The Death of Jamal Khashoggi
By Michael Leonard Douglas & D.S. Mitchell
Who was He?
Probably one of the most talked about stories of 2018 was that of Jamal Khashoggi. His story is one tragedy that no one saw coming. At the age of 59, Jamal Khashoggi was a well-known Washington Post journalist. His career spanned more than 35 years, back to the 1980’s.
Early Years
Jamal Khashoggi was born on 10/13/1958 in Medina, Saudi Arabia. He was born to a well-connected Saudi family. Jamal was the nephew of notorious Iran-Contra arms dealer, Adnan Khashoggi who had an estimated wealth in 1984 of over $4B US. His first cousin, Dodi Fayed made headlines in 1997 when he was romantically linked to Princess Diana. Fayed and Diana were both killed in a car accident in Paris that same year. Jamal Khashoggi’s grandfather had been the personal physician to King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Education
Khashoggi attended elementary and high school in Saudi Arabia. He came to the United States for his college education and went to Indiana State University, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Business Administration. He married his first wife while in college and they later would have four children. Two of the children are American citizens.
Attitudes Change
Khashoggi had once been sympathetic to Islamist movements. He had been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said when asked, “Yes, I joined the MB when I was at University like everyone else.” He described it as “an exercise of democracy in the Muslim world”. In fact, his work was first noticed internationally when he wrote multiple articles on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Osama bin Laden
Khashoggi first met Osama bin Laden in the 1980’s when Osama was “championing his jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan” and Khashoggi was a foreign correspondent covering the Afghan war” – Wikipedia. Their relationship is known to have lasted at least into the late 1990’s. Khashoggi had watched as Osama became increasingly radicalized. It is reported that he had tried to discourage Osama from the pursuit of violence.
Royal Family Links
While bin Laden was putting guerrilla pressure on the Soviets to abandon Afghanistan, the Saudi royal family was operating behind the scenes supporting al-Qaeda. Khashoggi was the only non-royal Saudi that knew about the close relationship between al-Qaeda and the royal family prior to the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.
9/11 Changes Arab World
After the attacks on 9/11 Khashoggi pulled away from the relationship he had forged with bin Laden. Khashoggi wrote, “The most pressing issue now is to make sure that our children can never be influenced by extremist ideas like those 15 Saudis who were misled into hijacking four planes that fine September day, piloting them, and us, straight into the jaws of hell.”
Just Reporting the News
By 2000, Jamal Khashoggi was editor-in-chief of the Al Watan newspaper. All the newspapers in the Saudi Kingdom are state-owned and controlled. It was during this time Khashoggi covered the 9/11 attacks. He was one of the few Arab reporters talking about religious extremism.
On the Radar
Khashoggi was quickly noticed by the readers. His controversial articles and cartoons targeting Muslim radicals were stirring emotions. He was turning the newspaper into a platform for Saudi progressives. As his readership grew the Saudi government also took notice. His controversial approach led to his dismissal. In the end, he was fired for writing stories unfavorable to the royal family and the government leadership.
A Government Role
Given another chance of sorts. After being fired from Al Watan, Khashoggi went to London in self-exile. While in London he acted as the advisor to Prince Turki Al-Faisal. When the ambassador was promoted to Saudi Envoy to the United States, Khashoggi went along as media adviser. When his job with Prince Al-Faisal ended he returned to the Al Watan newspaper, in Saudi Arabia for a second time. That position came to a quick end. Khashoggi’s continuing aggressive reporting centering on the unbearable repression in the Middle East once again cost him a job.
Evolution
Jamal Khashoggi evolved from an Islamist in his youth to a more liberal position by the time he reached mid-life. By 2005, Khashoggi said he had also rejected the Islamist idea of creating an Islamic state and had turned against the religious establishment in Saudi Arabia. In a CNN interview that year he stated he had embraced the “enlightened American idea of separation of church and state.”
Too Far?
He wrote angrily about the blockade of Qatar, the Saudi dispute with Lebanon, the diplomatic dispute between Canada and the Saudi Kingdom and most egregiously the Kingdom’s crackdown on dissent and media suppression. But he seems to have gone too far when he criticized presidential candidate Donald Trump in 2017. Saudi authorities closed his Twitter account, banned him from publishing, or appearing on television, according to British online newspaper, The Independent.
Leaving Saudi Arabia
In March 2017, Khashoggi announced on Al Jazeera television that he was leaving Saudi Arabia. He explained that he feared for his life after hearing of threats by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Exile
Since he could not fight the royal family and its leadership, he thought it best to continue working and advocating for change through the media from a ‘safe space’ where he could freely express himself. After his Al Jazeera appearance he went into self-imposed exile. He moved to the United States, settling in Virginia and began working for the Washington Post.
Human Rights
In April 2018 Khashoggi wrote in the WaPo, “(All) Women today should have the same rights as men. And all citizens should have the right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment.” He continued, “Saudi’s must find a way where we can accommodate secularism and Islam.” He was not speaking as a Westernized man, but rather as a moderate Islamic reformer.
MBS
He was particularly hard on 33-year old crown prince, MBS. He wrote directly to the crown prince in many articles urging him to end the Saudi funded war in Yemen. Release women’s rights activist, Loujain al-Hathloul. End the male-guardianship of women. Stop the Saudi- led blockade of Qatar. Khashoggi delivered his admonishment right to the feet of the reckless crown prince. MBS reportedly told journalist Turki Aldakhil, that “he would go after Khashoggi with a bullet.”
Activism
Saudi Arabia used an army of trolls to harass Khashoggi on Twitter before his death. Khashoggi was a frequent guest on television in the U.S. and Britain taking his political attack against the Saudi elite to the public. According to the UK weekly magazine the ‘Spectator,’ “with 2 million Twitter followers, he was the most famous political pundit in the Arab world.” Rather than back down, Khashoggi heated up the situation when he established a new political party in Saudi Arabia. He in fact, was setting himself up as a direct political threat to Crown Prince Mohammed.
Wedding Bells
In September 2018 Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey to ask that his divorce papers be processed to clear the way for his third marriage. On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi returned to that same Saudi Arabian consulate to pick up the ordered documents so he could marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. He can be seen on closed circuit TV entering the building. His fiance who was waiting outside said he never came out. CCTV footage confirmed her story.
Collecting Information
An alarmed Cengiz reported that the author, columnist and dissident had disappeared. Turkish authorities and the world would soon learn the terrible truth about his disappearance. For several weeks the Saudi’s stuck to the rehearsed narrative, that Khashoggi had left the consulate alive and well. By October 18th the story had morphed into Khashoggi had died during a fist fight inside the consulate.
October 25th, 2018
The Saudi Attorney General, in a sudden about-face announced that the Khashoggi murder had been premeditated. Eighteen Saudi’s were arrested, including the fifteen man team that had actually perpetrated the Khashoggi murder. The Khashoggi killing drew attention to a grizzly fact. Many Saudi critics have gone missing under mysterious circumstances since 2015. Hundreds of Saudi activists in Saudi Arabia, and others outside the Kingdom, have disappeared at an alarming rate since MBS began consolidating his power.
Contradictions
Intercepted communications and results of the expanding investigation make it clear that MBS was involved. Links to MBS indicated Khashoggi was intentionally lured to the embassy for what had been a planned abduction. Critics doubt the new spin, noting that you don’t usually bring a bone saw to a kidnapping.
October 31, 2018
On October 31, 2018 Istanbul’s chief prosecutor announced new information. The Turkish prosecutor confirmed that Khashoggi had been strangled to death. The prosecutor said Khashoggi was murdered as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate on 10/2/18.
Al Jazeera Reports
Mr. Khashoggi’s body was then dismembered with a bone saw. At this point the story becomes less clear. In one scenario Khashoggi was taken in bits and pieces to the Saudi Consulate General’s nearby residence. Here Khashoggi’s body was “burned in a 1,000 degree furnace in an attempt to destroy evidence,” according to Al-Jazeera. In a second version of the murder, Khashoggi’s dismembered parts were dissolved in acid.
Audio Recording
Turkish authorities released an audio recording featuring Jamal Khashoggi’s chilling last words, “I can’t breathe.” With the revelation of audio evidence from the night of October 2nd, 2018 it was becoming clear that Khashoggi had been murdered. The question became, was there evidence to link the kill order to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman?
Mid-November
The Washington Post and other news media outlets reported that the CIA had concluded that MBS had ordered Khashoggi’s assassination. President Trump said that the CIA had reached no such conclusion. Trump tweeted that the “prince may have had knowledge of this tragic event-maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Push Back
Adam Schiff the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee after hearing the full CIA report countered the President, calling Trump “a liar”. An outraged US Senate passed a resolution that held Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally responsible for the death of Jamal Khashoggi. On the same day, the Senate voted to end military aid for the Saudi led war in Yemen which has led to a humanitarian crisis in Yemen, including famine and human right’s violations.
Free of National Restraint
“What the Arab world needs most is free expression,” Khashoggi lamented. In a posthumously published article in the Washington Post, Khashoggi called for a new “Arab Spring” where he hoped that a free press could develop separate from national governments, so “ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.”
Jamal Remembered
Jamal Khashoggi was a bold and courageous reporter. He wanted justice for his fellow Saudi’s and the Arab world. In December 2018, Time magazine’s editorial board named Mr. Khashoggi, Person of the Year. He shared the award with other journalists from around the world who have faced persecution for their work. Time called Khashoggi, a “Guardian of the Truth.”
A Whisper Campaign
While Time was awarding Khashoggi the Person of the Year title, Donald Trump was calling him a jihadist. Additionally, a group of House Republicans started a whisper campaign to discredit Khashoggi. Likewise FoxNews has devoted many hours attacking the journalist. Bill Kristol, political pundit put it this way, “Trump wants to take a soft line (on punishing Saudi Arabia) so Trump supporters are finding excuses for him to take it. One of those excuses is attacking the person who was murdered.”
Reference:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/jamal-khashoggi-body-burned-large-oven-saudi-home-190304011823218.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Khashoggi
https://rankananalyst.de/the-jamal-Khashoggi-case-a-digital-forensic-analysis.
