Money has no scruples.
Bloody (and oil-stained) greed. The oligarchy churns on.
1
Looks like we are in a world wide cycle where power, greed, and corruption rule the day! Our Nationalis Fascist president is leading the pack!
5
it's time for US universities to step up by renouncing and returning Saudi gifts and terminating 'satellite ' operations there,. How about it Hopkins, care to start?
2
Who are these people and why do they feel safe? Do they manage my 401k or my state workets pension? Who are these people??
Mnuchin skipped the meeting and spoke to the Prince about the murder of Khashoggi.
Horse feathers.
Mnuchin skipped the meeting and spoke to the Prince about the $30 billion.
5
Time to boycott the companies - and their subsidiaries - who attended this.
1
As much as the killing is horrifying, I have trouble with the non-stop reporting on this case, some of it sensational + misleading.
#1 The video caption + headline claim a standing ovation. All I see (no original audio) is some people standing (the second row seem to be body guards). Maybe they raised as often is the case in monarchies, maybe they were getting into their seats or greeting other colleagues. I do not see anyone clapping.
#2 We should not play holier than thou, looking at the global skeletons in the closet of the CIA.
#3 The Saudis (and opposing factions) are responsible for 1000ds of deaths, misery and hunger in Yemen. While this gets reported, it does not get the out-sized attention of the 1 man who was brutally murdered. To me Yemen is the real crime - and trump happily sells them more weapons.
2
Greed is the root of evil.
1
Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas. You can tell a lot by how a country treats it's women and it's animals. In most Muslim countries, women get the same treatment as goats. If Saudi Arabia wants to join the 21st century they cannot take baby steps out of the 12th century. In the meantime, those western companies still attending...please, give us a list. Muslim theocracy is so contrary to western civilization that we should reject it at every opportunity, until they show that they truly embrace progress. And for those rich people who come here and flaunt their riches, which disregarding their countrymen. Send them back, they've been westernized, let them preach in their own countries.
5
As an American living in France, people stateside have often asked me, how the French could have collaborated with the Vichy government?
The answer can be seen in the hundreds of American businessman clapping like trained seals before an alleged murderer. These businessmen stood up and applauded, not because they were hungry or because they feared for their lives, but out of pure selfish material interest. Vichy in the 21st century.
2
If the investors really were concerned about the murder, thay wouldn't have attended. But in a corporatized world with a corporatized media, the corporate culture must be portrayed as being sentient despite a long history that indicates otherwise.
Let's stick with reality. The corporate culture is composed of creeps who routinely:
factor in the cost of lawsuits when deciding whether to fix safety defects, often opting to deal with the lawsuits despite the human suffering involved,
engage in legalized bribery of politicians, often to subvert the will of the people,
override efforts to control their reprehensible behavior regarding worker safety, public safety and the environment by "capturing" the regulatory agencies in a "revolving door" scheme in collusion with politicians,
attempt to put a benevolent face on their nefarious behavior via multi-billion dollar PR campaigns.
Fortunately, despite the PR, the public continues to view corporations as mostly despicable.
2
Notice that it is the king of Jordan who is seated right next to the Prince. Our government gives over a billion dollars, annually, to Jordan. The king owns an extravagant mansion down the road from Mar-a-logo. What's wrong with this picture?
6
Most tarnished of all is Mnuchin. Even though he didn't, technically, "attend" the conference, he was there and footage of him yukking it up with a murderous prince is a stain on our country that will not easily be erased.
5
C'mon man! Thirty pieces of silver.
2
These money mongers make me sick. I’d like to see a complete list of attendees published so that those of us with a conscious can boycott them. They are dealing in blood money.
8
Too bad these Oligarchs don't feel it is "horrendous" that their global greed and destructive actions kill thousands of people every day around the world.
And when was the last time they held a meeting at a WalMart, or a trash dump in Sao Palo? There they could actually see the world they have created and what it has done to people.
As for their feigned outrage, nothing says "we protest Saudi Arabia butchering a man alive" like showing up for the meeting anyway.
1
What is it about these countries, who base their governance structure on the adherence to a religious belief system, commit the most hideous acts of violence.
4
Notice the total lack of women in the photos. Typical.
5
Money is GOD. Truth, caring, kindness, principles have disappeared throughout the world. Oil and finances rule. Pathetic.
4
We the people are watching Saudi Arabia, MBS, and all the businesses who are now complicit in the murder of an innocent man who was dismembered while still alive. We are watching.
1
The deaths of hundreds is a statistic. The death of one captures the attention of the world. It has always been. Why is it so easy to focus group attention on the latest abomination? Easier than focusing on the reasons that cause the act. The latest distraction from the unraveling of our country’s fabric.
3
It was concerning when Truman said, "The business of America is business." The concern was that we would drift to the business of America being money.
Bingo. So to speak.
3
“It’s just money to me”, says all there is to say. That is until democracies are wiped out around the world , and we are left with totalitarian regimes that silence all .
16
Pink Floyd said it best “Money, so they say Is the root of all evil today.”
14
This is the quintessence: Money vs Humanity -
Humanity get tortured and dismembered with a bone saw. Money gets a standing ovation for getting its values straight.
25
Interesting to read Ms. Zingher’s explanation for attending (because her absence would not make a statement to others). Apparently she only views this through the prism of external PR vs. internal moral fortitude.
18
Thank you for covering this event. I know that the NYTimes will not forget what happened to Khashoggi. It may give whomever orchestrated his demise pause for thought because freedom of the press is a core value of the United States of America, of our DNA. I especially enjoyed the last paragraph about the irony of "Hotel California" playing at the hotel in the background. That is the kind of detail that I would be unlikely to find anywhere else.
15
There is one success in this matter. The definitive victory of the East Front against the US and NATO
5
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
Wow. OK. I'm trying to figure out whether what you said is incredibly callous or taken out of context. I hope the later.
25
Good comment.....they said the same about Germany and what was the result? Business as usual......money always talks in today's economy.
6
A standing ovation.
The attendees didn’t make any “choice”. They simply recognized an extremely wealthy authoritarian, who has zero trepidation about engaging in murder-for-hire, as one of their own.
21
I am struck with a sense of dread as I read the statement of these men, apparent leaders in the business world, which I have included below. The depravity is astonishing. Mr. Biner, the point of the matter is that members of society-at-large are no longer willing to put their relationships on the line, because they are inspired by greed. Modern day society is indeed accelerating on the road to perdition. Mr. Slater when death becomes “noise” in light of money to be made one must indeed take stock, and ask, “Whom have I become?”
As a school teacher, I pray that my students know better, and will do better.
Comments:
Henry Biner, an executive at the Boston-based P/E Investments, is quoted as saying, “One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
23
In case it hasn’t already been obvious throughout millennia of human history - it’s always about wealth and power.
Nevertheless, I’d like to think we have made some progress - human rights occasionally come to the forefront in determining policy, there is some democracy, a little more equality,
We have to keep fighting for truth and justice, and watch for manipulation by money and power seekers justifying their actions under the guise of freedom and human rights
7
It is sad just how amoral big business can be.
23
You’re too kind. They are immoral.
2
@Aristotle and @ Independent. I'm not asking you. I'm asking the NYT.
4
@James, Good question!!
Obviously, @Aristotle, @independent so one could boycott the companies represented feeling their attendance reprehensible.
Disappointed to hear this is just "noise" for Northern Trust.
Perhaps the House of Saud has billions invested in Northern Trust.
Does the bank not care if the hands giving them money are covered in blood?
25
It is interesting to read the self-righteous commentators from US degrading the attendees of a business conference for choosing to attend the conference in a country whose non-elected second-in-command has been alleged to have given the order to commit a heinous murder!
Nevertheless, they feel no shame in being the residents of a country whose elected presidents have committed wars (and continue to commit them ) in several countries in the name of freedom and justice, which have raged on for decades and directly killed thousands of innocent men, women and children and maimed thousands of others as 'collateral damage'. What a hypocritical nation!
Khashoggi killing was wrong. But what about the killings that continue to take place even today in Afghanistan and Iraq due to US occupation! Simply because the death of child through US bombing was not dramatized enough for you in the media does not mean it was any less painful for the kid, or her parents, siblings and family. (https://www.voanews.com/a/afghanistan-bombs-falling-record-pace/4361432....
11
Lots of noise but there will be no more serious consequences than rescinding the US visas of the henchmen directed by MBS.
Trump’s money trumps morals, ethics, common decency, civil rights, the first amendment, international relations, global politics, and US interests.
9
Remind me not to do business with Northern Trust. Michael Slater sounds like a gem.
25
Perhaps "germ" would be a more suitable characterization than "gem".
10
Can we get a full accounting of the names and corporate identities of those that attended?
39
@James
Why?
1
@ James
Ya really WHY?
If a person was accused of some heinous crime in most civilized societies, without actual proof, the accusations still in the speculation stage, one would expect the accused to show himself in public to allow that he be queried or scrutinized. This is basic etiquette, if you want to call it that. It doesn't indicate guilt or innocence but it's better than hiding. Here in America a person accused by the Metoo operators is considered guilty if he denies the allegations, the denials are just more evidence of a person's despicable character. The only answer acceptable to them is an admission of guilt.
The American media is responsible for this rush to judgement. It sells newspapers. It always has. But when the media are called out on it their response is "Who, Me?"
1
Please explain how your point relates to the story. Note that in this case there is video footage of Mr Khashoggi entering the consulate and audio recordings backing up the Turkish claims of murder. Where is the comparison?
2
The one thing that loomed larger: MONEY!
6
Business as usual. Not surprising given that the profit motive does always seem to trump any opportunity to demonstrate a moral compass. Sending a strong message to the Saudi Royal Family and to MBS that murdering an independent journalist is not of any great importance is just disgusting. There are plenty of opportunities to do business now and in the future, business leaders really don't need to suck up to the Kingdom at this point in time while the troubling case of the murder of a dissident journalist (who was for years close to the Royal Family) is worked out. I strongly disagree with the comment that Khasoggi is not the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Of course not, but he WAS a person who attempted to speak truth to power which is generally not a capital offense in the civilized world... Yet anyway. As for the Saudi's possibly becoming a theocracy that is highly unlikely with their iron grip on power and the boatloads of money that they have to buy access and do deals around the world.
8
@Sally Peabody
Saudi Arabia already is a theocracy.
2
The picture of the de facto king of Saudi Arabia and KIng Abdullah —- family stick together, both cousins much removed but both descendants of Mohammed
2
@2 cents
King Abdulla is sitting with his arms crossed and seems to have a red face.
I dare say it will be a cold day in July before any journalist anywhere walks into a Saudi embassy. Maybe some of those business attendees would feel the same way?
4
Seals dressed in black suit will clap for whoever throws them a fish. I’ve been to Seaworld and seen it.
29
Turkey needs to release the audio tapes. That should expose the lies being told by his royal highness the crown wizard Salman.
2
Are there tapes?...Is SA’s security team so inept they wouldn’t “sweep” the console prior to the victims’ arrival?
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust ... “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
Has anyone stopped to consider that the reason it is all just noise to Michael Slater is that incidents like Khashoggi's murder happen all the time in this part of the world? One would essentially have to accept that fact as a condition of doing business there.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has had people publicly beheaded after being convicted of practicing witchcraft and sorcery within the past 10 years. In 2012, Ali al-Nimr and Dawoud al-Marhoon were both arrested at the age of 17 during Arab Spring protests, forced to confess, and sentenced to decapitation in 2014 and 2015. Of note, these events did not lead anyone in the press or in the legislature (or Presidents Bush or Obama) to call for sanctioning the Saudis in any meaningful way.
18
Lets be honest about "l'affaire Khasshoggi". Had he not written for the Washington Post and obtained asylum in the US, no one would care about his demise. Dissident journalists get murdered all the time in the world. Their deaths barely rates a notice on the back page of most papers, if it is noticed at all. Turkey has imprisoned more journalist than just about any country but that is hardly mentioned. Journalist disappear all the time in China. No one even counts the number of journalists killed in the various wars going on around the world.
Khashoggi's death will not stop companies from doing business with the Saudis. KSA is too important a country to be ignored. It is central for the Middle East policies of many Western countries. After all there are no other countries to take its place - it is a rock of stability in a chaotic region of the world.
Mostly it is Erdogan who is keeping the story on the Front Pages and above the fold. He keeps doling out tidbits of information so that the story will keep Turkey and its Sultan on the first pages. He is hoping to cash-in big time by the events in consulate. We really should not let him as the last thing anyone needs or wants is Erdogan getting too influential.
13
I really wonder if anyone can predict where this story goes. Lots of competing interests played out by nations without any moral compass and without skill at this thing.
6
@judyweller Nations are outraged because the entire world depends on certain basic rules of diplomacy that everyone (even Hitler) obeyed. When a government blatantly murders a resident of a country in that country, its a violation that, if left unpunished, would lead to the total breakdown of order in the world.
14
Hotel California:
"You can check out anytime, but you can never leave."
10
If I were in an auditorium with MBS knowing what I believe I know about MBS I would clap with enthusiasm also. It would be detrimental to your health (and living body) not to.
There will only be scapegoats here. No justice.
13
Find out if the Prince is a fan of American television. Like "The Americans" or a variety of other addictive edge of the seat adventures where people are cut up and dissolved in acid.
What do you do when a wealthy Saudi Prince arranges for the heinous murder of a journalist for the Washington Post- If you have no morality, no principles, no humanity, you give him a standing ovation when he walks into the room.He has already directed a bloody war against Yemen, imprisoned diplomats and even his relatives.He has shown that he is a rogue leader and not to be trusted- you better take your seat and stop clapping.
11
If the Crown Prince didn't order it then he still looks like a clueless incompetent because he has no control over his intelligence apparatus and the people who perpetrated it.
But life will go on if the murder is swept under the rug, more or less, and the victim forgotten because the primary difference between this killing and others committed by other governments is that it was so sloppy and easily discovered. So in that sense it would be an indication that such killings are not in Saudi Arabia's DNA. If such killings were common they would be better skilled at committing and concealing them. Like we do here in the USA. We, our government killers, make it look like an accident. Who actually believes Chandra Levy was killed by a random illegal immigrant from El Salvador?
1
I fear that it is too easy for us with nothing to lose to sit back in our comfortable armchairs and criticise the attendees of this conference and their muted response to what has happened. But really we might wonder how we might respond, thrust into the role with a mortgage to pay and kids at university. Hopefully, this situation surely does not represent a entire country. Awkward? Terribly. I doubt any of them really want to be there. Try to keep an open on the folks more or less forced into this charade. We can imagine there are others present who truly do not care. Woe to them.
1
Yes Stuart, you are perhaps quite correct in your doubts about how others (perhaps yourself?) might have responded in such an "awkward" situation. If this a moment of deeper than usual self-reflection on your own strength of moral integrity, are you pleased with what you found?
5
How ironic is it that this global investment shindig is being held in the very Ritz-Carlton where M. bin Salman held his countrymen prisoner for that big shakedown. I wonder if there are messages on the walls in the rooms...'help I'm being held for ransom!'
13
Standing ovation ? It is is the ultimate hypocrisy reflecting how materialistic those attendees are. No shame..no honour. I hope we can get a list of all. May be their explanation would be that if they did not stand up and clap, then they will be chopped as well !
3
Of course MBS got a standing ovation. This crowd, representative of "the best," worships money and avarice.
I'd like to get a list of attendees to form the basis of a boycott. This ugly cravenness to bloody wealth must stop.
And Steve Mnuchin executes a straddle: He goes, but "doesn't attend." What do you expect of a bankster? (One who escapes prosecution for foreclosure fraud by none other than then-California AG Kamala Harris, for which she has refused an explanation.)
11
Sure, travel back in time to the Kingdom and not stand and praise the god king.
What else could you do.
Not go!
11
No shock here with Trump as our president. Could it possibly be any worse?
5
If the person ultimately responsible for this gruesome murder can get a standing ovation instead of accountability; the only lesson for our furlture generations is to learn to better cover their tracks.
6
I hope everyone who knows the people in that audience makes them pay big time by humiliating and shaming them every day.
7
I hear attendees each got thirty pieces of silver.
10
Khashoggi made a strategic mistake. If only he had written something incendiary about Islam, the West would have come down on Saudi Arabia with a lot more resolve. So here we are, having a discussion about his murder by the preserver of Mecca, but never once using the words Haraam, Makruh, or Fatwa. If only Khashoggi were more circumspect, like Salman Rushdie, the dialog would have been about freedom of speech and all other things that are fundamental to Western hypocrisy. My advice to progressives seeking democracy in the middle east is the following - write about equality of status and of opportunity, by all means do so. But never forget to trash Islam at the curb if you need the West on your side.
Trashing Islam is not the answer. Respect of human life is.
6
This is exactly how World War I started.
An initially innocuous assassination and sparring between two middling powers...
3
@J
Not quite. The world powers at that time had been preparing for war and just needed an excuse.
2
@Aristotle Gluteus Maximus "Not quite"? Trump and Putin (and not a few other 'leaders' in various countries) give every indication of preparing for war right now! You only have to listen to Bolton for a minute or two to get the idea...
2
Well corporate America has taught us an invaluable lesson- how cheaply they will sell their souls. I want to reassure the corporations in attendance that I will forever be asking where the funding is coming from to make sure I walk away if it is Saudi Arabia.
12
The irony that the Saudi's are bombing Yemen into oblivion with American made weapons while also hosting the Center for Combating Terrorism is stark. MsB oversees his own terror apparatus...sometimes they drop precision bombs, sometimes they torture, strangle, and dismember journalists in their foreign embassies. I'm confident that the definition for terror depends on who is being terrorized, but Saudi money and our technology probably fall within that definition for many in the Middle East, just as collapsing buildings do for us.
8
These folks should have gotten together to figure out a way to end using oil, not further expand its use.
3
This article is the truth and unfortunately "the epidemy of the euphemism" the West has created as the petrodollar guarantees the US Dollars survival.
A "guarantee" given by the USA to the Saudis in the early 1970s hence they enjoy the full military protection of the USA as long as they market their oil on dollar-basis.
We can call it also an "archimedean" point of the Western economic system after the abolition of gold cover.
However, despite all the golden handshakes made these days in Riyadh between the traitors of democracy and freedom, we owe Mr.Khashoggy our deepest respects since it is clear to those who knew him that he indeed knew all risks involved when visiting the KSA consulate. He surely knew that it could happen and he choose to die a martyrers death.
1
@Francesco Paisano
The guarantee you refer to regarding the selling of US weapons to the Saudis doesn't date from the 1970s, but rather from the early 1940s, when FDR was president and Saudi oil was a key strategic asset to defeating Nazi Germany.
A funny thing: The Saudis still had legal chattel slavery at that time, well through the early 1950s. Yet, FDR was willing and able to work with them, just as he was willing and able to work with Joseph Stalin.
1
I am usually a positive person. If true, when a world leader - someone with resources to impact many, commits a heinous murder to quit a critic, then is applauded by other world leaders that also have resources to impact many, it is scary to us all, our children, our decency. We are creating a world with no safe harbour. No hope. No, I am not from Syria, I am from Rhode Island.
102
@Ira Grid That’s what really frightens me, Ira. I’m too old to see it play out, but I am terrified for our children and grandchildren (and all of humanity) because they will have nowhere on this earth to escape to, no hope of anything better. The thought makes me feel claustrophobia - no exit.
While MBS was receiving applause, his fighter jets were pummeling dirt houses in Yemen, pushing one of the poorest country in the world further toward hunger and destruction. More than 50,000 deaths since the war started should be enough to demand an end to the Saudi led war on Yemen.
264
@Ali - And the USA continues to sell billions of dollars of weapons to them so they can pummel whomever they like.
@Ali
Your point must be repeated and repeated until people are paying attention.
Jamal Khashoggi was trying to stop Saudi Arabia ‘s assault on Yemen and the estimates of 12-15 million Yemenis that will be killed in the coming months.
No decent person should stand by and let this happen without protest and divestment
I have never posted comments before but felt I had to after reading what Michael Slater said. He decided to attend the conference which is his choice. But to make such a despicable comment that, "It's just noise to me", what sort of person says that about another human being who was tortured and murdered? Northern Trust should be humiliated by Michael Slater's comments.
339
@AG I have just withdrawn my investments from Northern Trust (and encourage others to do so too...their performance has not been great anyway). But who do I invest with now? Is there anyone ethical out there?
11
@john gultig. are you saying you might not or would not have withdrawn your investments if Northern Trust was high performing?
@AG I just tweeted my disgust to Northern Trust. Hopefully someone in authority receives a compilation of backlash comments, tweets and other social media records of his hateful comment.
1
The comments by these business leaders were kind of disgusting. “Just noise” I could not help but think of all the big business aiding and abetting the Nazi regime. The engineering company that made the furnaces burning Jews, not because they had anything against Jews or were threatened by the Nazi regime but because business was business. Khashoggi was one man, but he was not the only man. When do these business leaders draw a line? When the publicity starts affecting their bottom line?
394
@Erik E
Well said!
The same thought occurred to me, and I'm sure many others too.
4
Thank you, Erik E! We needed that reminder.
@Erik E
This is exactly what came to mind for me as well, the complete disregard for human life vs potential profits. Not 'kind of' disgusting—completely vile and horrendous. And the blatant lies that 'we will get to the bottom of this 'situation'!' As though there is ANY question by any RATIONAL-minded being that the Prince ordered the murder! And probably demanded the journalist's fingers as proof the deed was done. These 'people' make my skin crawl.
@Henri Biner from the article “One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.” Yes that pretty much explains the truth-don’t put your relationship on the line for murder of another human being, especially a journalist right? This is global business. The next time you talk about globalization remember this.
5
The comment that got to me was the woman(!) claiming the murder of a dissident was not in Saudi culture's DNA. What rubbish from a country that fosters medieval Islamic beliefs and routinely executes dissidents. Mr. Moelis and others, some of us do take offense at investments that ignore state-sanctioned homocide. Not to mention the hypocrisy of drinking, drugging, and boffling by Saudi men who have the time and money to break their own rules while enforcing them on others.
10
Not in our DNA? We know that the majority of the 9/11 terrorists were Saudi.
We know they still carry out public beheadings. We know that the virulent Islam strain of Wahabbi permeates their culture. We know that women are indeed second class citizens in Saudi. We know that 15 high level Saudis, right next to MBS, carried out this journalists execution. And we know that those in power do not tolerate dissent.
N. Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia. Our president cuddles up to these guys.
21
Stalin got many standing ovations with incessant clapping at State occasions because...
8
I really love the comment by one person quoted in the article...she had considered not going to the event but she did go because she wasn't 'big' enough to make a statement by not going. What kind of moral slippery slope is this person on? One has to be important and 'big' enough to be so horrified by what has happened you don't attend the event sponsored by the murderers? No matter who you are ..how 'small' why would you go ? You want to do ' business ' with such a regime?
286
@Roz
I do not know how old are you, but it seems you have a lot to learn about the total lack of morality in these people. You can bet that those that did not show up sent messages begging for "undestanding" on the part of MBS. Hipocresy is one of their basic principles.
@Roz The comments about not "being big enough to make a statement" is stating reality. Dissident journalists get killed all the time. If Khashoggi had been living in the Middle East, he would be lucky to get an obit on the back pages. That is the reality of the world in which we live.
If you are rich and murder someone you get a standing ovation from those who want some of that money. If you are poor and murder someone you are either killed or go to jail for decades. I suppose it has always been this way but it is easy to see why so many are disillusioned with those in power.
480
Will the Clinton Foundation be returning the $25 it received from Saudi Arabia before the 2016 election?
I realize this comment is snarky, but I say it to make a more important point: Saudi Arabia is an important player in the region, and if the Saudi regime ever falls it will be replaced not by a democracy, but by a more devout theocracy than exists there now. A big part of the reason that the Saudis have exported so much terror and Wahhabist madrasas is that Islamist revolutionaries attempted to overthrow the royal family in 1979, following their 2 week siege of the Grand Mosque. It should deeply disturb us all that thought leaders in our newspapers are ignorantly treating Jamal Khashoggi like he is Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Sorry, but this is not worth a regional, or a world conflagration.
14
@Middleman MD not that I don’t enjoy interjecting the Clinton’s into absolutely anything that happens anywhere as much as the next Republican, but $25 is not exactly a noteworthy sum.
2
@Middleman MD, a new World War seems so passé. We’ve devised so many other ingenious ways of killing off this world other than with mere tanks, airplanes and battleships. Technologically we can look back at those first two with such innocence.
1
@Thomas Wright
Lol, thank-you for catching my typographical omission! $25 million it is.
The fact that money talks should NOT be a surprise to ANYONE.
However and ALL things being relative certain comments - such as this one - are particularly egregious!
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
This man, Michael Slater, sounds like lowest of the low. His appallingly dismissive comment reflects the collective sentiments of those who attended this conference.
These attendees cannot be shamed since they are shameless.
17
What Salman did, ghastly as it is, isn't even as bad as what Trump's other pal Putin has done, or Kim. Trump is an entirely amoral capitalist, and he wants all of the capital to go through his greedy hands. America, if you have a choice between going green and freeing yourselves from Saudi oil or selling bombs to Saudis to drop on civilians, including children, in Yemen producing the world worst humanitarian crisis, then just go green. In the long run, men like Salman and Trump are going to turn on you without a thought.
6
Just like Trump. Sadly, there’s always someone willing to stand up and applaud the despicable.
8
"Standing Ovation for Saudi Crown Prince Thrusts Conference Attendees Into Limelight"
Umm --
It's hard to understand why anyone would find this to be shocking or surprising ...
After all -- Donald Trump receives standing ovations and cheers of adulation from our own American citizens right here -- some of whom are probably your next-door neighbors...
10
Body’s parts found! Not far from the consulate,in a garden.
https://news.sky.com/story/sky-sources-jamal-khashoggis-body-parts-found...
5
Because nothing makes you stand and clap like the threat of dismemberment.
12
This conference shows why average businesspersons should be viewed as necessary evils, tolerated only to the extent that they keep economies working, but not viewed as having much to do with morality or honesty. They should be viewed as sports figures, except that in their sport the referees are like WWF ones, successful cheating is admired and emulated, and being caught brings mainly make-believe penalties and slaps on the wrist.
4
No morals. None. Enjoy your conscience-free life.
7
Just pathetic.
10
Someone should remind the Saudi regime that it would take about 15 minutes for the developed nations to swoop in and seize their oil wealth if they don’t behave. This band of former Bedouin’s did absolutely nothing to create the oil, nor any of the technology that allows it to be extracted, refined or consumed, so they have precious little moral claim to the wealth they flaunt at Davos in the Desert. The world should insist that they cooperate fully with the Khashoggi investigation, including extraditing those implicated.
9
@Marc McGuire
Extraditing them to where? Turkey? The Hague?Khashoggi was a Saudi citizen killed in a Saudi embassy.
And as far as your silly saber rattling is concerned, how do you suppose the broader Muslim world would react to the threat of "developed", ie western nations invading and occupying the birthplace of Islam?
Real estate investors from the United States were eagerly prowling the halls looking for opportunities.
That tells you about all you need to know. Just wondering what imaginary company names the Trump and Kushner organizations were using to participate. Real estate companies make child traffickers look like Mother Theresa.
18
Heaven forbid we let something like state sponsored assassinations on foreign soil stand in the way of making money. What a sickening display of the capitalism at its very worst. Saudi Arabia is no more humane of a country than Iran and N. Korea, they just happen to have more money and powerful enablers. When this is the true face of capitalism, is it any wonder that young Americans are identifying with socialism?
21
Money, money, money, MONEY! For the love of money.
14
To those who attended: shame on you.
18
This is just the wrong time for anyone to look to America for any kind of moral lead on anything... sorry about that, world...
The flip side, if you're a tin-pot dictator in some third world country, things couldn't be brighter... you're welcome...
13
I wonder if those who gave the standing ovation had been asked about the massive starvation Saudi policy is causing in Yemen would have replied "let them eat cake." We know what happened to the high and mighty person who purportedly said that, I wont shed tears if it also happens to these immoral greedy sad excuses for human beings.
19
It has always about money over people. It's nice that Trump has been so blatant about it.
11
Nicky Haley, where are you?
If ever there was a time for the United States to be taking names, this was it.
6
@Mattjmcp
Ol’ Nicky only “took names” of those countries who were too poor to pay off Trump & his cronies. If that ol’ gal had been at this recent conference, she would have been in the front row applauding louder than anyone else. We cannot expect any moral leadership or even simple human decency from our current political leadership, alas.
Mr. Goldfinger: "Sorry our associate was unable to stay for the end of the meeting. He had a... pressing engagement."
7
It's all about money for the rich. Human rights, honesty, integrity, ethics - feh!
We now live in a two-class society: rich v. poor. The wealthy are loathe to give up anything and want total control of everything. Trump is certainly one of their main cheerleaders.
In Saudi Arabia, anyone found not applauding the absolute dictator, MBS, will disappear. Trump would love this here but those who still retain sanity, the Democrats, will stop that in its tracks by VOTING (something the Arabs cannot do).
12
Never has the phrase "business as usual" have so much meaning.
5
Just business as usual, unmitigated greed disguised as essential commerce. The great environmentalist David Brower defined a corporation as a device to separate conscience from wallet. As the Khashoggi assassination illustrates, it's not just morality from money, but also principle from purpose and justice from justification.
No amount of gilding can transform sand and oil to civilization if savagery is countenanced by standing ovations by "Good Germans" who see opportunity but are blind to atrocity.
Every collaborator attending the Crown Prince's now ghoulish soiree in the sand are pretenders to the plutocracy assailed by Paul Volcker interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin in The NYT today: “We’ve got an enormous number of enormously rich people that have convinced themselves that they’re rich because they’re smart and constructive."
“'It’s just noise to me,' said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust...".
The virtual ka-ching proffered by the blood-stained Saudi usurper is what Mr. Slater and his ilk choose to hear. Not the whir of a bone saw slicing through human flesh and bone, the muzak of MBS' "modernization".
The creed of avarice is See, Hear and Speak No Evil even in plain sight of decapitation and dismemberment.
But for people less damaged, Mr. Khashoggi's muffled cry will not go unheeded. It will echo and resonate, demarcating the decadence and degradation of all Saudi Royals.
The whole world is watching.
24
Excellent: “It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust ... “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.” Here's the problem for Mr. Slater. He incorrectly assumes that the Saudi thugs would never put him on the list of people they need to abduct, torture and murder. Incorrect. With people like the Saud clan, anyone that seems inconvenient is disposable, and they will eventually get around to Mr. Slater if need be. He should be more cautious in his approach to the moral divide created by doing business with murderers.
11
This article should be titled Greed Trumps Humanity.
Mark 8:36
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
13
@Eliz Trump does not have a soul. Neither does Salman, Putin or Kim.
6
Of course he got a standing ovation, just like Lil Kim. Everyone is scared to death they are next to be dismembered. Khashoggi was a brave man, a man of principle.
Principles vs Profit----- I hope this country will choose principles in this matter and hold these thugs responsible. I'm afraid however, our president doesn't care about principles, only profit.
6
He is the Crown Prince, Not the dude that we see him as, He gets his Kingdom, to bow to him, because they know if they don't their head is for the chopping block. Your headline, (could I say Neckline, would that be to much spin) is almost mote in his country, of course they will love him with or without the praise being false. They have to or they will die just as fast, didn't he prove that to them as he solidified his power base, taking the reigns of any tiny bit of power from all the others this spring? Your readers should already have looked into this Son's past to see how he is gearing himself out to be the Next King. I do wonder who he'll pick as his own Prince. That will be a highly sought after position, and one the Kingdom watchers are already placing bets on at the bookies the world over.
Remember Jesus.
1
Disgraceful, any evil is acceptable if there is a profit to be had.
14
I am very sorry to see the King of Jordan sitting in such a prominent place next to Saudi leadership.
12
It is hard to imagine the pain, anger and loss felt by those who were close to Mr Khashoggi. Nothing can be said to justify the horror of his murder, nor can the perpetrators be forgiven.
Our Administration should us this case to press Saudi Arabia for better human and equal rights. Now is an excellent opportunity to press for this.
But I urge all the naive liberals to get off their high horses. Right now we need Saudi Arabia for their oil, their investments and more than that as a buffer and ally against the far more dangerous Irani theocratic dictators.
Obama was friends with the Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi, Hillary Clinton attended a conference with Suha arafat where she gave a violently anti-Israel speech. All of our leaders are friends with China and other human rights violating leaders. As Americans we certainly must strive to improve human rights around the world, but some countries are not ready for our level of human rights and forcing them may lead to worse, such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas.
2
@Harry Mazal What we need is a damn renewables industry with heavy government investment in R and D and a president who believes in science. We also need to quit selling arms to rogue warriors who bomb civilians like Salman.
8
@Harry Mazal. We do not "need” Saudi Arabia. Also, please explain to all of us why Iran is the enemy when 9/11 was carried out by Saudis AND they continue to spread their vicious Wahabi ideology throughout the world. Saudi isn’t a nation state, it’s a brutal crime syndicate. Without industry or productive capacity, they need us much more than we need them. Let’s liberate our foreign policy from the venal clutches of mbs and netanyahu. We. Are being played for fools.
5
@Mary O'Connell That makes a lot of sense and I would greatly welcome more renewable energy and yes it would be great to have much smarter leaders, better than those of the last few years.
But that does not address what you would do with the void created by taking out the Saudi warriors. Do you want Iran instead.
The problem is complex and the solution even more.
1
Mr. Slater’s comments were absolutely shocking and bluntly cold. How does this guy sleep at night?
Well, in cushy no-conscience sheets, I assume.
Shame.
13
Money does the strangest things to humans.
10
Let's all hail Mr. Bone Saw! Come on standing 'O'.
6
"Ms. Zingher, an American, considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference."
'...where were you when they came for the Jews?
where will you be when they come for you?'
...just sayin'
11
You can lament the unpleasant, the duplicitous, the unspeakable things humans do to one another.
But all this avarice has precipitated the marvels of the last few millennia: agriculture, sanitation, electricity, vastly extended lifespans. The fact that you’re reading this means you’re hands aren’t clean.
@Nonesuch
All of which have nothing to do with the Saudi Arabians. In fact they did not even finance much of it because the major breakthroughs happened before they were a country, electricity, sanitation, agriculture, etc.
7
According to laws in most countries, if a person is convicted of ordering a hit on somebody the punishment is usually severe.
If that person is head of state, or a powerful politician they seems to get away with it.
If proven, MBS is just a felon, and we should not do business with him.
8
A standing O! Neville Chamberlain would have been so proud! God bless capitalism!
7
@PW Yes, NC would have been friends with Iran and Turkey.
Can NY Times prepare and publish the list of American companies and politicians (including representatives of Federal Govt agencies) who attended this meeting in Saudi Arabia, so that American people can boycott them?
51
@Bonkusec
I second your request for names of representatives of U.S. businesses present.
And guess what: Morgan Stanley has my mortgage and Citibank has had a Manhattan account that I've been using for decades. I've known I'm complicit, and it's troubling.
7
"It's just noise to me" said Michael Slater from Northern Trust. What a horrendous and tone-deaf assessment from a true capitalist tool.
41
@ArcturusA "tool" is too kind. And we are supposed to believe that business' are going to care about the environment or the good of the world? Greed is the key word.
If I had any assets with his firm, I would have them out today.
12
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
If you need to know what a moral vacuum is, look no further.
24
A body double wearing the clothes of a butchered journalist. And the guy who undoubtedly ordered the hit or allowed it gets a standing O. The same family behind 9-11.
These are the "leaders" of business right now. We should all take note.
25
Is Don Corleone attending this conference of murderous thugs and those who do business with them and ignore a bone-saw murder as "just noise?"
Oh, wait a minute. Don Corleone still had some humanity and some principles. He wouldn't qualify to attend this conference on that account alone.
4
That conference must be full of -spies- from all sides disguised as investors.
2
"'One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,' he [Henry Biner] said. 'We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.'"
You put yourself on the line for yet another important "relationship,"Mr. Biner. Meet your next "business" partner.
Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul to waste
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Biner, hope you guess my name.
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah.
Pleased to meet you, Mr. Biner, hope you guess my name.
What should be troubling you is the nature of my game
17
@Gluscabi
written, at least in part by Mary Anne Faithfull.
2
Ovations.....of course; kind of like "winning" the Vietnam conflict or Iraq War, right? Bravo...bravo...wherever the money goes.
2
It is probably safer to stand and applaud than to remain seated. The possibility to get beheaded obviously influences your attitude.
11
If you were a Saudi citizen and the Prince and heir apparent of your autocratic fossil fuel theocracy had a Saudi citizen killed and dismembered while he smiled and smirked with implausible denials you would be expected to give him at least a standing ovation. That or you could be next. That is essence of terrorism.
Mohammed bin Salman is a gangster. Unlike all of the Trump boys he is not a big mouthed tweeting and speaking bloviating buffoon. Salman is expecting a Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin respect and pass to kill his own with impunity and immunity.
8
Capitalism has reached another disgusting low point.
12
Drumpt says MBS could shoot someone on 5th Avenue & no one would care . When’s you’re rich & famous they let you do that .
15
regardless trimp will blame the immigrants, the brown ones.
2
Wouldn't expect anything, but a standing ovation, from fellow organized crime bosses.
6
Now I wonder if those who cancelled their attendance will be considered as critics of the Saudi government.
2
I am disgusted with all these people - one human life is not worth as much as their bank accounts
2
Our business and government leaders stand up and applaud trump. He may not have had anyone assassinated, but he has enacted policies that threaten people's health and lives. Those clapping for trump should be ashamed, as well as those applauding MBS.
4
Part of the story that says “Tally Zingher...considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference.” And perhaps not moral enough.
3
As sometimes happens in human history, one man can make a very big difference. Will such a man emerge here? No one expects our President to value justice for a murdered journalist over dollars earned from exports. No one expects MBS to do anything but deny, deny, deny. And none of us should expect Erdogan to do anything but feather his/Turkey's nest. But the Saudi King - there is someone who could -- COULD - be the difference-maker. How will history record your actions, King Salman?
This is Nina Castro:
And we expected what, exactly? There is no end to justifications for anything one CHOOSES to do.
1
A standing ovation..appalling.
7
Business “leaders” who applaud MBS in spite of his abhorrent behavior concerning the murder of Khashoggi and the war in Yemen should be required to take a refresher course in ethics. Clearly, they were not paying attention back in prep school or at their Ivy League alma maters.
2
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the
Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here,
and that’s what I care about.”
how many think like this business-[as usual]-man?
add to that public short memory plus the unwillingness
to be bothered by sad or bad news for too long ...
and conclude that all we can do is keep jamal's memory alive.
along with that of countless colleagues of his who were
silenced around the globe, this year alone.
they say you can kill a person but never an idea.
seeing the current mess caused by the massive right-swing,
i'm afraid that if we don't watch out, they'll finally manage
to kill our idea of friendly coexistence and fairness to all, too.
am i too pessimistic?
5
Your pessimism is justified.
1
It’s awkward,” said Tally Zingher, chief executive of Dawsat, a start-up company focused on health in the Middle East, who noted the shadow cast by Mr. Khashoggi’s death.
"Ms. Zingher, an American, considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference."
It has nothing to do with prominence, Ms Zinger, and everything to do with being able to look at yourself in the mirror when you get up in the morning.
If doing the right thing were dependent on receiving public recognition, our world would be empty of acts of selflessness, kindness and charity.
It's clear from this article's account that the mirrors at the Riyadh Ritz Carlton will not be wanting for smug images to reflect back at their self-satisfied users.
12
Here is one vignette from those years as it actually occurred. At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for.
Of course, everyone stood up (just as everyone had leaped to
their feet during the conference at every mention of his name).
The small hall echoed with "stormy applause, rising to an ovation." For three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, the "stormy applause rising to an ovation," continued. But palms were getting sore and raised arms were already aching. And the older people were panting from exhaustion. It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who adored Stalin. However, who would dare be the first to stop?
( The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn)
10
"While the biggest American banks did not send their top leaders, institutions such as Citigroup and Morgan Stanley sent midlevel regional executives." Upon my first read I thought that sentence said, 'Citigroup and Morgan Stanley sent medieval regional executives.' That would have made more sense.
21
Although we might reasonably rely on investors to invest wisely, or not, we should certainly never, ever count on them to uphold anything resembling a moral standard.
Attempting to do so simply highlights the absurdity of conflating the standards of private enterprise with ethics of the public interest. Yet we do this all the time. Mad people that we are, the result is always the same.
6
I understand that the empty seats of the conference were filled in the last minute with Saudi's. The standing ovation speaks clearly to their approval and support of Mohammed bin Salman.
As for the Saudi woman who is now allowed to drive: let's not forget she must first ask for approval to leave the house by a male member of the household. He could be as young as twelve.
So much for progressive reform.
24
Was there some point to this story? Most of the audience probably hopes to return home in one piece. Naturally they applaud.
4
Trump said he could murder someone on 5th Avenue and would face no consequence for his act. The Crown Prince shows how it is done.
79
@Michael, george W Bush was way ahead of them. His administration got away with destroying ancient civilizations of Babylon and Mesopotamia.
1
@Michael And I'm hoping that all those who applauded realize that they just announced that their lives are worthless as well. Who will stand for them when the time comes? Not me.
One more confirmation that business and crime have a natural affinity.
11
Since anyone with even tuppence worth of morals has withdrawn from this conference, it's no surprise that the rest of them gave Crown Prince bin Despot a standing ovation.
9
Hum.... i think you are on to something! @PeteH
I believe a politician once said, “I could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue and nobody would care.”
I guess it’s the same for butchering somebody in the privacy of your consulate.
10
Michael Slater "just noise".............complicit to murder with that statement. They can come to get him at any time, he just thinks his money will shield him. Sick, corrupt, evil to the core.
10
@mary 'just noise' rates with the most callous quotes from an American businessmen at the conference. After all, what has Mr Khashoggi ever done to put money in Michael Slater's pocket? Unmiitigated greed has purged any capacity for empathy from this man's soul.
2
A standing ovation for some petulant rich kid, who publicly got away with having a journalist assassinated and butchered. This is what happens when you place more value in paper fiat money than human life.
I think I’m beginning to understand what “race to the bottom” really means. Helter Skelter!
7
The scent of death may not be sweet, but the smell of money is too compelling to ignore. These people are disgusting.
37
I stopped believing that the moneyed and privileged class had souls a long time ago. It's all about the money. If the public wants to demand accountability and make a difference, they need to stop using the services of corporations who support those complicit in murder. Unfortunately, very few people are willing to inconvenience themselves making us all complicit. Maybe our new American motto should be: Give me convenience, or give me death!
9
Was that the Jordanian King in the accompanying video, all smiles and beaming, as he proudly sat next to the Dark Prince? Well, if our Fake President could probably get a sustained standing ovation by his enraptured base of support, even if he shot some poor soul on Fifth Avenue, I suppose in an immoral world the D.P. is also entitled to some rousing recognition at his convocation for Western dollars in Riyadh.
1
Many of the attendees I'm sure are disgusted and repulsed by MBS's murder of Khashoggi, but they hope to get money out of Saudi, and figure attending this meaningless show is required. Those who have the moral fortitude to vote with their feet on this murderous regime are to be greatly admired.
6
So how many of our youth are going to stop using Uber because they got funding from the saudis?
8
What I personally find so strange, is that the prince took so much risk, did the man really have to die now? what are they so afraid off?
I mean it’s already common knowledge, that Saudi Arabia violates human rights, like there lives depend on it.
2
@Stef Burger
What risk? He just got a standing ovation. Killing Khashoggi to him was like swatting a fly to you or me. He just casually eliminated an annoyance.
1
"RIYADH — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, received a standing ovation as he made an unannounced appearance at a global investment conference here on Tuesday, further clouding an event that has been thrown into disarray after the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist."
How sad that money and power can so easily warp some people's sense of humanity.
7
I would like the NYT to publish a list of companies that attended and applauded. They will not be getting ANY business from me.
19
When murderous despots demand applause, it's rarely safe to remain sitting.
6
Of course he gets a standing ovation! Nobody else wants to end up in pieces in the woods!
7
By all means let me know what American corporations were represented and applauding. I’ll never buy another service or good from them again.
66
@JVK
I agree and applaud your intention, but there will be many tentacles to find before we’re done.
2
I wonder whether Westerners who attend such conferences feel a vague sense of gratification and some lessening of guilt in that it is not just the West that values materialism but so do some non-Western cultures. That would be unpardonable. In the West, by and large, society is free, dissent does not result in repression, and individualism is not an anti-social behavior. By contrast, societies like the one in Saudi Arabia have merely grafted material values onto a substrate that has no concept of tolerance of dissent or free expressions of individualism. Should material things be removed from their grasp what is left behind will not be a pleasant spectacle. It is understandable for mankind to take comfort in achieving a reasonable level of materialism. But the accumulation of material wealth by a few individuals at the top in societies whose underpinings are shaky should not be mistaken as a sign of progress.
6
Standing ovation, of course, money does rule, and some will do anything for it.
5
@bobdc6
Unfortunately it has become terribly apparent that it is not 'some' but far too many who will do anything for money.
I read the quote in your article attributed to Saudi billionairess Lubna Olayan, "The terrible acts reported in recent weeks are alien to our culture and our DNA," and at first I thought, wow, female Trump. Alternate facts and unaware of science, including that human DNA is essentially the same in all humans, regardless of place of origin. But she may actually be right. Evil is not a function of culture or DNA, it is a function of unchecked power, ego and greed - which seems to describe at least some, if not a majority, of the attendees at that gathering.
19
Henry Biner, an executive at the Boston-based P/E Investments, said: “One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
A tortured, decapitated man ordered to die by royal decree cannot deter profit.
71
Standing ovation!
Shameful.
24
This article quotes many would-be Alfred E. Neumans: "What, me worry?" They seem not to care about an abiding truth: a man is known by the company he keeps.
10
And let's not forget the Yemeni genocide he has committed, and that the US is complicit in.
15
Of course Steve Mnuchin found a way to go over there. And under the premise of "terrorism". Right.
15
This is appalling. There should be a list of what corporations sent representatives, and gave a standing ovation. In doing so, they gave a green light to this type of barbaric behavior. Those companies should be boycotted. Provide the list, and I will share in my social media and encourage others to do the same.
27
Please, New York Times journalists, we need the list of U.S. companies represented at this conference. Who is it who does not understand that the West cannot do business with/enable the current Saudi regime under MbS?
If a Western European or North American president or prime minister was believed to have ordered the torture, dismemberment and death of a journalist, she or he would have to stand trial. Most Arabs aspire to such fairness and rule of law, but they cannot achieve it in police states.
"Business as usual" is willing complicity. We need to see who is complicit, who condones murdering journalists. Some of us are taking notes and taking our own money elsewhere. I personally do not want any of Jamal Khashoggi's blood--or the blood of innocent Yemeni civilians--on my dollars.
42
@Sandra Campbell The list of major companies not somehow benefitting from the Saudis would take less paper to list them.
9
I'm wondering who were the Canadians in attendance?
I need to know who I'm going to be boycotting.
11
Well, there you have it. It's not all puppies, pretty flowers and Trump out there.
4
Anyone who has not stood up and applauded Mohd Bone Saw, would either lose his head (Saudis), or lose his business (Corporates). Hard Choice.
4
I wish the names of participants could be published. It would be an informative summary of globally prominent, ruthless and morally bankrupt individuals and the entities for whom they are shilling.
49
I noticed that king of Jordan sitting next to the Crown Prince and giving him an admiring glance. Much as he kisses the behind of our noble "leader." I've completely lost respect for this king.
9
"It's awkward" pretty much says it all.
2
A good reminder not to work with Northern Trust. #boycottnortherntrush
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
12
Mose Allison wrote the words to Everybody's Cryin' Mercy back in 1968 and the words still ring true today:
"I can't believe the things I'm seeing
I wonder 'bout some things I've heard
Everybody's crying mercy
When they don't know the meaning of the word
A bad enough situation
It's sure enough getting worse
Everybody's crying justice
Just as long as it's business first"
11
I'm ashamed to admit this, but after watching the way that they handle dissent, I would probably have applauded, too
7
Greed will always trump morality in the end. It will be business as usual soon enough, no matter the ultimate outcome.
22
@Stephan
Really? The Daily Mail reports that parts of Jamal Khashoggi's face have been found. His fingers, allegedly, were sent back to Saudi Arabia to prove his writing days were over.
His son was forced to make a public appearance with these monsters, shaking the hands that ordered his father's awful death.
I believe the claims because I actually heard from my own network already of an individual from the region having been surreptitiously sent a grisly image of the badly disfigured face of the deceased.
You can be sure that if these images are out there and reaching even someone like me, then concerned individuals exist who are very much worried about the unraveling of social norms in KSA.
Under the circumstances, a standing ovation is the last thing to indulge in.
There are moments & events in life that have a defining quality, a Before/After to them, a crystal clear "which side are you on?" precision in sorting people.
Earlier this year, much of the world came together to pray for 13 Thai youths trapped in a deep, seemingly impenetrable cave.
The torture-murder of Jamal Khashoggi is the anti-thesis to that unifying event. It is also unifying, to all civilized human beings & families everywhere. No human being should experience such a death, ever.
Praising it, condoning it -- "moving on" -- is not possible. There are no excuses for such extreme inhumanity.
Would the same audience give an ovation to Basher al-Assad? What is the difference between these men?
10
“One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
At least some people have their priorities straight. People come and go by the billions. They are born, live some sort of life -- some long, others short -- then they die. Money is forever.
10
Why are we surprised at all? Money and more money and the desire for money and the celebration of money have now superceded all that we used to know that was good in America and around the world: truth, morality, courage, conscience. Fascism has returned, except now it wears suits and ties and turbans instead of shoulder straps, collar patches and Wehrmacht belts.
58
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
Research has shown that high level executives are considerably more likely to demonstrate sociopathic tendencies and many are actual sociopaths.
Looks like Mr. Slater is definitely one of them. I'd be so ashamed to be his wife, his children or God forbid, his parents.
138
It made me cringe as well. I was hoping his quote was out of context.
13
@Steve Cohen Since Mr. Slater's comment seems to be the most odious and commented upon by those who read the NYT, I'm sure he's either mad that he was quoted out of context or embarrassed if he isn't.
@Benetrw And a graduate of Lipscomb University, a faith-based institution in Nashville. I'm impressed. Manna from heaven.
2
Judging from the photos, most attendees were from Gulf stooges of MBS who insisted his supporters attend or else face head removal. What a joke. Foreigners included the anti-Qatar alliance, Mossad agents, Trumpeteers and select embassy staff on obligatory duty. No women appear in any photos; could this be a mirage or are they in a segregated space?
18
money trumps morals.
10
Murder in the consulate. Horrendous but, it's happening everywhere,so? Got my blinders on, just doing business. It's just noise to me. These fatuous, witless perspectives, probably fueled by greed and a predisposition to indifference are of the same mindless species that allowed Hitler to spread... "horrendous, but as long as it isn't interfering with my country, my business or my wealth, it's just noise to me; oh, and that goes for climate change too!"
39
Yeah, well, if I valued my life, I'd clap too. Duh.
7
Truly sad and disheartening the world applauds with greed and glee a murderous tyrant who promises wealth. Wait until it is your turn at the embassy or in line somewhere. You or your family member will not be safe from this terror. All is well if you worship money....."Satan's jeweled crown."
5
"When you're in Rome, you do what the Romans do." Ditto for Riyadh and Saudi Arabia. All those who disapprove of Mohammed bin Salman"s brutal murder of Janal Khashoggi are boycotting this meeting.
7
Anyone attending is not going to remain seated during a standing ovation for a murderer. Anyone else getting sick of perpetually being on the wrong side of history?
11
Someone please post names of business so we can boycott every single one of them. Not kidding.
52
Publish the audio and let us hear the “noise” of the screams of an innocent man being murdered.
I’m always amazed that some humans are able to walk without having spines.
Shame on all who applauded. Shame on all in attendance. Your love of money should not trump all.
15
A very sad article. I know the world is an evil and cruel place. I know we are far from perfect. We elected the Republicans (trump got in because America will not acknowledge the election was rigged, with or without Trump's knowledge.) We know too many Americans (though not rich and powerful) believe as do the attendees of this blood ritual.
Too many of us need to look in the mirror and change who we are. The future need to be run by leaders with REAL MORAL. Enough liars and cheats and IMMORAL KILLERS! Truth Sayers and Innocents need to be respected and protected! Material possessions will become junk! Let's take small steps away from the immoral
4
Based on the ever changing reasons given for Khashoggi’s death, MBS should receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
4
The butcher of Yemen has a new product to promote at his global investment, "bone saw".
3
Didn't Trump prove money doesn't buy elections? Trump won because the media gave him billions in free advertising every time he said outrageous and patently stupid things. And the people in this country want, more than anything, to be entertained. Combine their need for entertainment and their hate, like Trump did, and you've got a sure winner.
6
Hooray Mohammed bin Salman!
Hooray!
He's not like Hannibel Lecter!
“Still, more than 3,000 people were attending the conference and, in the opening hours, the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton buzzed as executives glided across the marble floors, sipping kiwi juice, exchanging business cards and discussing potential deal.”…
“Ms. Olayan, a billionaire and one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia, said she was confident that “the truth will emerge” about Mr. Khashoggi’s fate and she thanked the foreigners who attended the conference under the circumstances.”
“I am sure we will grow and emerge stronger as a result of dealing with the crisis of the last few weeks,” she said.
After an uncomfortable silence, the packed ballroom applauded.”…
Hooray he's not exactly like Hannibal Lecter!
Jamal Khashoggi's remains have yet to be located.
16
@interested party
There are reports of some remains having been discovered by Turks.
@Maria Ashot
Hannibal bin Salman...
An Islamic state, Saudi Arabia, sends a hit team to it's consulate residing in another Islamic state, Turkey, to assassinate one of it's citizens who holds permanent residency in the United States and works on a contract basis for the Washington Post. Major U.S. concern or simply a " family squabble " involving Islamic politics?
4
NYT, can you research the costs of Mr Mnuchin's multi-country trip? Is his wife travelling with him? How many staff members accompany him compared to similar trips in earlier administrations? How much of the trip has been meetings vs. leisure? Thanks.
67
The immorality of those who attended this conference cannot be overstated. The immorality of those who sell weapons to the Saudis cannot be overstated. The immorality of an American president who brags about making money from the Saudis and whose is bent on selling them the weapons they will use to murder the children of Yemen cannot be overstated.
Saudi Arabia has long been a repressive country and is no better since the so-called "reformist" prince gained power. Under this prince dissidents like Jamal Khasshoggi are murdered or imprisoned. Under this prince women who argued that they should be allowed to drive are in prison.
Saudi Arabia should be shunned as long as human rights are denied to the people of Saudi Arabia and as long as dissent is now allowed.
Had Germany in the early years of Hitler's rule held a similar conference would the same typeof people who attended this conference have gone to Berlin? You bet that they would. Had Mr. Trump been president in those days would he have sold weapons to the Nazi regime? You bet that he would.
35
"Many bankers kept their name tags obscured behind their ties or decided that this was not the year to speak to the news media." SAYS IT ALL. These outfits ought to be boycotted - but that is impossible since the murderers are everywhere/1
16
Ms Zingher need not worry about not being prominent - she has now gained some notoriety by attending a ritzy meeting hosted by an infamous murderer.
9
Only the gravitational pull of $$$ could draw a bunch of fabulously RICH people into the gilded prison of a man credibly accused of human butchery committed just days ago!!
Can it be even remotely prudent to do business with anyone with THAT kind of judgement??
13
Of course they applauded and stood on their heads probably. If you were there would you not do the same? They all want to get out of there alive. You think this Monster would stop from killing anyone who questions him now?
8
"'It’s just noise to me,' said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. 'The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.' This sums up the ignoble and monstrous parade of this conference of "leaders." Can Humanity fall lower than this?
14
“'It’s just noise to me,' said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. 'The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.'”
There you have it, murder most foul is just noise to the malefactors of great wealth whose investments in this brutal regime are all that matter. Shameful and expected among those, such as Michael Slater, for whom business trumps decency and morality.
11
What are 10 fingers, a head, arms, legs, torso, and the agonized screaming, when it comes to their investing?
When there's money to be made in the Trump Oligarch circle, let's not trouble ourselves with these trivialities. We'll have one of Trump's Kavanaugh investigations. McConnell will preside over it. to make sure no facts are uncovered.
Saudi prince says to Trump
Fetch those fingers, bring them here, now sit up......
6
When a black athlete peacefully takes a knee to protest a pattern of deadly police violence disproportionately victimizing black men, Trump and his followers insist that it is an unconscionable offense to the military, the flag, patriotism, and all that they hold dear about America. But when the tyrant taking control of the country most frequently tied to deadly terrorist incedents harming America and its allies (including 9/11) is directly Implicated in the political murder of an American resident and journalist, it's business as usual. What's wrong with this picture?
110
It is interesting to read some of the comments here. People are discovering what Marx and Engels wrote in 1848. Better late than never.
5
This right here is why the U.S. and every other country needs laws to prevent support (financial or otherwise) of murders like MBS -- hoping that people who make money off of these butchers will do the right thing doesn't cut it.
2
Just an aside, but Moelis & Co. is where Eric Cantor landed after getting primaried in 2014.
5
"Still, in a demonstration of its continued attractiveness as an investment partner, Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, announced the signing of 15 deals with companies in eight countries, including the United States, France, China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, South Korea and India. The value of the transactions is $34 billion."
They didn't notice the blood running down the wall, did they, these elites who rule the world. They never do.
14
I hope reporters are taking pictures of the executives who attend it and they publish the pictures so they can be identified. Then we need to boycott those businesses. Shame on them.
10
"“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater of Northern Trust... “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
And there you have it. Actual honesty.
99% (or more!) of those NOT attending feel the exact same way only they for whatever reason happened to fear negative PR blowback MORE than the chance to make more $$$.
9
Of course he got a standing ovation.
It's just a cross between the political theater of a Trump Lie-a-thon and the cultic smugness of the final photo in The Shining.
3
Michael Slater should be fired by Northern Trust. But, I doubt the company is as conscientious as then Slater shouldn't even be there.
6
President Trump provided cover for attendees by his mild reaction to the grisly murder. Sending Secretary Mnuchin to a parallel meeting made clear the Trump administration is basically sticking with the Saudis and are doing as much as they can to blur the issues. What a low point for America!
8
Henry Biner, an executive at the Boston-based P/E Investments... “One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.
Good that your not risking those relationships Mr. Biner- just your integrity and decency. Why not put your thoughts quoted above in your next quarterly mailing to investors? Then see how those relationships hold up.
24
MbS ordered the murder of a journalist. That does not seem to be the problem. The problem is the lucrative arms sales that are at risk - everyone intends to keep doing business with the regime.
2
He got many standing ovations while he was reforming thousands in Yemen as well, so he's used to being celebrated as a reformer. I bet having your fingers sliced reforms you instantly. Might as well start an MBS ovation watch for he's going to be getting many over the next few days.
8
Money talks and rolls over people's rights, including Khashoggi's right to his own life taken away by Prince Salman. Salman receiving a standing ovation in Riyadh today by those seeking a piece of his wealth shows how far it (money) goes.
I yearn for the time when people's voices and their rights matter more than money. I don't expect the current US government to support the above or put the energy to enable a significant punishment to Salman, but hopefully this will change in 2020.
VOTE
31
@Gian Piero Is there some possibility in 2020 that the rest of us in unaware of?
A sampling of the attendants' comments is evidence enough that vampires do, indeed, exist. They work in International Finance...
47
If we only did business with countries that shared our values, we would not have many partners...even with the loosening of our values over the last many years. I do hope one day way can promote decency in the world through trade, but I’m not holding my breath.
The Saudi Crown Prince gets a standing ovation...Donald Trump gets standing ovations.
Mr. Khashoggi's torture, murder, dismemberment was an inconvenient burp to many people. “It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
We live in a world led by many immoral people: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung-un, to name a few.
People who have no conscience can happily do business over the remains of tortured, murdered victims.
America is no better than the worst of earth's bad actors. America is governed by an immoral party and many people don't care that Republicans lie to the people, cheat the people, prevent the people from voting, separate children from parents, cage children, sell arms to dictators who use them to murder civilians. The people who support immoral people are immoral. The people who do business with immoral people around the world are immoral.
Two years into the Trump immoral fiasco America has no standing on which to call out Saudi Arabia or the Crown Prince. It would be the pot calling the pan black.
33
Maybe they were scared that if they didn't give the Clown Prince an ovation they'd meet with fates similar to Khashogi.
15
One word describes it all: Disgusting.
10
Of course there was applause ,the hall was filled with Arabs subjected to a dictatorship.Just be glad and thankful for what remains of our democracy and vote.All that divides us from them lies in our power and vigilance.
8
“The crown prince, who is suspected of playing a role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, “ is a disgusting euphemism. MBS did not play a role. He ordered the torture, dismemberment, and murder of Khashoggi. Our intelligence and President Erdogan have said so and the Prince has offered lies of growing absurdity and contempt.
Why would MBS get applause from his subjects? Beheading? torture? Why would Trump’s supporters rise to their feet in adulation when Trump praises a man convicted of assaulting a reporter? Torture? Murder? No, they are a real mob.
18
So, big-time "investors from around the world" gave a standing ovation to a guy who orchestrated an appalling murder and mutilation of a journalist who dared to criticize him?
Why am I not surprised at all?
Depraved indifference to human life all around...
40
We should cut ties with Saudi Arabia and put sanctions on them.
"Carry a big stick"-Theodore Roosevelt
16
All the empty seats were filed with Saudis, and by now, they know what happens if they appear critical of MBS. There was an extreme pause before tentative applause when the richest woman in SAU spoke about Khashoggi's killing, because they were afraid to acknowledge it.
9
Are all of these "standing ovation" attendees bought and paid for?
They should take a tour of the new "Khashoggi Gardens".
Money Trumps everything these days.
7
The god of all gods - no matter what god one says one believes in - is money and more money to have and to hold. And if one's religion advocates for the poor and scorns great wealth, just edit that out, as many times as one needs to. Wealth is the path to immortality, apparently.
10
Was it really MBS or just someone wearing his clothes...
4
Trump would love it if "his people" stood to attention and gave him a standing ovation too. Vultures of a feather....
8
We understand your feelings, Ms. Tally Zingher, what with the seductive promise of big money in the Riyadh air. Regarding your health start-up: a physician or even a nurse practitioner could explain to you why public amputations and beheadings— and in this case secret torture and dismemberment—are not good medical practice for health in the Middle East.
19
Sickening. I wish there was a list of all those that participated in this sychophantic display putting money ahead of morals.
22
" Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, received a standing ovation " There you have it. Money trumps (an unintended pun) all. A disgusting display of the value these people put on the value of a human life. There should be a public list of all attendees and who they represent so we all know their shame. Except they have no shame.
29
"Let's see those hands people! Use 'em or lose 'em!"
9
That, right there - the standing ovation by corporate lackeys of a murderous autocrat - that is why the world is on a collision course with the worst repeats of history and climate chaos and barbarity...
It is the death of any sense of decency, of responsibilitities to God and our neighbor, or the common good - NOTHING matters but the short term profit of the few.
Corporations, and their human servants within then, with their political puppets within governments, and their bedfellows on the religious & racist right, have little shame, and no conscience....
10
Not hard to get a standing ovation when almost 100% of the audience are Saudis or Saudi lackeys.
24
The relativists always twist in pretzel-like excuses.
3
Greedy American business people feeding like hogs at the trough. Murder is just the cost of doing business.
19
The real headline:” 3000 amoral and worse attendees give the murderer MBS a standing ovation.” These attendees should be forced to wear something akin to a scarlet letter so that all they meet in the future would know how debased they are. The amorality of this group is best summed up by the quotes from Michael Slater of Northern Trust: “It’s just noise to me” and “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.” I hope the people of the Boston area will take note of Henry Biner of P/E Investment and his quote: “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.” Yes why care about a horrific murder! All Mr. Biner cares about is money.
74
Standing ovation for murderer because he's got all the oil and tons of money. How are we going to explain this to our children? We're sunk as low as we can go without losing absolutely everything. Be careful, fellow humans, we are in big, big trouble.
When are we going to learn that we were given everything we need on our little planet--isn't it time to use our intelligence to harness the power of the sun for once and for all, and stop depending on hideous outlaws who would not deserve our respect or affection if we weren't so deeply in need of their oil.
7
“It’s awkward,” said Tally Zingher, chief executive of Dawsat, a start-up company focused on health in the Middle East, who noted the shadow cast by Mr. Khashoggi’s death.
Ms. Zingher, an American, considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference.
Ah, the moral high road; she'll never get there if her decisions are based on her lack of prominence in making a statement by avoiding a conference organized by people who torture and murder human beings inside a consulate. Awkward is right.
26
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
This same Michael Slater stated (summer, this year) that his greatest ambition is "[t]o provide my children with the right resources to be successful, good and honest." [source: funds global MENA website]. No contradiction there, right?
Not only do we live in a country where callousness & greed are celebrated & richly rewarded, but this lack of ethics & compassion is embraced & promoted by prosperity evangelicals. These twisted values are destroying this country. Contrary to what Gordon Gekko says, greed is not good.
13
Disgusting but not surprising. Business people expect to make excuses and get away with this behavior. They can say whatever they want to say but, actions sometimes can speak louder than words. The New York Times and Washington Post can write their headlines and keep us informed but I think they need to go further. Nothing will change until these businesses, that consort with evil, pay a price and I do not mean in the public relations arena. They need to pay a high financial price. List the names of businesses doing business with Saudi Arabia on the front page of newspapers and give people a chance to sell these stocks or boycott them. If the world allows MBS to get away with this, what does that mean for freedom of the press and freedom generally in this world. Gives us the names of companies doing business with Saudi Arabia. Put these names on your front page of your newspapers. Let the world help you make a very loud and effective statement that this savagery will not be tolerated.
11
Regarding the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh, said. "It’s just noise to me . . . . The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
Bankers with their ties covering their name tags? Some big business brass stayed away, but sent midlevel execs to make their deals for them?
And somehow President Trump's appointee Steve Mnuchin, our Treasury Secretary, made the trip? He didn't attend the actual conference, but still met with Prince Mohammad to no doubt talk some deals.
A P/E Investments exec said it all: "We're not going to put our relationships on the line for this."
In the parallel universes of haves and have-nots, anything that disturbs opportunities for the haves to make even more money is just noise.
Sickening.
15
So the billionaire is comfortable calling premeditated murder of a journalist a crisis that will pass.
If money talks, it works both ways. Social media will make it easier to boycott anyone associated with this murderous regime. Unfortunately, it’s the people that need to make a statement instead of our leaders. Worse yet, the voters who support the U.S. President are willing to trade a dead journalist for cheap oil and Saudi financing.
6
“It’s awkward,” - I can't imagine how much more "awkward" it was for Khashoggi or his fiance. But hey, there's money to be made and who wants to listen to that distracting "noise".
8
A standing ovation for a head of state who oversees the murders of his own people and thousands in Yemen and elsewhere. I will avoid buying products or services from all companies who attend "conferences" like this.
Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, check.
10
I am not surprised but still disappointed at the fact that so many businesspeople (and their politicians) are willing to choose money over the cold-blooded murder and dismemberment of s civilian in a state-owned building.
Given experience it is naive to expect a moral compass from businesspeople. But, naively, I thought something as grotesque as this would shale them into some sense of decency.
But no.
I am not surprised that slowly but surely citizenry is taking the future into their hands, often with disruption and sometimes with values I don't share. But the future of democracy is massively imperilled by this utter lack of basic decdency by politicians and businesspeople...
6
As a informed woman of the 21st century I am appalled by the complete disregard of this man's (MBS) disgusting crimes against humanity, notice that it is all men gathered...
3
I love the comment that she wasn't important enough to make a statement by not attending. Don't worry, you will never be important enough if you don't have the strength of your convictions.
Either you have the moral courage or you don't.
21
@alanore
Her comment took me back a little as well. She may want to consider entering the field of politics because she "brilliantly" reworded and retooled the word "COWARD" extremely smoothly and almost believably.
1
How very Trumpian:
“One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is ... We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
“It’s just noise to me ... The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
To the American executives who couldn't be bothered to skip a conference and risk a few dollars, simply because of the torture and murder of a dissident and journalist:
The next time the Middle East blows up (and there is always a next time) I do hope your demands that a bunch of twenty something Americans put their life on the line to protect you or your financial interests or your family are met with the same short-term, hard-headed cost benefit analysis as you have shown here.
You'll understand, right? It's just business right?
16
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
If you are a person with conscience planning to do business in the middle east and Africa, remember the statements made by the gentleman quoted above. Pure and un adulterated avarice, disgusting.
9
A standing ovation is given to shaggy dogs too. So the "ovation" is not an indicator of innocence in the planning and execution of a heinous monstrous murder.
'“One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”' Got it. Money before lives. Despicable.
8
One of the reasons that enrages regular people to revolt and acts of terror is precisely this kind of collaberation by the heartless who put money before humanity.
It appears the silencing of a soft dissident, Khashoggi, was effective just before a major conference. It's pretty scary to many, but this is how this world works.
Leaders have been working toward and determined that the passage of time with render the rage mute.
12
Possible to have NYT get a list together of the US companies still attending this conference?
There's not much I can do to affect Trump's gut-diplomacy of this rapidly-deteriorating situation other than try to vote with my dollar.
Knowing which companies are still courting Saudi money would inform my shopping habits, especially in the ever-lucrative holiday season approaching.
134
@Nick
I called JP Morgan's securities to let them know I'd be selling them out if they sold out humanity. Jamie is running for president, so I tossed that in as consulting.
3
As the French say:plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose. Very roughly translated as "through the centuries everyone uses the same play book". In the latter half of the nineteenth century and in the first few years of the 20th century King Leopold the 2nd of Belgium was the owner of the Belgium Congo. Not Belgium, just the King. He owned the Ivory and rubber trade and with the help of the usual suspects (white mostly male Europeans and some Americans) amassed a kingly fortune. Along the way he was largely responsible for the deaths of millions of Congolese. All the while he was applauded by American officials and European ministers. They had a grand time for a long time before his misdeeds were "discovered". Not to excuse the rapacious MBS and his minions, but his misdeeds are part of a long and dishonorable history of the the grave sins of many heads of state. As the songs ays "When will we (or they) ever learn."
30
A standing ovation from those who chose to go to the conference - in other words, those already willing to sweep it all under the rug.
32
@Details, what’s in your pension fund?
2
@Details
A standing ovation for a murderer who has a fountain of money.
1
Let’s take a moment for a cause and effect tally, shall we? Was Mr. Khashoggi having any effect on issues important to him in Saudi Arabia? And did those particular issues warrant his death?
International business with Saudi Arabia was getting stronger, not weaker. And as we see, based upon this article, the world business community is waiting now for any plausible solution to the problem so they can reengage right away. So he was not having an effect in that way. In spite of this, why might he have been a painful thorn in the side of the Saudi way of governing? Maybe unhappy Saudi State Officials would see in him, the place to send anonymous negative information about the government and be certain he would report on it. That is a possibility and that is dangerous.
What have other countries done relatively recently somewhat similar to this killing? Well, Kim Jong Un, the dictator from North Korea, killed his brother and uncle, not to mention Mr. Warmbier, a US citizen, for stealing a 50 cent poster. They treated him like Francis Gary Powers! FGP took pictures over Soviet Russia during the cold war potentially locating high-level military sites; Mr Warmbier stole a poster that only a mother could love! You can’t make this stuff up! Russia recently tried to poison two former spies of theirs in the UK. Of course none of us would condone that kind of thing, but at least in a military kind of way, spies that defect never quite sit well with any country, see Snowden problem.
6
Oh, please publish a list of every North American or businessman or woman who stood up and applauded this atrocious murderer so we can boycott their companies and shame them for caring more about profits than human decency. It's one thing to sneak in and attend the conference to save the bottom line, but quite another to stand like sycophants and give an ovation -- not acceptable. No wonder this kind of unprincipled capitalism carries the stench of corruption.
681
@Dorothy I would rather have unprincipled capitalism than deal with what happened in the Soviet Union and China.
1
@Dorothy - Yes yes yes and yes.
2
@J
You really think your convenient and disingenuous distinctions matter to the people of Yemen?
Or any other lucrative dictatorship that murders with impunity?
You really think that the corporate support of monsters is a different moral atrocity than totalitarian atrocity, simply because it isn't ideologically devoted to communism, but to the power of accumulated wealth that is in the process of sabotaging democracy worldwide, and implementing the corporate- oligarchy of fascism??
Business, if it not deliberately ethical, is just another abomination-enabler, and excusing one abomination because of a difference in surface ideology - but no difference in practice of blood letting! - is hardly a moral argument.
“It’s awkward”
"decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference.”
“The situation should not necessarily deter business ties.”
“We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
“It’s just noise to me”
“I am sure we will grow and emerge stronger”
“promised that an investigation would yield justice and retribution.”
Folks, this is exactly why it ends up making no sense to appoint businesspeople to run our country, or any country. It was an idea; we tried it, it didn’t work. Clearly. To deny this is to believe the earth is flat.
Look; when a surgeon performs a heart operation, all they care about is surgery. When a welder works on steel, all they care about is welding. And when businesspeople do business, all they care about is the bottom line; that’s it. That’s their job. If they let anything get in the way of that, they’re fired, they are not successful.
Based on what we've seen, this disqualifies them from public service. Vote ‘em out. Thanks, but vote ‘em out.
312
@James - Amen, and thank you.
I've often answered the "I don't want a career politician" argument with, "Fine, I don't want to be a career surgeon. Just let me operate on your child."
23
@James ... So right. Such weasel words/phrases. We need to take back democracy from these ... words fail me.
4
Kim Jong Un gets a lot of standing ovations too.
People who know they'll be tortured and killed if they don't give a standing ovation tend to do it.
349
@Really
Trump accused the Democrats of being treasonous and un-American for not standing and applauding st his State of the Union address. If you don't think he'd use torture and kill people if he could, then we're not in agreement. And I'm not saying we disagree.
@Really
I doubt that any attendee from the USA or from any country outside SA felt even a moment's fear. What a laugh. As if Mnuchin or Slater or Moelis or any of the other greedy slobs there thought they would be harmed if they did not applaud. LOL. They applauded of their own free will. No threats. No coercion.
"It's awkward." "We're not going to put our relationships on the line for this." "It's just noise to me." Wow - these people are anomalies, I sincerely hope.
54
@Chris P. Unfortunately in the world of big business they are not anomalies. Welcome to the "root of all evil."
3
Well, no one will exactly boo him. We know what happens to his critics. Anyone willing to show up is very unlikely to make any waves.
23
@Covert
If they make any waves they'll soon be singing along with Patsy Cline, "I fall to pieces...."
1
Listen carefully, the cry of Kashoggi runs in blood down palace walls.
37
The sponsors & the attendees: a veritable hog farm of over-fed, smug, greasy billionaires who truly care about nothing except money. No wonder Trump feels an affinity.
211
@Jane
Jane we all share the feeling of horror of what the Saudis just did, what the Chinese do, the Russians and so many more. But with the utmost respect, your comment is naive in respect to what is best for America and in respect to how we get better human and equal rights in the world. Simply replacing the baddies may get us the worsies. This is sad but true.
"“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh."
Wouldn't it be wiser just for Mr. Slater to keep his mouth shut? Seems rather injudicious to me.
51
Like the standing ovations Trump get's at his rallies, even though they know he's lying through his teeth.
56
@i's the boy:
Actually, the people at Trump's rallies believe everything he says implicitly.
3
LOVE of money being the root of all evil is on full display here, and if St. Peter is still the arbitrator of eternal salvation, he perhaps should be updating his resume'.
15
That old adage you're 're known by the company you keep couldn't be truer.
152
"I’m not doing any media,” said Ken Moelis, the founder and chief executive of Moelis & Company. “It’ll have to be ‘no comment.’”
No comment is necessary, Moelis. Your attendance at an event sponsored by murderous Saudi thugs speaks much louder than anything you might say.
410
@912 Google Moelis and Company and you see their motto: "We will not compromise our vision or values."
I don't know what their vision is but their values are on shameful display in Saudi Arabia.
13
Greed and moral depravity on full display. Shame on them.
88
“One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.”
There in a nutshell is the 'logic' that had the Bush Administration publicly blame Iraq for 9/11, even though Saddam had nothing to do with it, while keeping quiet about Saudi Arabia's heavy involvement.
Justice for the thousands of Americans killed on 9/11 didn't and doesn't matter nearly as much as "where the revenue is”. So yes, that is "awkward”
143
“I’m not doing any media,” said Ken Moelis, the founder and chief executive of Moelis & Company. “It’ll have to be ‘no comment.’”
The rot of the Trump administration has infested US business.
68
@maitenat
The rot of the business cartels ARE the same rot of the trump criminal enterprises.
Except they prefer to write the laws than break them, but they will break laws, and with imounity, when they must.
Why do you think they get along so well with this administration?
Massive tax cuts, the packing of the courts...the manipulation of the disgruntled & racist - everything that is happening is at their behest, with their full support, and for the benefit of the corporatocracy.
And clearly they have no further use for a functioning democracy - anywhere.
3
What is more important to people focused upon making lots of money easily and quickly, people’s lives or the money. You want to make lots of money, ape them. Want to live out a long and productive life, never take your eyes off of them or they will take it from you.
Life’s not fair and the quest for easy money strips people of their consciences.
14
Please mention the banks and businesses that were there licking the Prince's shoes and giving him a standing ovation so I can boycott them for the rest of my life. Mnuchin (and not to speak of Kushner) acted despicably. He probably had to shake the autocratic Prince's bloody hand. Many once also wanted to do business with Hitler and the Nazis. Business is business, money is money, after all. And the autocratic prince knows that. Just dangle the prospect of some gold coins and they'll look away, evangelicals included. The excitement of exchanging cards and sipping juice in the vulgar luxury of the Ritz-Carlton is also irresistible.
236
@tdb The banks and businesses are licking more than the Princes' shoes..Evangelicals have already sold their souls for 30 pieces of silver supporting trump. Birds of a feather , meal up together.
5
This was a business conference, not a human rights conference. Regardless of what MBS may or may not have done, business with Saudi Arabia should continue - sacrificing revenue to make a political point is not in a business' interest unless it is selling politics. Or do all those calling for economic boycott also agree with sections in Iran, which has been an unapologetic state sponsor of terrorism since 1979?
1
@QED
That's right, just as concentration camps and gas ovens make no difference to the quest for profit.
No conscience required, no counter argument necessary, no response needed to atrocity.
Make a deal with evil if you must, but the bargain calls for your soul.
4
@QED Thank you for your amoral (or should I say immoral) contribution to the dialogue. And for somehow taking the word "sanctions" and translating it into "sections." I suppose lack of morals carries with it other disabilities. And by the way we have very tough sanctions on Iran and had even after the nuclear deal was concluded.
1
re : Zingher' comment, it's not about making a statement, it's about doing what's right. It's people who don't think they're prominent enough to make a difference, and who therefore fail to take a stand for what's right, that actually make all the difference by helping bad actors cement their power.
28
“Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, announced the signing of 15 deals with companies in eight countries . . . The value of the transactions is $34 billion.”
Well of course the crown prince received a standing ovation. Apparently that old adage of money and fear talks is truer than ever in Saudi Arabia. For the crown prince to “receive a standing ovation as he made an unannounced appearance at a global investment conference” screams that this entire scandalous and murderous charade is all about money and intimidation. Anything and everything is forgiven, swept under the carpet or totally ignored.
Sadly the world will probably NEVER know what really happened surrounding the untimely death of Jamal Khashoggi. The primary focus and goal is money and greed, not justice nor truth.
My heart continues to break for Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé, family, friends and fellow journalists.
17
"It’s just noise to me," is what he said who manage the branch in Saudi for the major investment company in the US. I will be the last one to put my TRUST to manage my money with this kind of unconscionable statement no matter how much they can make money. Even greedy CEO of that company should fire this guy on the spot for the tarnishing their image.
37
Those who applauded wanted to keep their fingers.
17
If you didn't rise and stand it possibly would be noted and you may not make it home on time for dinner or at all.
9
Money, fear and hypocrisy rule. Here, there and everywhere. Enough is enough.
11
Headline is "Saudi Crown Prince Gets Standing Ovation Despite Inquiries Into Khashoggi."
But where is the evidence for this statement? How do we know that the heading should not have been "Saudi Crown Prince Gets Standing Ovation Because of Inquiries Into Khashoggi"?
3
@cc. The evidence behind the headline is contained in the article.
2
“It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.”
It's comforting to learn that premeditated murder is "just noise" to some people.
96
“Saudi Aramco, the oil giant, announced the signing of 15 deals with companies in eight countries, including the United States, France, China, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, South Korea and India. The value of the transactions is $34 billion.”
Well, there you go. Of course he did. Apparently that old adage of “money talks and you-know-what walks” is truer than ever in Saudi Arabia. For Saudi Arabia’s crown prince to “receive a standing ovation as he made an unannounced appearance at a global investment conference” screams that this entire scandalous and murderous charade is all about money. Anything and everything is forgiven, swept under the carpet or totally ignored.
Apparently, the world will NEVER know what really happened surrounding the untimely death of Jamal Khashoggi because the primary focus and goal is money and greed, not justice nor truth.
My heart continues to break for Mr. Khashoggi’s fiancé, family, friends and fellow journalists.
5
Of course he received a standing ovation. The point behind the killing of Khashoggi is not lost on these people.
17
"Ms. Zingher, an American, considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference." -- Hmmm. Let me get this straight. She's not prominent enough to do the right thing and refrain from doing business with a country led by a murderous despot. I guess that means her company needs the money more than Jamie Dimon's company.
4
@Pluribus
It's almost like there is no pride anymore.
And they want us to think of them as 'leaders'.
Not bloody likely.
It's not like they're missing out on Davos.
Attendees were required to check their souls at the door.
67
Money, money, money! The US citizens attending should be ashamed of themselves. What is happening to us as a country? Besides having Trump as president? Have we forgotten about human rights?
23
Freedom? Democracy? Human Rights?
Just slogans to control us sheep.
Money and Power - these are the gods we worship. Let’s stop pretending.
35
"Ms. Olayan, a billionaire and one of the richest people in Saudi Arabia, said she was confident that “the truth will emerge” about Mr. Khashoggi’s fate and she thanked the foreigners who attended the conference under the circumstances."
Sure it will emerge, just as soon as they make it up.....
15
It is true. Money is the most important thing in the world. Nothing else, least of all human life, even comes close
5
"Others in attendance said they were there just to do business and dismissed the Khashoggi situation." Oh really? I will not respond to those outside the United States. I really do not care one whit about their moral compasses. But I do care about our standards which have sunk so low as to put greed and money before an alleged heinous and atrocious act. Has anyone of this nation's rich oligarchs and CEO's who are infecting our country, beginning in the White House and through its Cabinet/Congress, grieved or shown any compassion toward the obvious fate of this Washington Post journalist? A Muslim, but not a wealthy one to whom to kow-tow...for oil, for "trade," for arms' sales. And what a joke that the "big-wheels" here sent lower level associates so as not to call attention to their deceit and hypocrisy.
Times, keep on with your reporting. Maybe this country will finally wake up to the downright corruption of this administration and its fawning, affluent gluttons sating themselves with our tax dollars.
15
"Ms. Zingher, an American, considered not attending, but decided that she was not prominent enough to make a statement by skipping the conference." Wait what?
So it's ok to go because no one will know who you are? What about your own morals doing/considering doing business with the likes of these people?
Ms Zingher and all Americans in attendance should be ashamed of themselves.
39
He is not only monstrous but inane at that as well. Many tyrants around the world eliminate nowadays their targets in much quieter ways.
4
Disgusting. If you're afraid of reprisals, don't go to the conference.
9
Standing ovation for MBS.
I sure would like to see what was inside the VIP Gift Bags!
They must have been really great, much better than those given at the Oscars.
8
The distinction between sending 15 people to apprehend a journalist because he criticized government policies, and sending people to kill him is not the issue. Whether the king or MBS ordered it or very high Saudi officials did it believing that the king or MBS wanted it, does not matter.
If MBS wants to prove he is changing away from Trump-like policies and towards liberal democracy, he should declare that Saudi Arabia will no longer prevent its’ citizens from criticizing government policies. This freedom of speech should be applied both within the country as well as to outside
19
Take note of all the greedy unethical Americans in the room... They should be shunned for not following the lead of a very long list of people and countries who cancelled their attendance.
Shameful!
--
'Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking' https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-2ZW
97
@Rima Regas, greed and unethical behavior are qualities that have no nationality. Americans, non-Americans, greedy unethical behavior or temptation for doing it, pervades and persists, its a human weakness.
People can find enough reasons not to do business with Israel, even Bibi's own wife is being investigated for corruption. Yet, human rights activists have not been able to persuade anyone from withholding their support when it comes to doing "business".
3
@Petey Tonei
That's why we must vote with our wallets. That's all we got.
@Rima Regas
It's not all we've got, because it's not enough. While we still have a vote we must use it.
Constant and ubiquitous reporting, which has many strengths, also reveals the world to be more treacherous than anticipated. This is long-standing, nothing new. Not to say that it should be tolerated, just that it is not necessarily a sign that things are unraveling.
1
@H Kirk Hammond
It's extremely dangerous when the consensus of the primacy of human rights is no longer there.
Whether these values were honored more in in language than in reality, doesn't matter.
Because governments acted upon those principles and actually tried to implement progress, and bring monsters to justice.
That lack is a very dangerous environment indeed.
3
It would be interesting if it would be revealed whether the US is helping Turkey in gathering intelligence on the Saudi crime, and if protocol dictates that Turkey play the key role.
3
Saudi money and fear can buy anything including Trump and Kushner. Standing ovation in Saudi Arabia is a very small thing.
What's next? Nomination of M.B.S for Nobel Peace Prize for promoting non-violence, democracy, human rights, women's rights and becoming Mahatma Gandhi of Saudi Arabia.
153
@Francesco Assisi, #45 and his son-in-law would sell out to anyone as long as $$$$ is passed to them.
2
You don't need to be in a Saudi embassy in Istanbul to fear reprisal from the regime. My god, those giving the ovation were in Saudi Arabia and the enforcer is there in person. I'd applaud too.
100
@Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E.
"After an uncomfortable silence, the packed ballroom applauded."
I do believe those in attendance thought the exact same thing you wrote Dr. Rowland. Fear is an incredible mobilizer and powerful tool (pretty much akin to that of a bone saw).
7
Agree, just hope no one applauding was an American.
1
@Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E.
Reminds me of the story of the western reporter who attended an address Stalin was giving to a Soviet Communist Party congress. The standing ovation at the end went on, and on, and on..... Finally the reporter turned to his neighbor to ask what was going on. "That's easy", came the reply. "Everyone is scared to be the first one to stop".
15