come up with for a plan to take someone out ?
Sheesh !
5
This group of politicians is a business masquerading as an administration.
25
The murder if it happened in the embassy, was not only done on "foreign soil" of Saudi Arabia. If the body was carried over Turkish soil to the airport, the murder conspiracy also violated Turkish law.
5
@Alan Klein
In the 19th century some of the most powerful nations proclaimed that their embassies were their soil, but did
not always accord reciprocal status. Britain occupied whole areas of China and proclaimed itself sovereign over them. Today that is nowhere the case. In particular, the Saudi embassy is on Turkish soil and Turkey has jurisdiction over murders there.
1
To what extent are there financial conflicts of interest between Trump and Kushner and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
2
MBS was ALWAYS just another sheikh.
He is repressive and dangerous and when he came here with his planeload of ALL MEN to pretend he was changing Saudi Arabia it was a joke. A cruel joke and some people were dumb enough to buy into it.
Beneath the robes, beneath the headband, he still oppresses women, bombs Yemen, flips out when he's questioned and spends billions on fun and games.
No freedoms in his country. No freedom of religion or press or speech. Locks women up who dare to speak out. God knows what those poor women in Saudi prisons go through.
And we're doing business with this medieval man? With this male who belongs in the 15th century? Who will even wear a robe in our modern day world?
No, he hasn't changed. He's a sheikh like all the others. MBS is simply a new and pretty advertising campaign.
I am sorry for your friend, Mr. Kristof. I truly am.
Keep speaking out. Honor your friend.
5
The Prince could come visit the White House and never come out. Trump can lie about that kind of stuff. Seriously though, so what if the Saudi's buy the arms from Russia or China? Our economy shouldn't be thriving on arms used to kill innocent Yemeni's . And we should be developing other sources of energy, I thought we were close to oil independence. Our relationship to Saudi Arabia and their Prince of Evil needs to end. Perhaps it will be our own dear Prince Bully who can bring him down. Isn't that the kind of challenge he enjoys?
31
After the cruel murder of Mr. Kashogi, Mr. Trump said he would sell the weapons to the Saudis. Allegedly, if he doesn’t somebody else will do it.
We cannot have the president who does what the other bad people would do.
We must be able to make distinction between right and wrong. What about selling the drugs to the kids? What about the ethnic cleansing, the mass murders, the useless wars, the reckless spending…
The president who “revived” the economy by breaking the piggy bank and stealing the kid’s money for his own launch is incapable of adhering to the basic social morality.
Every fool in this world can temporary push a pedal to the metal and speed up the economy.
The true leaders are those capable of balancing the budgets, paying off the national debt and acting like then grown ups.
3
One can only speculate about the fine print regarding Trump's and Kushner's financial relationship with the Saudi's. But I am sure that Trump will do his best to deflect any issue with the Kingdom until some other news bomb pushes this horrific story off the front page.
9
Trump dances with the Saudis and thumbs his nose at Congress. And the rallies go on.
29
Erdogan had his security guards rough up protestors in DC while he was in town hosted by Trump. So the Saudis saw the coast clear for something more daring and pulled off one of their signature torture-murder combos on an “enemy of the people”. MSB and the Trump-Kusher Mob are ‘besties’. The Saudis get their motivation from
Trump, thought he would be pleased, but it’s akward.
G W Bush should have stopped holding hands with Saudi Arabia when their citizens hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Towers in NYC.
What kind of a country raises children to hijack airplanes and fly them into buildings full of people?
One that finally gets around to
‘allowing’ women to drive?
The country is the largest welfare state in the world. Republicans are against entitlements, so where does that fit on the GOP platform?
No where. Trump is on the Saudi dirty money gravy train washed through the Trump hotel empire. Trump has no plan to stop the proxi war with Yemen where the US is killing thousands of children and impovering future generations.
Children are jailed on the US Border.
The GOP is waging a war on Children.
Trump Jobs created by the flow of weapons to Saudi Arabia show his preference that Yemeni children are killed by American weapons made by Americans, not bRussians not the Chinese.
Citizens have no control over
foreign policy, but consumers can stop ‘Davos in the Desert’ this week. Every participant is supporting this ruthless regime and that includes us.
3
Sir, you are very respected for your Work. Perhaps you have overseas friends/colleagues that could give YOU more information/even recordings. WE, as Americans, need to know the TRUTH. NOT alternative facts. Thank you.
6
@Phyliss Dalmatian, the media is complicit. They manipulate what the public should or should not know. They put words in our brains so we can think those thoughts they want us to think. Good bad propaganda is all the business the media is in. That's why Trump has been able to exploit the media to the fullest by being in every news, newspaper, radio, TV, all the time. He is using the media to penetrate our brains. One man, one President cannot be made to be so powerful that the media obsesses about Trump and Trump alone.
2
If journalist Khashoggi was murdered by the Saudi regime, the path was opened by the Saudi-friendly President of the United States and his grossly repeated claim that the press is "the enemy of the people."
While many note that the phrase was used by Stalin, Hitler and others, we must not forget that years before those brutal dictators came on stage, playwright Ibsen wrote "An Enemy of the People," a drama in which the title character is the good guy, the person who tells truth to power. Arthur Miller wrote a version during the McCarthy era, a time similar to the present where truth was overrun by fear-mongering political ambition.
Today dedicated journalists like Jamal Khashoggi are still telling truth to power, are denounced by many in power around the world and often suffer terribly for their heroism.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
2
I applaud Justin Trudeau for taking a stand against MBS.
Trump, as usual, has relations with the worst bedfellows: MBS , Duterte, Kim-Jon-il, Erdogan, Bibi, etc.
39
The saga of Jamal Khashoggi might be the catalyst revealing the moral depravity at the highest levels of this administration. This tragic story might succeed where previous exposes of Trumps marital infidelity, racist tendencies, corrupt business practices failed to move the needle. This cannot be overlooked, it's way to big to fail.
9
The Saudi rulers are the worst enemy of the Muslim world and the faith. The Kingdom has distorted the meaning of the Quran. Whatever you think to be prescribed by the Holy Book actually isn’t.
The Book is eternal and universal. To meet those objectives, it was stripped of unnecessary details in order to serve the entire world. We don’t know in what shape God’s words where transferred to His Prophet. We just know that He transferred them to the people around him in the language they could understand. It was done by sounds, so no human alphabet should be construed as official language of the faith.
All the lack of cultural specifics, details and dogmas was by design so it wouldn’t become anachronous by the passage of centuries.
Those who added a bunch of details to the Holy Book have actually mixed the human culture, customs and dogmas with it.
During the life of Prophet no such contamination and distortion happened. The Hadtihs were created afterwards.
During Mohammed’s life there were no Sunnis, no Shiites and no schism. It was created later by the ancient tribes in the fight for earthly power.
Compared to the endless wars, ethnic cleansing and the dozens millions of victims over the last 14 centuries, the killing of a single journalist is truly just a drop in the ocean.
If the prince understood the faith, he wouldn’t end the human lives due to his ego, hubris and conceit.
If the Turkish claim of premeditated murder of Jamal Khashoggi turns out to be true then this is a glaring example of an act of terrorism by a state.
World community and the UN must contemplate suitable actions to stop such gross and blatant human rights violations by states.
And what about Mr. Meng Hongwei, the missing head of Interpol.
4
Chaos, murder, violence , fear and corruption all play to Donald Trumps strengths.
Civil society lost one of its warriors in the consulate in Turkey as the slope toward autocracy steepens.
7
I am embarrassed and ashamed of the American President who refuses to represent the ideals that truly did give America greatness - democracy, the rule of law, and liberty for all. The fact that we cannot unequivocally condemn the torture and murder of a journalist because we are making money by selling weapons to the murderer is sickening.
7
Trump is a risk taker. He bet on a worldwide resurgence of despotic rule and decided to join that team. Whether Putin, Xi, Duterte, Erdogan or MSB, or others too numerous to name or remember at this moment, none is too despotic, oppressive, cruel, or kleptocratic for Trump’s dance list. They are whom he admires, whom he wishes to emulate, and whom he expects to lead him to greater riches and fame. Trump always craved being accepted by the rich and power and has never been constrained by conscience or morality. Only winning counts.
That 42% of the electorate continues to approve his performance reflects either a condemnation of American education’s failure to teach basic civics or a victory for neo-fascism that has long been the object of the ultra-wealthy faction of the Republican Party. Perhaps it is both.
35
@M.i. Estner...Does American education's failure to teach basic civics account for 58% of the electorate not realizing that American Presidents have been elected by the Electoral College since 1789? That the USA is a republic and not a democracy? That a plurality is not a majority? Besides, who is responsible for American Education not teaching civics? The same tribe that deplores The Pledge of Allegiance?
Would hope JP Morgan investors would jump ship if Dimon goes to the conference !
13
@Brendan Burke
He's hoping to jumpstart his presidential campaign by going to Riyadh.
2
@Brendan Burke And Chase customers cut up their Chase credit cards and send the pieces to Mr Dimon.
1
It must be cathartic to vent your outrage over the murder of your friend, Jamal Khashoggi, Mr. Kristof, but surely you realize that the U.S. under Trump will do absolutely nothing to punish the Saudis.
As you pointed out, if the slaughter of innocents in Yemen doesn't move the government, the murder of an "enemy of the people" won't matter.
Expect more brazen murders from the Headchoppers until their American enablers are booted out of office and into prison.
3
What really struck me was Trump has happily bullied all of our allies but when it came to actually punishing the Saudi's for this despicable action, he looked and acted like a whipped puppy.
King Salman and his family have been a blight on the world. They have exported the most extreme form of Islam across the globe and cost the US and the West, along with Islamic countries millions of lives and trillions in lost national assets. What's terrifying is both Israel and the USA have legitimized the Prince as a benevolent world leader.
It's shocking that the Saudi's can even buy any arms from the US while engaging in war crimes in Yemen that are the equal to the criminal chemical weapons attacks by Syria's Assad.
It's obvious that Trump and Kushner are owned by Salman. Trumps body language was a complete giveaway. Trump is a lot of things but a wilting flower is not one of them. Corruption has meet a moment in history that should make every US citizen cry.
23
@HL
Shame is more like it.
All true. Will mean nothing to the US president.
8
If you were wondering what all the lying and dissembling the President does leads us, it's here, where an "ally" can murder a critic without even a protest letter from our government.
I'm ashamed.
6
Not a least bit surprised by Trump's reaction. Trump probably admires the Prince for his toughness. We have a lunatic president running the country, but wait, he was voted into office by the American people and supported by a Republican congress.
26
@ad
And he's going to be around for 6 more years. Millions of Americans are secret Trump supports.
The US is no longer a world leader thanks to Trump. The Trump administration is essentially no better than Putin's administration. Freedom of speech is no longer protected if the money is right. Trump is all for reporters getting attacked and killed.
2
Mr. Kristof, you are brave to write a column such as this. At present, we have a president and his supporters who have no respect for honest reporters and columnists such as yourself and others like you.
In my honest opinion, with the ugly behavior we have seen and the ugly language our president uses against journalists and opinion writers, you very well could find yourself in danger.
4
I really don’t understand what all the fuss is about in Washington, and in reality, the World. This is the way the Arab world operates. If they didn’t have oil, all of them would probably still be living in tents. This isn’t a “Racist” remark. This is reality in most of the Arab world. Money can’t now, or ever, transform ideology. That takes time.
M.B.S. appeared out of a desert mirage as a god who was going to bring the Arab would into the 21st century overnight. History tells us that reality doesn’t work that way. Trump and his cronies took the bait, so called “Hook line...well you know the rest.”
What we, and the entire so-called civilized world has to decide now is how to handle and punish the murders of Jamal Khashoggi. What the Arab World will probably do is find a “scapegoat” other than M.B.S. and use their oil revenues to buy back their so-called friends.
14
But, but---Trump doesn't like 'brown' people from other places, so why does he love brown people from SA?
@Eric Cosh Oil and money is the glue to hold the Arabs and the USA together, together they will produce a Kabuki dance and move on to more wealth. Trump needs to sell weapons and to rent his Trump towers out for lots of more money. There is nothing else.
The only difference between Salman and Trump, both despots, is that the latter is being blocked by the rules of law of a democracy, even as he tries to abuse his power by installing a pluto-kleptocracy, and making his constant lies a normal feature of the current institutionalized violence thrashing reason and common sense. And the suspected murder of a Saudi journalist by Salman's thugs has met with Trump's deafening silence. As it appears, 'birds of a same feather' flock together seemless...and shamelessly.
1
The Khashoggi Family was the world’s leading arms dealers for decades. Ironically, the weapons which may have been used to murder Mr. Khashoggi were likely sold to the Saudi Regime by the Khashoggi family.
1
I for one won't be upset until he kills a truck driver. What? American media regularly has a blind eye when Governments they like kill people, rob people, starve people. But wow do they get upset when a government kills a journalist.
I'm a truck driver, so I will just go by journalistic standards, If a truck driver gets harmed I NOTICE and demand the world notice too! Otherwise I turn a blind eye if that government is one I like.
Think I'm full of it? There are a 1000 truck drivers who's families have not gotten enough to eat any day this month in Venezuela, some have died, some are in urgent need. How many stories about 1 dead journalist this weekend? How many about starving truck drivers?
10
@Richard Yes, let's all separate into our own respective mini tribes, and not acknowledge anything that doesn't do our tribe direct damage. That will get some great things done in this world.....
4
@Richard
I agree that we are not hearing enough about the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. Perhaps it is because we have insufficient journalists willing to risk their lives to get the truck driver story out?
1
@Richard 1) There have been plenty of stories about the economic incompetence and political oppression by the Venezuelan regime. 2) There is also a difference between incompetence and state engineered murder.
2
Trump has called out the “fake news” and heaped scorn on the press.MBS probably concluded that if he gave Trump Inc, enough money and promised lucrative defense spending that he could “disappear” one of his critics and no one would make a fuss.He got away with imprisoning his own family to teach them a lesson in loyalty and persued a murderous war in Yemen.He suffered no consequences and in fact corporations organized a conference with him so he could look like a modern monarch.He must be held accountable.He is not a prince, he is a pariah, a reflection of Saudi Arabia’s dark past.
3
Perhaps many people do not know that we are sending weapons and providing air support and logistics for the Saudis in their committing war crimes and genocide against Yemen. This is our tax dollars and military personal that are complicit in helping to starve to death millions of Yemens in the coming month. These are US companies that are creating weapons to bomb schools buses, schools, fishing villages, water treatment plant and other civilian infrastructure. Where is the outrage and accountability for this?
I hope that this paper commits to keeping the crimes of Saudi Arabia on the front pages. How many Americans have been killed by their being the largest funder of jihadists in the world. Sadly in a capitalist society money speaks louder than human rights and the Saudi certainly know this, by generously spreading their money to those with power to keep silent about how evil they are.
49
@steve
So you'd rather have the Iranians takeover Yemen?
Who would have thought that MBS would turn out not to be a much ballyhooed pious reformer and strategic thinker a la the late King Faisal but a temerarious and avaricious wanna be king a la Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti.
With the slicing and dicing of Khashoggi in the consulate on Turkish soil, even Uday bows to that bestial act from his grave. Kushner sure can spot talent.
However, MBS should watch his back for the shiv that may be coming not from his enemies, but from his own relatives appointed in high positions that now realize how his calamitous actions now give global business leader reasons not to invest. That, the disastrous Yemen conflict and possible once unthinkable US sanctions have placed the entire House of Saud on a tremulous foundation while handing Iran a propaganda victory.
Thank you, Mr. Kristof, for your moral clarity. One wonders who among the Trump enablers -- corporate chieftains, Christian evangelists, drama queen politicians like Lindsey Graham -- will actually show moral fiber against the Saudi psychopath. My guess is that their moral rot is too deep.
42
If true and unfortunately it is, our condolences to the loved ones of Mr. Khashoggi. Another Trump and company piece of egregious self serving insanity that just keeps coming. I am upset about the death of Mr. Khashoggi, but as well, upset about the nepotistic prince of princes, J. Kushner. Who vetted this guy? What Congressional scrutiny is he subject to? Trump and Kushner are using the White House to fill their pockets and pay off their debts. Shame on N. Haley for conferring the adjective “genius” on Kushner. Corruption begets corruption and that’s what we get on a daily basis until we have some Congressional oversight.
12
Who here doesn't believe that Trump would begin a campaign of murder against journalists if he thought he could get away with it? I have no difficulty picturing him smiling and rubbing his hands together at the thought.
1
America has always turned a blind eye to Saudi Arabia and their support of terrorist groups, all in the name of oil. Our administration consistently chooses to ignore what the Saudis are really doing. They will continue to get a free pass until we get a president and congress with a backbone and at least a smidge of morality. Not in my lifetime, I'm afraid, and certainly not in the term of the current buffoon running our country.
11
@Susan Why limit it to this administration? 3,000 Americans were murdered on 9/11,and we are still waiting for a report on the Saudi involvement. As long as the oil keeps flowing and arms continue to be purchased, it will be business as usual whomever sits in The Oval Office.
4
"The battle line between good and evil runs through the heart of every man." Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
According to this idea, the only thing holding back evil in the world is the moral compass each person carries and the willingness of others to hold accountable those whose compass is broken.
Republicans in the House and Senate, show us what you've got. When will you hold this administration accountable?
4
Saudi Arabia has not yet been "dealt with" for the 15 of their citizens who carried out the 9/11 attacks. I don't hold out much expectation that much will be done about what is essentially Saudi activities on "foreign" territories.
All that said, there are three moves possible.
1. Stop selling them weapons.
2. As rapidly as possible, develop alternatives to fossil fuels, especially for transport.
3. Help Qatar.
10
It's time we came clean on Saudi Arabia. They are not our friend and never have been. Fifteen of the nineteen 9.11 attackers were Saudi citizens and we turned a blind eye to the role the government played in supporting and protecting them. We need a divorce from Saudi Arabia and to find our own sources of renewable energy. Our relationship to them has not served us -- or the world -- well.
26
It's modern society's dependence on petroleum that drives this unhealthy relationship. If climate change won't convince you that we need to transition to a green economy, then national security should. And you can't do it by pumping more oil out of the Arctic because oil is part of a global market and the Saudi's have the power to manipulate prices by controlling their supply. So this November, we face a choice. Vote for the party that promotes energy independence, human rights, and our nation's ability to continue to lead the world, vs the party that will keep us mired in a dying and destructive downward cycle.
20
This is mostly on target, but I have a few quibbles.
First, nobody really got suckered. It was clear all along that “MBS” was a child killing war criminal. This was happening under Obama and whil they tried to restrain him, they also gave him weapons, aerial refueling for bombing missions, and pretended to believe the bombing of civilians was accidental. They had to, because we were complicit.
Trump, of course, is worse, and the much overpraised Haley always blamed Iran for Saudi war crimes. Trump is the sort to justify this because of some arms sale profits.
It is a sign of a morally sick political culture that we have been supporting this murderous thug and participating in his war crimes under two Administrations and it takes the apparent murder of someone who is known personally in Washington circles to generate widespread outrage.
159
@Donald
The murder of someone who is known personally in Washington circles is unfortunately not sufficient to generate widespread outrage: it takes indisputable audio and video proving such an atrocity that prevents the usual machinery of arms dealers and buyers from plausible denials and ignoring collateral damage.
I had dinner with a trump supporting friend the other night and we discussed the Khashoggi incident. She expressed outrage about it and horror. And then said how happy she was that something like that could never happen in America. I looked at her in disbelief and told her we were well underway for these kinds of things happening here under her president. Incidents like this makes me wonder if democracy will long be dead and gone before most people even take notice.
10
The tone is set for these atrocities when a President regularly attacks the press. We are enduring a period in history unmatched even by the disrespect of procedure and law evidenced by Richard Nixon. Everyone must use caution in this chaos until there is a new order because the thugs of the world have been empowered by the Don.
7
>
DJT will cause another distraction and this will be forgiven and forgotten.
That's the formula.
2
My personal experience of Saudi Royalty was in a famous London Department store in the '70's. We were at the front of the line for the elevator with my wife and our 1 year old in a stroller. As the doors opened, A tall bearded man in a white robe with a gold dagger in his belt came from behind, jumped carelessly over the stroller, with his sandals just clearing the baby's head, and moved directly into the still half full elevator. Without even a pause 4 small (and very, very, young looking) "women" in similar, but hooded outfits also hopped over the stroller to follow him in and fill up the car. Although their facial expressions looked more concerned about the child, but scared to fail tp keep up with their Master. He immediately closed the doors to prevent anyone else entering. It all happened so fast, we and the other shoppers close to us were all frozen in shock. So of course there was nothing by then that we could say or do. No surveillance camera or Twitter to post on. It was just an another unverifiable anecdote.
Forty plus years later, we've never forgotten the impression of complete selfishness, indifference to lesser mortals and lack of concern for harm to even toddlers that they gave us. And it seems nothing has changed since.
11
I'm with you on all this, Nicholas--never did much like that House of Saud crew anyway.
But with Trump, none of what you suggest will happen, because it might cost Trump some money, and that's the only thing that Le Grand Orange respects.
Well, that, and maybe a beefy Russian enforcer.
6
Until we all accept that Trump has a narcissistic personality disorder we will continue to expect him to exhibit empathy. He is the only person who can change his behavior. If we had a different Congress his activities could be curtailed. I am now somewhat worried about the upcoming elections. The Kavanaugh fiasco does appear to have re-energized the Republican voters and the Millennials still appear to be disinterested. The latter apparently would prefer to blame their grandparents for all the problems than vote. There's no Democratic candidate promising them free college and free medical care. Thank you Mr. Kristof for continue trying to re-insert intelligence and civility.
10
Finally, a clear stance on how the US and the media should react to this murder. First and foremost because of what it says about Saudi Arabia and its regime, and second for a minimum of consistency when compared to the reactions to the Srcipal murders in Britain, of which Russia was accused. Putin was repeatedly named a 'thug' and worse, but that was Russia. And I even suspect quite a few people wouldn't put a turncoat like Mr. Scripal on the same moral level as a courageous opposition journalist as Mr. Kashoggi. This is a welcome difference to Mr. Friedman's fawning portrayal of MBS in this newspaper, lately tempered just a bit by MBS's actions. But Mr. Friedman captured well the overall attitude, forget about the Saudi caused human catastrophe in Yemen, the detentions of opposition figures and and and; after all Saudi Arabia is a friend of the United States and the prince allowed women to drive! Thank you Mr. Kristoff for a clear but sadly lonely voice on this matter.
14
Few reporters and columnists have paid more attention to international human rights, it seems to me, than Nick Kristof. But I think a lot of people who have covered Saudi Arabia have led too often with their hearts instead of their heads in hoping there actually is a reformer in place. Lest we forget, Assad in Syria was supposedly a new breed of leader for the Middle East. Now we know better.
I feel for Kristof in what appears (we'll be hopeful) to be the loss of his friend. But he needs to stop and the supposed Free World? He goes into that but, again, lest we forget, Kristof has prattled on in columns about the people from his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon, who are just good folks who had economic anxiety. Would he buy that if it were overseas and not his hometown? No, or he wouldn't have a Pulitzer and a Times column. He should be thinking more about that.
The country that should be taking the lead in demanding Saudi Arabia be ostracized as a pariah of the the international community if it had a hand in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is sitting on its hands, and not surprisingly. Donald Trump has made it clear from the beginning he won't let anything get in the way of his precious arms deal. For Trump, who has no moral compass, everything is a financial calculation.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if privately Trump is playing down the issue with the Saudis, and might even be sympathetic. Perhaps we can surmise from Trump's comments on people like Philippine president Duterte and his extra-judicial killings, that Trump is even somewhat envious of other leaders who can silence their critics without consequence.
7
Why are we still treating the Saudis as friends? We don't need or want their oil their way of life is the opposite of ours and they always cause trouble and we pay them to keep stability.
12
I just had the greatest daydream.
Reading others' comments, I drifted to the coming year, and thought of what a true House investigation of Trump and Kushner would look like, as tax forms are held up to the cameras for review.
Yeah, I will be voting Democratic. And hoping that America regains some sanity and courage to face down its Orange tyrant.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
7
Was something better expected from Kushner and the Trump entourage? Saudi Arabia is an oppressive state and the reformist leader looks more like a dictator in the making than a benevolent autocrat, the administration has all but disenfranchised the Palestinian people in the conflict with Israel, and since when did Trump and his cronies show an inclination for concern about human welfare.
The concern for the welfare of Khashoggi is warranted but there was never a reason to expect anything better from Saudi Arabia or the current administration's diplomatic efforts.
8
Thank you Mr. Kristof for exposing all MBS' autocratic evil doings. It is time for all nations to shun Saudi Arabia.
6
Thank you Mr. Kristof. Any response that Donald has for this will be done out of pressure and will be as phony as a degree from Trump university. He could not care less about a dead Muslim journalist and cannot fathom why anybody would make a big deal out of it. The only thing about this that will make him angry is the assertion that he's been played.
8
Thank you, Mr. Kristof, for standing up for the values we used to have as Americans. We have never been perfect but we used to be able to stand as a nation for truth, decency and the value and rights of the human person. Now, thanks to those who value money, power and "meism" we continue to drop to the lowest common denominators in our society; ego, self-interest, vulgarity, lying and mob psychology. Sad times!
3
It's been reported that U.S. intelligence picked up chatter that the Saudi government was planning to apprehend and detain Jamal Khashoggi.
According to former C.I.A. officials, if it's discovered by our intelligence agencies that someone is in danger of being kidnapped or harmed, thay must be warned.
It wouldn't surprise me if Donald Trump knew about this and decided not to do anything since all that matters to him is money. He'd let the Saudi government murder a journalist because they're one of his best customers.
5
Can we dispense with the term "enlightened despot?"
There is no such thing.
Despotism and enlightenment are mutually exclusive.
That's not to say that despots never do positve things; but those things always come at the unacceptable price of their despotism, and rarely survive.
Despots like MBS work at playing the greedy and the liberal-leaning reformers alike; the greedy with the lure of their wealth and power, the reformers with a show of doing some modernization and instituting a few societal reforms. In the end, they both become willing allies in cementing the despots' absolute rule, to the ultimate corruption or humiliation of all who fell for their ploys.
Too many in the US, from the Trumps and big business, hungry to cash in, to progressives hoping to see improvements in human rights, have contributed to promoting a despot undeserving of power in an enlightened world.
It is time to stop selling arms to and doing busines with despotic Saudi Arabia, to stop supporting its brutal war on Yemen, and to start refusing to play into the hands of the world's despots by falling for their pretense of "enlightenment."
6
Nikki Haley, retiring from UN ambassador, sat for her TV her love fest with Trump, later told reporters (with a straight face) "No-one knows about Jared's hidden genius, and how much he and Ivanka do behind the scenes."
I rest my case.
7
Mr. Kristof, congratulations for not being intimidated away from writing this. It explains why you've won two Pulitzer Prizes. I respect and have been very interested in Arabic cultures and Islam, but there is a barbaric side to Saudi Arabia — executions and floggings, beheadings, stonings, women as chattel . This is all Stone Age stuff and yet no nation insists that Saudi Arabia grow up into the modern world and become humane if it is going to do international business. To date the most immense crime by Saudi Arabia I know about is its bombing of Yemen — an atrocity of huge proportions in which the U.S. has collaborated. Isn't the agony of millions of Yemenis enough? Revoking arms sales should not await proof that bin Salman had Khashoggi murdered. The western nations should wake up to what they are doing and terminate arms sales immediately.
24
ACCORDING to the PBS News Hour the other night, they stated that Saudi Arabia ranked 169th out of 180 countries around the world for freedom of the press. That they targeted Jamal for a violent death is no different than the methods used by ISIS. The clerics in S.A. support the political regime in place. We complain about the Iranians, but to look away from the repression in "friendly" countries is a sham. Turkey is another shameful example. That is why the USA HAS to take a position on democratic values and human rights RIGHT HERE every single day. DO NOT attack the press, do NOT single out racial or ethnic groups just to whip up support at rallies. The Torch of Freedom is our most powerful weapon against abuse and mistreatment of our fellow human beings- NOT the Pentagon. It's only useful as a defensive tool after every other method has failed. That this journalist could not feel safe to do his job and live a full life reminds me of Salmon Rushdie and the death threats he had to endure for many years while in hiding. I don't care how much oil and money the Saudis have- we should limit trade with them, and help the countries in OUR hemisphere prosper. It's obvious that down on the Texas border that we have a lot of work to do in Central and South America, where human rights abuses are rampant, and people desperately cry out for our help.
9
Not to mention the 15 Saudis who flew jets into the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and that Saudi Arabia was never held accountable. Because of oil and greed. Thank you Mr. Kristof for continuing to expose the Saudi hypocrisy and Trumps complicity with MSB’s illegal actions.
2
"The United States should start an investigation under the Magnitsky Act and stand ready to impose sanctions on officials up to M.B.S."
Good call Mr. Kristof, but also good luck! Just ask Trump what the Magnitsky Act is, and you'll get garbled garbage for an answer. Ask him how much will the Trump family benefit from keeping a close relationship with MBS, and you'll get an even more garbled garbage for an answer.
But that is the key point: As long as the Trump family business benefits from this relationship, Trump will not just be close to MBS, he'll try to get even closer. That, after all, is the Art of the Deal.
8
Plenty hyperbole and innuendo. No facts. Why is the press fixated on this? Was the man murdered or still there? Or somewhere else? We don’t know and most likely will never. Move on. This happened in somewhere not part of the United States. Unless our news media have become the world murder investigation bureaucracy. Dedicated to- what? How about the truth. Before jumping to conclusion.
There is a culture of deceit resting on a base of greed for power and the perks having a lot of money brings. This culture transcends national borders but has taken root in mid-eastern nations over the centuries. The deceit we have encountered in our dealing with Saudi Arabia should not have been surprising except to those who are trained but not educated - many lawyers may stand up. As usual, if you want to know which way the wind will blow, follow the money part of this sad reality.
3
All of what you would like to see happen would if we had a President who understood and cherished a free press or a Congress that is not pandering to him. But, we don't and that pretty much means that the US will not take action against States that violate international law. Trump wants Americans to believe (and he might be correct) that if we sanction Saudi Arabia we will drive them into the arms of the Russians and the Chinese. A risk worth taking I would say.
5
All this outrage for a foreign national journalist with Saudi citizenship, who has disappeared and may have been killed by his own government?
Seems like a lot more outrage and editorials and calls for sanctions than other despicable actions by some of the rogue nations, including the Saudis.
Mr. Kristof wants billions of dollars of sanctions imposed which also mean billions of dollars of lost revenue for American workers.
I do not condone what has allegedly occurred, but our response should not harm thousands of our own citizens and I wonder why other acts of the Saudis, like executing people for insulting Islam, their treatment of women and non-muslims has less important to us. I suspect that the outrage of journalists is because Khashoggi is considered one of their own.
Perhaps the boldest and most effective action the USA can take is to reduce our dependance on Saudi oil.
We also do business with a lot of other countries that routinely abuse, imprison and sometimes kill their own citizens, and I do not see why this one Saudi citizen should be the catalyst for billions of dollars of lost revenue for the USA. Make America Independent Of Saudi Oil should be our national response, not the actions advocated in the opinion piece.
Noise, noise, always more noise from both left and right followed by nothing resembling action. Mr. Kristof adds to the noise. Okay. Shrug...
1
@Mark Merrill Far too often in history there has been silence. At least with "noise" there is a chance of action albeit with this administration a slim one. I would rather that than no noise at all.
16
@Mark Merrill
The only news sources that are doing any investigative journalism that I'm aware of are the Times, Washington Post, and NPR/PBS. This is clearly an opinion piece. If there are "conservative" sources producing facts, I'd love to know what they are.
1
@Mark Merrill
Well, Bin Salman took the "noise, noise, noise" of
Khashoggi - a journalist who was critical of him -
very seriously.
1
Timely and sorely needed. That is my opinion of this piece. This President is not representing the United States. He only represents himself. What's in it for him? How does it effect his bottomline? How can he enrich himself further utilizing the levers of power of the office of President.
And he does it with impunity. In front of the entire world. It is disgraceful and to my mind illegal. And it is all enabled by the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
Vote them out.
42
To invoke the Magnitsky Act is to release the ire of Putin. One of Putin's goals in his cultivation of Trump and his regime is to reverse the Magnitsky Act. I'd be shocked if Trump did anything explicitly in its name.
3
Trump is planning to wait this scandal out. He's hoping that the constant chaos of our news cycle will move us on to something else. He tells us that we need "more information" and that the Saudis (!!!) are investigating. As the clamor dies down, he'll divert our attention with other outrages. He plans to do nothing.
We need to focus our attention--if necessary, on multiple scandals, because there will be more than one at a time. We need to call our senators, our representatives, and the White House itself to demand that we pull out of the arms sale. The Senate and House need to investigate and trigger the Magnitsky Act for MBS and his favorite allies.
8
The Canadian fiasco was most likely egged on by Kushner, who at the time was in the NAFTA talks with Canada's foreign minister who tweeted her concerns about Saudi women activists being imprisoned--one who had duel Canadian/Saudi citizenship. It just seems too much of a coincidence that Canada met the deadline and caved to the US demands shortly after the Saudi debacle. Kushner is dangerous --he had secret back channels with the Russians, doesn't pay taxes, was in on the "dirt on Hillary meeting", is alleged to have used the "troll farms", was instrumental in getting the embassy moved to Jerusalem, has developments in the West bank, not to mention his family's dubious selling of WH influence to the Asians.
4
We are outraged over this murder, but we are ignoring Nicaragua which is 25x worse.
4
If Jamal Khashoggi wasn’t a journalist his present state of life would not be seen as a major international incident particularly when his missing body, live or dead, whole or in pieces, occurred in a country such as Turkey where going missing is something on the ordinary. Killed or attempted murder or missing dissidents, terrorists or general thorns-in-the-side of countries large or small occur and have occurred routinely throughout the world and few countries are immune to the use of extrajudicial “missing persons”. To believe Turkey’s “facts” on face value over this incident are farcical. Always consider the source.
Khashoggi was a leading member of the Saudi Muslim Brotherhood, friend of Osama bin Laden and maybe the leading opponent to the Crown Prince Mohammed and his autocratic rule of Saudi Arabia. The ruling family certainly batched the abduction of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen. However, let us realize the incident did occur in a Saudi consulate, and with that being said the Saudi government had every right to arrest and take back a Saudi Arabian citizen for whatever reason they drummed up and have no legal requirement to divulge his whereabouts, dead or alive. Will it cause international consternation and bad press for a while, without a doubt. If Russia can be used as a recent example of murder and mayhem on an international scale and how they have shrugged it off and still survived, Saudi Arabia has little to worry about. This too shall pass.
This murder is a tragedy for sure, but anyone who thought Saudi Arabia was changing because women can now drive was dreaming. It is still a theocracy (read kleptocracy). People are executed for witchcraft and other crazy crimes in public squares, political prisoners and poets are jailed without due process, indeed any kind of judicial process that resembles a real justice system. There is no real suffrage, no freedom of speech, religion, assembly. Jews are not allowed in the country. If they treated black people the way they treat women, even all that oil wouldn't save them, but for some reason, because it is their 'culture' the western nations manage to ignore it.
Thank you Mr. Kristoff, for pointing this out--Saudi Arabia is still one of the most repressive governments in the world.
9
This is perceptive, important, persuasive and disturbing, and if the upshot is a long term rupturing of US ties with the homeland of Osama bin Laden and a main funding source of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, then so be it.
But can we trust the Trump administration to competently carry out the kind of well-orchestrated, forceful and targeted set of responses recommended?
What about the myriad other cases of oppression, mayhem and murder instigated by hundreds of other tyrants, dictators and thuggish power moguls throughout the whole world?
Do we (whomever "we" is, Melania Trump, Senator Schumer, Human Rights Watch, plus the Project for the New American Century?) take them all on at once (and if so at what cost), or only whichever ones fit the currently approved Twitter fad of the White House?
Whatever happened to international diplomacy, NATO allies, the UN, lessons of unilateralism in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.? Out of print out of mind?
As informative as it is, this column raises and begs a lot more questions than it answers.
One of the ways America became such a great international power is by supporting any government, any dictator, any foul tyrant who would keep the money flowing in our direction. The Middle Eastern oil countries we do business with are just the latest in a long line. The banana republics in Central America were always willing to do our bidding, and we to do theirs, as long as the money flowed. The South American, Asian, and African thugs we've propped up for so long because their countries had resources we needed are their predecessors.
We shouldn't be surprised now, and perhaps we aren't, but we should be outraged and we should not be complicit. The Trump Administration tarnishes us all, seemingly in a new way every day.
2
As another has said, Trump admires guys like the crown prince. Just look at the bromance with Putin. The U.S. no longer pretends to represent justice or even decency, to the degree that it ever did. We are in a desperate and losing fight for our own democracy and human rights, much less anyone elses.
3
This is America's future, unless citizens act, and act now.
Read "On Tyranny", brush up on how dictators destroy democracy. A little breaking of norms here, a little outrage there, and before you know it your liberty is gone.
Trump rants that the press is the "Enemy of the People", and the pundits politely opine that "Well, he is a little rough with his language." Meanwhile, 35% of the population cheers him on, and "Lock Her Up" makes the Billboard Top 10. A Montana politician physically attacks a newsman, and voters elect him the Congress of the United States.
"I could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue" wasn't hyperbole. It was a truthful statement about the oligarchy Trump envisions.
3
Trump's response defines detachment - in addition to his consistent failure to adequately respond to rogue behavior by sovereign nations. Oh - Russia? The Phillipines? North Korea? That he would equate the alleged murder of a journalist with the possible loss of arms sales is, frankly, beneath contempt.
2
Mr. Kristof, thank you for your forthrightness. And please watch your back. Journalism is necessary, but dangerous.
5
And here we have yet another reason for the emoluments clause in the Constitution. Of course we want government to care about commercial interests, appropriately balanced with other interests, e.g., human rights, but putting the thumb of personal profit on the balance results in a horrible unbalance. Senators, Congresspersons, to arms! (metaphorically-constitutionally)
2
All you need to know about this is 1. MBS is doing EXACTLY what Trump wishes he could do. and 2. Trump's base cares not about what happened to Mr. Khasoggi nor Trump's response to the murder. And therein lies the problem: a sizeable number of Americans for whom there is no red line with Trump other than if he were to endorse a woman's right to choose,support minorities' ability to vote and allow immigrants' ability to be with their children. Other than that anything goes. The fish stinks from the head on down and the down parts stink just as much as the head.
22
Great column by Nicholas Kristof expressing the outrage about this hideous act sorely missing in the White House. M.B.S. is an oil stain on the world's escutcheon and the best argument for electric automobiles I have heard. The expected Democratic House of Representatives after November should start an investigation into the private economic ties between Saudi Arabia and the Trump family. There is deep corruption on many levels in Saudi-American relations.
1
America needs to stop treating the Trump Administration as a curiosity and a blip in the history of democracy. Trump's actions are destroying the world, in ways that we will not be able to repair. he needs to be removed from office as soon as possible.
9
The Saudi's have been reckless for years. Do we not forgot that 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens? And yet the government was not held accountable. Not at all. As Americans we have allowed oil to distort every dealing with this country. Even when America was a country that valued human rights, we ignored every evidence of violation in the kingdom. And you think that will change over a single murder - even one as horrific as this. Sorry oil is too powerful. Another reason to look for alternative energy resources. It simply corrupts.
7
We await word from our president whether he will honour human rights above mega-billion arms sales to Saudi Arabia. And yes, Nick Kristof, the alleged murder and dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul isn't "a Hiccup". It may well be the beginning of the unloosening of Trump's grip on the American people. On his befriending our enemies, and withdrawing from our friends and allies. On his ranting that Democrats are "mob rule" and "very bad people". We don't know if Trump's demented connection with Saudi Arabia will survive the assassination of the Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in Turkey. The president, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and their American sychophants are chewing now on Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's hatred for human rights, his theocracy and autocracy that is suddenly making a shambles of his country. MBS's grandiose plan for the Future Investment Initiative Riyadh conference in 9 days has been upended by the gory news from Turkey's government about the 15 Saudis who committed the murder at the Saudi Crown Prince's command. Global leaders are pulling out in horrified droves from his FII conference on Saudi Arabia's future as a world player. We are all thinking that president Trump and Kushner and his loyalists have been played for fools by their Saudi best friend.
14
Who would have thought that Saudi could be violating human rights? (sarcasm) A country so friendly to the US and its president and family! Could they be even worse than Iran ?(more sarcasm).
Honestly, the way the Saudi monarchy is treated should not be driven only by how much oil they control, how many hundreds of billions of weapons they are willing to buy or how much they should sponsor Trump's hotels and properties.
Isn't this obvious?
Trump's conflicts of interest should disqualify him once and for all from any statement on Saudi Arabia.
How could the US end up in this position of extreme compromising situation? It really defies reason!
3
It should be mentioned that the Saudis only a few months ago bought the most expensive property in Arlington, Virginia, ($0 million approx.) just across the river from DC and a couple of miles from CIA headquarters. Also, in the past two years, the Saudi government increased its number of lobbyists in Washington DC by roughly a couple of hundred (to well over 200 registered agents, according to new reports). The other country with similar or larger clout and presence in DC, which also repeatedly gets the US to dance to its tune (both parties) and also is the most heavily armed country in the Middle East (by the US) is Israel. Assassination is part of both these nations' playbook.
9
If an American journalist, or any journalist, one critical of both the U.S. president and the Saudi regime, is killed in a similarly horrific and suspicious manner while doing their job, what would the president's response be? The president should be asked this question directly and repeatedly, given that he has referred to members of the free press as "enemies of the people." The global community should consider the president's statement that he simply "doesn't like" what happened along with the days of delay in responding to this tragedy to be wholly insufficient, offensive, and, frankly, ominous.
The president seems to adore strongmen around the world, from Saudi Arabia to Turkey to Russia to the Philippines. Does the president fully endorse protecting journalists who are working to protect the rest of us? Will journalists be safe? I just don't know. Do you?
6
With all due respect to those who want to make this about Donald Trump, Saudi kings did not begin acting like absolute monarchs following the election of Trump. To varying degrees, Saudi kings were behaving as empowered dictators before western powers decided maintaining the "ruling" family was the best method to tap the oil under their desert sand. A long line of U.S. presidents, Democrats and Republicans, western business leaders and governments bear responsibility for legitimizing a form of political rule that western nations extinguished centuries ago.
Don't you get it? MBS is a king. The real — off with their heads — deal. He is not the first to have a dissident silenced. He was just clumsy and overlooked the fact that while he could control his media Turkey would not kowtow, and the western media would not ignore the murder of one of their own.
We have looked the other way too long while Saudi rulers and their enablers lived a lavish life style even as others scrapped by on nothing in refugee camps.
The notion of a king in 2018 ruling a country with absolute power would likely be repulsive to the the people of Saudi Arabia were they not all on the public oil dole.
3
"America can also make clear to the Saudi royal family that it should find a new crown prince."
No, America should make it clear to the Saudi royal family that the rule by "royal families" needs to end and the Saudi people should have the right to choose their leaders by free and fair elections.
1
Actually, it IS a hiccup in Saudi Arabia, which is where this embassy is diplomatically located. It may be despicable, horrifying, whatever, but it's totally legal under Saudi law.
My salute to Nicholas Kristof for his very well written op-ed.
In a country that promotes itself as a champion of human rights, it is rather embarrassing and hypocritical when the president value uncertain money over human life and appease the criminal who committed such a heinous crime.
Nicholas elaborated on this magnificently, It is time for a new Crown Prince, this one has caused unnecessary suffering around the world, especially in Yemen.
For those apologists that want to lower the significance of this heinous crime by referring to Russian, Turkish and Iranian similar activities; I must remind them that although these activities are condemned in general without any excuse, but the possible killing of Jamal Khashoggi is the lowest of the low.
Russia allegedly planned to kill a double agent spy who is considered a traitor and hated in all countries of the world.
The MEK in Paris is a known armed group who openly pursue the removal of the regime in Iran and have a history of attacking their own country in collusion with Saddam during Iran-Iraq war and actively seek US, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and European countries assistance to topple the regime in Iran in all their gathering. Killing a journalist who has been close to the Saudi court for mild criticism of the crown prince, MBS, is just outrageous.
1
Dear Nick:
I am so sorry for your loss and the loss for all of us. It is so shameful and sad to watch Trump & Co. daily annihilate what we thought of as our country and its values. He probably didn't know who Khashoggi was or even what he did, nor would he care. If he didn't write that Trump was great and the Saudi's were great, well, too bad if he's not around now.
The USA has had an awful relationship with the countries in the Middle East going way back due to oil. The Bush family loved them, too. It isn't that this is new behavior on the part of an administration it's just that this WH doesn't even try to cover up its own attitudes.
It would be great if the world would turn against the Saudis. Won't happen. Money. It's always all about the money.
3
When assassination becomes an acceptable policy for a nation-state, things have really gone off the rails.
Even the word assassin tells the same story. It originally was applied to a sect of Muslims in northern Persia about 700-900 years ago who were militant fanatics and were reputed to smoke hashish before battle. The word "hasisi" in Arabic, meaning hashish-eater morphed into assassin via Latin and French.
So, an assassin was addled by drugs and his actions, assassination, are clearly those of deranged thought to this day.
There is little doubt M.B.S.'s fingerprints are all over the death of Mr. Khashoggi. But the House of Saud was given the generic imprimatur to act as it sees fit by an overweening Trump administration. We are not blameless for the death of Mr. Khashoggi or the deaths of many Yemenis killed by our weapons or starved by the proxy war we support stopping food from reaching them.
Once loosed on the world, assassination can become indiscriminate. If it is acceptable to kill dissidents, it can become acceptable to kill leaders with unpredictable results. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in the last century unleashed the fury of WWI and its echo in WWII less than a generation later.
I fear we are going down the same rabbit hole again.
I agree. MBS is an illusionist and a monster. The irony is that by killing Jamal MBS has achieved the opposite of the illusion he set out to create. We can all now see that the emperor has no clothes. By killing Jamal MBS has made clear the ugly truth about himself. The King needs to relieve MBS of his responsibilities and appoint a new Crown Prince, and send this one for trial.
3
It is a fact that, during prior administrations, the Saudis did not play anybody for suckers - and Mr. Kristof is of course dead-on right to point out how ONLY the Trump administration has been gamed by a Middle East ruler. And Mr. Kristof was also right to point out the moral clarity with which previous administrations have dealt with the clean and simple right-and-wrong choices available in the Middle East.
Oops, he did not point that out.
The Saudis were implicated in 9/11 and the U.S. did nothing, just as nothing will be done by the U.S. because of this event. The Saudis will pump more oil to keep gas-guzzling American consumers happy with lower energy costs. The Saudis will continue to buy billions of dollars of U.S. weaponry, keeping American manufacturers happy. And the Saudis will continue to say bad things about Iran and good things about Israel to Kushner and Trump. Perhaps Netanyahu will even put in a good word about the Saudis to Trump and Kushner.
2
Saudi Oil has let an otherwise backward country become a major player in 20th century politics that it has never morally earned. From its propagation of Wahabihism beyond its borders to its suppression of human rights within them, the "Thingdom" has always tried to have it both ways: Pay enough to fly under the radar yet stay center stage. Republican presidents in particular have kowtowed to them instead of doing what should have been done: marginalizing them. How to do that? Develop energy strategies that move beyond fossil fuels. Strange how the right thing to do also happens to be the smart thing.
40
American government policy should not be based on who is murdered in a foreign country. Occupations have risks. Journalists and their employers are responsible for their own safety, and travel and perilous actions. This is
tragic and should not have happened.
1
So if it happens under a leader who claims the journalists are “the enemy”it is the journalists’ fault? You are saying there should be no safety for journalists from the anti-media government? So it would be alright with you if trump orders the killing of journalists because it is a hazard of their jobs?
@J Really? You're blaming Khashoggi for recklessly setting foot in the consulate of his own country in a NATO nation to obtain papers he needed for his marriage? In any event, this is about more than this murder, if you read the column. It's about decades of letting a nation ruled by brigands and thugs get away with atrocity after atrocity, including 9/11.
1
@J Your use of the passive voice "who is murdered" conceals the real issue here, which is that the murdering was done by the state of Saudi Arabia. In other words, it was an assassination that demands the most severe consequences for U.S.-Saudi relations.
1
For generations, the US has been hoodwinked by foreign dictators who have paid lip service to American policies (anti-communism, anti-terrorism) in order to shield themselves from criticism about rampant corruption and oppression of dissent. This is another in a long series of such relationships. You want to hurt terrorists? It's extraordinarily simple. Impose a substantial carbon tax. Impose tariffs on imports from countries who do not follow suit. Take the revenue and build world-class mass transit infrastructure within and between cities. What is not the answer: another Crown Prince.
53
@Rich888, its just a matter of perspective, who has hoodwinked whom.
In my public school history classes I was always perplexed at being taught that a series of comparatively small events seemed able to set off cataclysmic world events - like Arch Duke Ferdinand and World War I. They were just far away stories that I really had no interest in, but dutifully learned nonetheless. Now I understand.
66
@Ed Smith I share your fear of this. I am concerned for the human rights and for the global markets. This could be a toppling event.
5
This gruesome story will be gone in 2 weeks.
Next story?
9
While the British Royalty was not always sanguine for sure what they have evolved in to, a constitutional monarchy, is where Saudi Royal Family should be headed. Personally, I am an anti monarchist. And poverty stricken Britain should not be psying the massive sum for security for the weekend's Royal Wedding when the Windsors are one of the richest families in the world.
13
By the time we switch to electric cars the Saudis won’t need oil income any longer.
They almost bought Tesla and are investing out of oil at a rapid pace. Still, get an electric car.
Drive the price of oil down so low that they’ll stop pumping it out of the ground.
33
Mr Trump and his administration are pulling out off the cop21 signed by Obama if Saudia Arabia investing in electric cars that means we support climate control and less fossil fuel. After all the US is on the top polluting list but Mr Trump knows that reducing fossils fuel or not is not going to change too much. The world is coming to an end due to climate change Hurricanes Floods Earthquakes etc. climate change treats is like trying to revive a clinically dying planet.
@RjW Oil is going to be gone within 100 years due to climate change
Everyone is fine to turn a blind eye when money is to be had, just watch how this plays out. The Bronson’s and Gates will all act shocked until the attention settles, but their investment strategies won’t change.
25
@Brian Naylor
I really don’t think so, but maybe I’m just an incurable optimist. As long as money doesn’t guarantee life without cancer or diseases, doesn’t guarantee eternal youth, doesn’t guarantee beauty and wisdom it’s not interesting.
11
I’m afraid that is idealism.
Lest we forget the nationality of the 9/11 hijackers. It is all about "business." Oil is abundant and courage is in short supply. That which is decided by supply and demand will cost us all much more dearly one day.
116
I heartily agree, Mr. Kristoff. But it won’t happen because of oil. The US has not only tolerated but supported Saudi repressiveness for decades because of it. Under this Administration there is no chance that will change. Sadly.
68
True but it seems this admin has given them the courage to do great evil in the world now.
1
Our country has been mishandling relations with the Saudis for too long. Leaders from both parties have kowtowed to the kingdom for the promise of oil and investment money.
They were never our friend.
If any other country did to us what the Saudi royals have, it surely would have been denounced and possibly attacked. We have gone to war over much less (see Iraq).
Kristof describes the proper government reaction to such an event. A reaction that is long overdue, but one that will sadly never come.
SA belongs in the same category as North Korea and Iran. At least Iran has elections.
94
The problem, and it is serious, is that most Americans would not know who Khashoggi is if you were to ask them. And that goes doubly for Trump's base. Our principles are being trampled, and our actions as a nation, both here at home and around the world, are purely transactional and mercantile, and seen as such. And any nation acting without principles is flying without radar. If we somehow land safely after this despicable presidency it will be entirely by accident. And right now the runway is nowhere in sight. Hopefully we will spot it on November 6.
139
Michael, I surely hope you and your fellow citizens do vote in November to change the course your country is on. We in the rest of the world are not only saddened to see the USA lose credibility and respect, we are scared witless. The most powerful country on the planet has been hijacked. Democracy does die in such darkness.
2
@Michael, where were “our principles” when we attacked Iraq and Afghanistan foolishly after 9/11 when Iraq had nothing to do with the Saudi attackers!
USA is between a rock and a hard place as weapon exports are one of your main export earners. Trump said the $110 billion deal to sell weapons to the Saudis will still go through because if they didn't sell the weapons to Saudi Arabia then China or Russia would. Trade deals are the reasons Trump is trivialising the incident. It's a bit like under the Obama administration when the USA wouldn't rescue that USA diplomat in the Middle East because the government didn't want to upset Middle Eastern leaders.
They've got evidence on tape and video so I'd so the Turkish government had the Embassy bugged or what they're saying about his murder being recorded on his apple watch are true.
The new ruler of Saudi Arabia wants his nation to be more like China and doesn't want his nation to become a Democracy. That's China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia that have more in common with each other than those three have with USA. Same sort of government tactics used by Saudi Arabia as was used to poison those two Russians in England. This seems to becoming the new norm by oppressive governments with no fear of consequences.
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You have to add to this situation the money the Saudis are giving trump & kushner through back channels to help their businesses. trump boys just got more business/resorts in Saudi Arabia & Dubai. He isn’t worried about American jobs building the weapons for the Saudis. He is worried about trump.
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Aren't we kind of avoiding the obvious. I mean isn't this what Trump would do to reporters, if he could get away with it? And, then we wonder about his mild reaction?
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@Reuben Ryder President Donald Trump needs journalists and media coverage to breath and survive. To me at least it is obvious that the only way to do battle with a man like him is to starve him of his oxygen i.e. media coverage of all kinds, both foreign and domestic.
Foreign pro Trump media coverage should be rewarded by giving their countrys negative but truthful publicity.
@Reuben Ryder
Exactly! And Trump would probably like to roundup all NY Times readers and commenters as well.
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Rest in peace, Jamal Khashoggi. There is no higher calling for a journalist than speaking truth to power.
Thank you for speaking truth to power in this column, Mr. Kristof. Every word of this needed to be said.
A concern at the back of my mind: Saudi Arabia has long been an autocracy partnered with a theocracy: the autocracy makes the big decisions (and gets the big money) while the theocracy controls the day to day lives of ordinary citizens.
In the USA, we have had a minority of would-be white Christian theocrats since the days of the Moral Majority, now have a would-be autocrat in the White House, and in the background a set of plutocrats who have spent generations chipping away at the laws/rules/norms keeping their wealth and power in balance with the rest of society.
There (an autocracy/theocracy) but for the grace of God (and maybe what's left of our Constitution) go we, the USA.
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Thank you Nicholas for speaking clearly and showing the kind of backbone that is all too rare in Washington, DC.
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Jamal Khashoggi has most likely died doing what all the great reporters do, write and speak truth. He is a hero, and has paid the ultimate price for loving his country.
His assassination shines a bright light into the sphere of tyranny in which the Saudi royal family exists and rules. Their innate nature is revealed, and the whole world is recoiling in horror.
Mission accomplished, Mr. Khashoggi, the truth is known.
Rest in peace, wreathed in honor.
For you, Nicholas, deepest sympathy.
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What did/does Nikki Haley know and when did she know it? Khashoggi went missing Oct 2nd; Wapo reporting it Oct 3rd; by Oct 9th the horrific details are coming out and Halley resigns that day.
I'm starting to think that this brutal murder by the Saudis may be the reason for her unexpected and surprising resignation. She wouldn't want to be at the UN trying to cover for/rationalize to the world Trump's possible attempt to protect/cover up for the Saudis, or his already shoulder shrugging with his position: we can't worry about human rights when there's mega money to be made.
It would have been interesting to see what Halley is really made of given that she'll likely seek the presidency post-Trump. Somebody should be asking her pertinent questions now.
Rest in peace, Jamal Khashoggi. You will not be forgotten.
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Haley is there until the end of the year. But crickets from her.
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@Rw There is nothing particular in Halley's political stance to depict that she was more conscientious than rest of Trump's administration. She merely approved all of Trump's controversial and bullying policies.
If it comes to guessing her unexpected departure, I think she might have been the anonymous author of the New York Times Op-ed about the chaos in the inner circle of Trump administration, they figure it out and ask her to stand aside quietly to preserve her political career.
Halley did not stand up for a minute silence in memory of the 160 Palestinian protesters who were shot dead in Israeli-Gaza border, why should has she felt any different about the butchering of Jamal Khashoggi?
@Rw I find your theory about Nikki Haley very interesting. There are several half-baked ideas out there for why she has resigned at such an unusual point in her career in the Administration, but your thoughts offer the most ring of truth thus far. Keep us posted, would you please?
How is it that Jared Kushner could have private conversations with MBS on behalf of the United States as some sort of national emissary for us not approved by any government body? Isn't this pretty much what Gen. Kelly did with some Russian diplomatic types that sent him before the Mueller investigation and ended up with charges against him? The term "with impunity" has become polite lingo for official behavior of Trump and his anointed family and sycophantic GOP supporters far beyond all historic norms with no fear of reprisal. What is really going on here are ongoing actions by pseudo-diplomats daring duly elected and appointed officials to do something about it. Why aren't they?
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Well said, but I think you mean General Flynn.
Thank you, Nick. Courtesy of a former, deeply abusive husband, I have some connections to McKinsey & Co. I am contacting them today to ask that they pull out of the FII conference. Keep up your good work.
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Saudi Arabia is not our friend and never has been. We've been giving them special treatment, even after Saudi nationals attacked us on 9/11, because of their oil money. Their oil is destroying our climate and threatening civilization. Their money is further corrupting our nation's politics. Their extremist religious views fuel terrorism, and their blatant disregard for human rights is finally getting the attention it deserves.
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@Herman Brass
I am no fan of the Saudi régime and never have been.
But, risking being accused of 'whataboutism', I would like to point out:
By means of fracking and other techniques, the USA is also pumping a lot of oil out of the ground.
The environment protection is more and more left to private companies and the individual states.
The SCOTUS gave companies permission to buy as many lawmakers as they wanted.
Religious fanatics are behind many GOP politicians.
Human rights are being violated every day by the ICE.
All this can be verified by articles in this paper.
"Their oil is destroying our climate and threatening civilization." US demand for and reliance on 'their oil' has created this problem. Until we move away from an oil-based economy no progress will be made. We are the problem, and we are the solution. The former but not the latter will persist as long as Dump and company remain in power.
@Herman Brass
Let's not forget that Saudi Arabian terrorists masterminded & attacked the US on Sept. 11, 2001, after which members of the Osama Bin Laden family quickly exited the country.....courtesy of the US government. This fish has been rotting from the head ever since.
America has been compromising its values on human rights for a very long time, although we do seem to have reached a real nadir in the last couple years.
President Obama stood by silently while the atrocities in Yemen got underway, but at least he mused aloud, wondering why the Saudis were our friends.
They’re not our friends, and it’s long past time for Americans of decency to demand that we return to our foundational values of human rights and dignity for all.
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@Annie Gramson Hill, Obama did more than stand by; he supported the Saudi war on Yemen with American supplies and aerial refueling.
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Nicholas, you are confusing Trump with someone who cares, who understands the role journalism and journalists play in society. Trump despises the media. As far he's concerned the Saudis are well within their rights to do whatever they want to a journalist. He probably wishes he could do the same here. Last of all, you are forgetting that to Trump the Saudis are wonderful people. They gave him the royal treatment while he was there. (And then laughed at him behind his back.) Trump wants to make America great again. What better way than to make it notorious in all the ways he's doing it?
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The constant attacks on the press in this country have created a climate of opinion favorable to tyrants like M.B.S. Reporters here - never mind in Saudi Arabia - have had to have security guards protect them after having been pointed out and vilified by the Commander-in-Chief during one of his unending rallies. Little wonder that M.B.S thinks he can get away with this atrocity, if that’s what it is, and it certainly seems to be one. It’s outrageous that we should continue to trade with and support a regime like his. If people are not safe when they go into an embassy, where would they expect to be safe?
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Well there is one thing for sure...you are probably not welcome in Saudi Arabia. Then again, why would anybody, except for religious reasons, want to be there?
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@Stephen Kurtz We may not be welcomed in Saudi Arabia, but, Khashoggi, a legal US resident entitled to US protection, was not in Saudi Arabia. He was in Istanbul. I confess that for the past 12 days I thought Khashoggi was killed in Saudi Arabia. Wasn't sure how Turkey got involved in the story. So I slowed down and learned that Khashoggi was in Istanbul at the Saudi embassy trying to get his birth certificate to facilitate his marriage to a Turkish citizen. And that the Turkish government had the Saudi embassy under surveillance. It is time for the Turks to produce their evidence and share it with the world to end the speculation.
I do understand now what will happen next. History does repeat itself. When 15 Saudis killed 2975 Americans in 2001, we responded by invading Afghanistan. Given what is happening here, the invasion of Turkey by the US should be launched within the next 10 days.
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@Scott Weil You are not correct in saying that this journalist was on Turkish soil. All Saudi embassys are on Saudi Arabian soil regardless of in which country they are located and are under Saudi rule in every respect.
Unless trump reneges on the deal after Turkey released pastor. That’s the only reason they released him was to stop trump from attacking Turkey.
I am no fan of Justin Trudeau and felt he probably blew it by supporting our Foreign Ministry when it criticized MBS, however indirectly, and however diplomatically.
I must now give him great credit, though, much more than I would have thought justifiable two weeks ago, for standing up to MBS, while standing for what was right.
I see now how wise my country, and its leader, was.
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@Karl Gauss I am a fan of Trudeau (and Freeland) but I'm glad we can agree on being proud of how our government stood up to the Saudis. It's unfortunate that our allies didn't come to our side. The US didn't surprise me but the fact that our European allies were silent still surprises me.
Hopefully this horrible situation will finally result in an international response.
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@Karl Gauss
At the time I was critical of the tone of the message to the Saudis, knowing how touchy the regime was. As I recall Canada demanded the "immediate" release when the language could have been more "diplomatic". As a result Canada lost its ambassador in Riyadh who could be now delivering a strong condemnation of the apparent murder. Otherwise I agree that Canada's defense of human rights put America's and Europe's to shame.
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@Jennifer
Dear Jennifer, I couldn't agree more with you. Let's still hope!
It's so outrageous that Trump has all these financial ties with Saudi Arabia and is now in the position of having to take a stand against one of our "business partners." This is the precise definition of conflict-of-interest, and exactly why the emoluments clause is so important in a free country.
The problem with Trump is that the onslaught of corruption is so vast and constant, as he has obviously figured out how to control us through the news cycle, that he can rarely have his feet held to the fire. He has mastered non-accountability.
If Democratic and other voters don't respond on November 6, then he will be even more emboldened to carry on in his undemocratic ways. It is the job of the voters to reject this presidency and reclaim the high ground of morality and decency in this country.
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The Saudi leaders didn't have to lift a finger to get Trump & Co. wrapped around theirs.
From the time Trump visited Saudi Arabia last year and showed over the top fondness for their government, even declaring that our countries have much in common, it was clear that Trump was not going to criticize their leadership, any more than he would criticize that of Putin or Sisi.
And forget treatment of journalists. Trump has been told, in no uncertain terms, just how dangerous his anti-media rhetoric is. And he doesn't care. Just this week, Trump suggested that the NYT wrote the anonymous op-ed about those in the White House trying to keep tabs on him, and that the media are dishonest beyond words. Trump even laughed when, during a trip to the Philippines, Duterte had reporters physically removed from a room, and were undoubtedly treated harshly.
So no one should hold their breath for Trump and bin Salman to get to the bottom of this disappearance. The idea of either man being troubled about a likely murder is absurd. How chilling is that?
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Trump's constant attacks on the free press have been copied by autocrats everywhere, including Saudi Arabia, where Mohammed bin Salman also refers to the Washington Post as "fake news." Being a journalist in a country like Saudi Arabia or Russia is one of the most dangerous jobs of all. We need to point out again and again that Trump's contempt for this First Amendment freedom has real consequences around the world. The prince's move was bold and contemptuous because he knew he could murder one of our residents in another country with impunity.
The only leaders Trump shows complete respect for are those with whom he's doing serious business. Russian oligarchs are extensively invested in Trump properties, as are Saudi princes. The Trump Organization is building a tower in Manila, so Trump praises the murderous Duterte because he is a business partner. We need to see the complete income taxes of both Trump and the Trump Organization if we have any hope of untangling the web of conflicts of interest our president has. This is no longer U.S. foreign policy, but policy to benefit the Trump Organization.
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@SandraH., I don't think so badly of Trump as that. He's not doing business with North Korea but his love for boss Kim Jong Il is unbounded. That can't be just for love of money. He loves dictators for their own sake.
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@Thomas Zaslavsky I would remind you that Trump mentioned building a resort area in North Korea when he first met the love of his life, Kim Jung Un. So not so sure we can separate out the money.
@Thomas Zaslavsky Trump is shopping for business PROSPECTS. North Korea is virgin territory.
I do agree, though, that he does love a good dictator for the lack of accountability they represent. Just his cup of tea.
It's a truly terrible and chilling thing.
Yet -- not a surprise.
It there were no, zero, nada consequences for the Saudi government's involvement in assisting with 9/11,
and 17 years on, families are still fighting and being driven to sue for access to all documents, both from SA and US ... why would
this instance, and with this president be any different?
Sad, sad, sad, and true.
My sincere sympathies to family, friends and colleagues of Mr. Khashoggi. I hope you get better news, or results, than the 9/11 community has thus far.
~ 9/11 family member
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Trump makes money from Saudis. They've bought his properties at wildly inflated prices. They stay in large numbers at his hotels in DC and NYC. Why would he do anything to alienate them?
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@Gordon Bronitsky
And the Bush presidents made money from being friends with the Saudis too.
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@Gordon Bronitsky
Perhaps because it's the right thing to do? Surely as the Leader of the Free World, the President of the United States, of all people, would be able to put principals of democracy such as freedom of speech and the rule of law above his own personal financial interests. Surely?
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@A. Nonymous: But family comes first, both with Bush (all three Bushes) and Trump.
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What is profoundly disturbing is that this news has no effect on Trump's demeanor, creates no urgency in him and his to respond with alacrity, with decency - - he doesn't even bother to fake an appropriate show of outrage. It is being accepted.
It once seemed outrageous that the President and those around him would lie to the public. Trump doesn't even bother to lie. His measure has been taken around the world: there is no need to worry about an American response as long as you can pay him off, one way or another.
As @ A. Stanton suggests: release the Turkish recordings as the only way to get the American public to see the work of our President's good friends.
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The Con Don was not played for a "sucker". The article says, "Trump has expressed “great confidence” in M.B.S. and said that he and King Salman “know exactly what they are doing.”
Yes, their plan, along with Erdogan, Netanyahu, Putin, Kim, Duerte, and the other supposedly "strong men" plan to start WW3 to create chaos and try to solidify their power in the world.
Unfortunately, Steve Bannon is out there spreading the hate-anger-fear-Lies,Lies,Lies- WAR- death-destruction-rape-pillage-plunder they enjoy so much from their HIStory.
WE THE PEOPLE - average people around the world - are the only ones who can/will stop them and NOW is the time.
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Was ever a police dept. more protective of one of its own than global journalists are over the state murder of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudis? His assassination probably developed from the predictable enbubblement of an absolute monarch only recently empowered, leading a society that doesn’t deal well anyway with apostates of any kind – which Khashoggi certainly was. While the murder by state authorities for political reasons of ANYONE is properly anathema to Western sensibilities, surely we have a practical appreciation of the very different convictions that animate the actions of other societies. Saudi Arabia has been killing dissidents, even in foreign lands, for many years now. Why is Khashoggi’s murder less a hiccup than any of those other murders? How is Saudi Arabia different in this regard from Russia, China and other nations, that do precisely the same thing, if usually less crudely? Surely we can’t simply disengage: if we did over this, we’d be engaged with precious few societies on this planet, as we simply don’t have the power to impose our principles on others.
The latest news has Trump discussing the matter with the Saudis. Presumably, one of the messages communicated was that assassinations this blatant could negatively impact on our bilateral relationship, particularly as Congress is considering sanctions – and certainly if such behavior is repeated.
Whether Khashoggi’s tragic murder is or is not a hiccup depends on future Saudi behavior.
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@Richard Luettgen, thanks for finding the silver lining ("Presumably") in this miserable murder.
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@Thomas Zaslavsky
Ah, Thomas, sorry to step on your ghoulish need to rend your clothes over the manifold cruelties that individual humans and societies have practiced for thousands of years.
Lesson two: how can Bernie, Liz Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez live with their ideological convictions when they think of the grisly Bolshevik murders of the Romanov children?
@Richard Luettgen
Probably because the Romanovs were murdered decades ago, long before the people you name were alive. I wasn't, and am older than all of them. And, isn't it time to stop using a "what about" meme when writing about a brutal murder of a man who resided in the U.S.? The murder of a critic of this sheik whose family is not royal; they were "sheiks" who came in from the desert when the Brits wanted the rights to their oil; they were given a country and positions of power. T.E. Lawrence might have romanticized them; however, they have never been more than what we now see. Bedouin "nobility"? Somewhat on a par with the Queens tax cheating realtors aka Trumps. I prefer Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet who have spoken about their low tax rates; at least they give a lot to charity. The Trump Organization gives nothing to charity; Trump gave money to the veterans, then took it back after his got his publicity. We have a President who owes Russians; he owes his hotel solvency to rich Saudis. The tax heist signed into law by a corrupt Congress was blatant; no Democrats were allowed to vote. The GOP makes no pretense of governing; Saudi Arabia has no government, only a ruling family. I don't want to live in Romania, Poland, Russia et al. I want to live in the country I grew up in, not the travesty and farce in D.C. now "governing".
"Trump has expressed “great confidence” in M.B.S. and said that he and King Salman “know exactly what they are doing.”"
I'm sure they do. Just as Donald Trump does.
He's sold America's soul to a unrepentant international thug who was willing to snow him with oodles of cash through his hotels and feed his ego with a sword ceremony.
It's not hard to read Donald Trump, or quickly understand how to manipulate him.
I'm with you, Nicholas. M.B.S should be in jail, and Donald Trump should stand up for something, before he damages American values any more than he already has.
This unholy alliance between an American president (with his ineffectual son in law) and a ruthless, arrogant young "princeling" with too much money and not enough scruples is yet another display of just how corrupt and sickening our foreign policy has become under Donald Trump.
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@ChristineMcM
He, Donald Trump, does stand up for something. He shows it every day. It's his own wallet and the interests of his rich 'friends' and family. He has no other values, and loves the feeling of power he gets damaging democracy. He's playing for the other oligarchs in the front row, and keeping the cheap seats happy with cheap jokes.
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@ChristineMcM,
"too much money and not enough scruples" gets today's internet best phrase trophy. Made my day.
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@ChristineMcM
Compared to the international thugs Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin, Mohammad bin Salman is a trifling pimple.
Another disturbing and depressing example of brutal silencing of voices of dissent. I'll be watching to see how Congress responds. Low expectations, but keeping hope alive for the midterms. In the meantime, Nicholas Kristof's writing contiinues to be beacon of truth for which I am grateful. We must salute and support the free press in these troubled times.
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The Trump administration, of course, will do nothing. There's new controversies that haven't even been invented yet to use up future news cycles. My oh my, the president is busy! Yes, yes, it was a bit disturbing what happened in Turkey. But the president has lot on his mind now - China, elections, the economy....we're sure somebody will have a thorough investigation, and we'll just have to wait and see. But they promised us a deal, and MBS is a great, successful businessman. I'm sure he wasn't personally involved in any of this. Now back to Fox and Friends.
Welcome to Democratic People's Republic of America.
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@yogi-one: I would have hit the "recommend" button, except you should have said "Republican People's Republic".
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In a matter of such enormous sensitivity, Turkey would not risk exaggerating any detail.
My condolences to everyone who knew Jamal Khashoggi, including you, Nicholas Kristof.
Let's all stop playing the "plausible deniability" game, shall we? (Cf. the New Yorker article on the servers pinging away between Moscow & TT.)
This is exactly how freedom is extinguished. These are the people who do it. We stand amazed, because these are jaw-dropping escalations in the intimidation racket. Civilized people are not prepared for them.
Civilized people allow the likes of Putin, or MBS, or Assad, to keep on repeating their implausible falsehoods -- while they laugh uproariously at our own genteel credulity, at our willingness to extend to these mass murderers the benefit of the proverbial doubt.
Let's not go easy on Trump/Kushners.
There are still certain things we can do to push back. We had best be doing them. Reasoning with ruthless despots & their minions is pointless.
We can & must unify across certain points of disagreement, because there are more of us & still fewer of them... But the teeter-totter is at a tenuous tilt. At the height of the Soviet era, the rightly famed dissident chansonnier, Boulat Okudzhava, sang a popular little ditty that ended with the words: "My friends, hold fast to each other's hands, lest we all perish in isolation..." The last word was an allusion to isolation cells in the prison system.
2018: we thought all that was behind us. Apparently not...
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@Maria Ashot, no, now it's worse. The Soviet rulers after Stalin knew some extremes to avoid. They were not saints, but Trump's favored allies MBS, Duterte, Kim, etc., are worse.
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@Thomas Zaslavsky
Technology has accelerated the flow of illicit capital, exponentially increased the amounts of money that can be earned through fraud & made it possible to flood all cell phones with false information. In that sense, we are in more precarious times: everything is accelerating.
But IT also means the barbarism of Khashoggi's killing cannot be buried. It means, in Russia, that Navalny & Khodorkovsky have mobilization resources that simply did not exist when Okudzhava was performing discreetly in private homes. It means the 99.9% have the best chance they have ever had to make the 0.1% embrace living by the rules they impose on the rest of us.
The pre-Yeltsin Politburo had the advantage of having been educated by teachers trained in the 19th c. They were mostly awful, yet still had some compunction, at least on the world stage. Putin (Mogilevich, Mihailov, Mashkevich, Deripaska & co.) are full-strength products of the Soviet system. They lack any inhibition, shame or decency. They have moved massively against the West, by destabilizing US domestic politics that were more vulnerable than Americans understood.
The NYorker article on servers reveals extensive infiltration of US entities by Putin-worshippers who actually think Putin is better for everyone than anyone else. In that sense, I agree, it's worse. More is at risk. If the US IC stands by & allows Russia operatives to steal the 2018 election (they gladly will), we are all done for.
Not an exaggertn
in the end, it's all about money followed closely by ego. oh yeah - it's also about not telling the truth.
this president and his administration take the low road - every time. and when others stroke the ego and pay the money, there's no telling just how low they will go.
i used to think that one of the things that made the united states different from other countries is that we valued human life while other countries withhold human rights and put little value on human life.
things have changed - other than measuring a human life in terms of dollars, we no longer value it. not here. not in other parts of the world. and trump has reduced a human being to "it" - as in relation to jamal khashoggi where trump said "it's not a citizen."
nikki haley, upon resigning as ambassador to the UN, said other countries respect what the US is doing - if so, why were those attending september's general assembly meetings laughing at trump?
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@Steve Ell In this case, though, every American President since Nixon has bowed to the Saudi king, due to the Petrodollar. You can't lay this only on Trump. Our fealty to the rottenest nation on earth has been going on for a long time.
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No mention of oil ? Ever since FDR assured the Saudis during WW 2 that we will protect their oil interests (and ours) we’ve been in hock to the Saudi government.
We provide arms to them at no cost (same as in Israel ) . As long as we’re dependent of oil we will be dependent on the Saudis . Like Trump, they can kill someone on fifth avenue or in the Saudi embassy , and nothing will happen .
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@Howard Kaplan - We actually get relatively little oil from the Saudis at this point in time--most of America's oil comes from Canada, and we provide a significant amount of our own. It's now more about keeping the region unstable so our military contractors have a steady supply of income.
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@Phil, I'm not disagreeing with you about military contractors. However, petroleum is more or less fungible, i.e., the source doesn't matter. The Saudi contribution to the world supply is important even if this country doesn't happen to use it.
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@Howard Kaplan
"... and nothing will happen."
Wool see about that!
I predict an earthquake,
1
I believe there is a strong case to be made for releasing Turkey's video and audio recordings to the public, so the American people can learn through their own eyes and ears who and what we are dealing with.
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@A. Stanton
But, does Turkey want to publicity admit it bugs foreign governments’s embassies? Yes, the rumors that there is video and audio of the alleged murder is interesting, but if Turkey actually produced such evidence, wouldn’t it be embarrassing, at the least, for Turkey ‘s image?
@A. Stanton
The American people? The WORLD needs to hear this, but America needs to stop supporting the terrorist regime that is Saudi Arabia regardless. They are the antithesis of what America is supposed to stand for, and while it would be unfair to blame Trump for enabling that (both parties have blood on their hands for it and have for decades), if he truly wants to cement his legacy for something positive, he should put a stop to this toxic relationship immediately. Saudi Arabia is not our friend, nor do they share our values. We don't need their money or their oil, and we certainly cannot pretend to be the "land of the free and home of brave" if we are unwilling to take a stand against their inhumane government and continue to turn a blind eye to their atrocities.
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@A. Stanton
My impression is that they cannot release the viddy without endangering their source, who has provided the only solid evidence as to what happened inside the embassy.
Our benefactor may already be ten-toes-high under several feet of sand.
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Sorry, Mr. Kristof, the Trumps and Kushners don't do human rights or pay taxes.
Both things improve civilization; they just can't be bothered.
In Trump's sociopathic defense, his only values are money, power, corruption and his own reflection in the mirror.
Remember, the Donald Trump Foundation's greatest accomplishment was the purchase of a giant portrait of Donald Trump with other people's money.....that is Donald's definition of charity, empathy and compassion.
Jamal Khashoggi deserves real justice.
Saudi Arabia deserves a global boycott of their polluting oil and a complete expose of their corrupt, medieval religious monarchy.
But it would be naive to expect the corrupt, tax-dodging Donald Trump and his corrupt tax-dodging son-in-law to start demonstrating any morality or human compassion for society after dedicating their entire lives to amorality and to living in spoiled rotten bubbles.
The United Nations, the Hague and the country of Turkey can all prosecute MBS and his Saudi Arabian henchmen.
America, regrettably, will have to wait for a real President before this country sees morality in the Oval Office again.
November 2018 and 2020.
Make America Decent Again
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@Socrates
Wonderfully well written piece. Thanks again.
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@Socrates Think your "Make America Decent Again" should become the rallying cry--i.e., MADA-- of all opposing Trump in 2018 and 2020.
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@Socrates
Neither Donald Trump nor Jared Kushner had anything to do with the American invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq that have killed hundreds of thousands and displaced and made refugees of millions.
Nor did Trump nor Kushner have anything to do with the American led coups in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Libya.
Neither Trump nor Kushner had anything to do with Israeli military action inside of and against Gaza.
Neither Trump nor Kushner had anything to do with the ethnic sectarian Syrian civil war.
With 25 % of the world's prisoners and only 5% of it's people, America has no moral authority for judging human rights in any other nation. Having invented and used nuclear weapons America is not righteous humble humane empathetic and moral enough to cast stones.
There are two princes we need to worry about, MBS and Prince Jared.
Other than being rich and married to Ivanka, what possible qualification does the thirty-something Jared have to be advising on and influencing American foreign relations? And, his precarious financial situation certainly makes him vulnerable to placing his business interests above those of our country, not to mention those of Saudi dissidents.
Congress needs to carefully investigate Kushner’s dealings with Saudi Arabia. Of course, that will only happen if the Democrats take back Congress. The most important mid-term election in memory is days away. God help us all if it goes the wrong way.
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@Rich Casagrande Jared's main qualification in advising on and influencing US foreign relations is that he knows best what kind of deals, aka, inducements to bribery, with foreign governments will best benefit his own personal business endeavors, aka, criminal enterprises.
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@Rich Casagrande
What about Prince Benjamin Netanyahu and Prince Vladimir Putin and Prince Kim Jong-Un?
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@Rich Casagrande
But wait! Nikki H. said he is a genius!
3
Trump idolizes Putin, the dictator. Trump said he "fell in love" with Kim Jong-un. Trump has shown admiration for Duarte. Trump also says reporters are the enemy of the people.
Trump has said that if Saudi Arabia did kill Khashoggi, there will be punishment. But we've seen how Trump punishes dictators. He'll kiss M.B.S.'s behind like he's kissed Putin, Kim, and Duarte.
511
@Linda, George Bush and George W Bush both idolized the then Saudi rulers. Obama even bowed down and bent-waisted handshook his royalty's hand. Ughness. We are the biggest hypocrites on the planet. We give foreign aid with one hand, supply weapons with the other hand, our head knows not what the left or right hand does? Come again. We are blatantly patronizing kings and monied people. Next time visit Davos and see what happens there with much schmoozing on the part of the American wealthy, while they supposedly discuss how to solve the world's problems such as "poverty over population illnesses immunization malnutrition starvation lack of education".
2
This issue solidifies something we knew all along: That the President’s disdain for journalists and love of croneyism trump his love of country and respect for veracity.
Mr. Kristof, please don’t apologize for columnizing while angry. Indeed, the best protest literature has been written from a place of anger and righteousness. In fact, this may be one of our strongest weapons right now. And righteous anger will serve us much better than resignation, every time.
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@MBD
Please tell me when trump has shown a love for this country. Please, just one example. Thought not.
@Kri-You misunderstood me. I did not say he shows love for country; in fact, I said just the opposite. Please reread my first sentence. Let’s not look for argument when we likely agree re: the President’s sham patriotism. Thanks.