Khashoggi Returns to the Headlines

The U.S. is a warfare state, plain and simple. From 9/11 on, as the hegemon began its descent, it has been very hard to deny that militarism is America's raison d'être (i.e., singing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch). But it's not a militarism of triumphant conquest; it's a militarism of repeated failure fought on an ever-expanding number of battlefields, a bloodthirsty zombie war with no end in view.

The murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi last fall in Istanbul was an important event because, like the snap of a hypnotist's fingers, it awoke even the sleepiest of heads to the reality of U.S. militarism. As Trump said, we can't demand justice for Jamal Khashoggi because Saudi Arabia buys a lot of U.S. weapons.

It was right out there in the open: Grisly murder silencing a mainstream journalist must be accepted as a cost of doing business.

After a fallow period of a couple of months the Khashoggi butchering is back in the news in a big way. First, the United Nations OHCHR report accused Saudi officials of murder:

The evidence presented to us during the mission to Turkey demonstrates a prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia and others acting under the direction of these State agents.

Second, Amazon billionaire and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos went public with blackmail efforts by Trump crony David Pecker, the head of American Media, which owns The National Enquirer. Jim Rutenberg and Karen Weise conclude their write-up, "Jeff Bezos Accuses National Enquirer of ‘Extortion and Blackmail’":

In his post Mr. Bezos also appeared to imply that the tabloid company was doing the bidding of Saudi Arabia, quoting from a New York Times report last year: “After Mr. Trump became president, he rewarded Mr. Pecker’s loyalty with a White House dinner to which the media executive brought a guest with important ties to the royals in Saudi Arabia. At the time, Mr. Pecker was pursuing business there while also hunting for financing for acquisitions.”

The Post has been reporting determinedly on intelligence assessments that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the grisly murder of the Saudi dissident — and Post global opinion contributor — Jamal Khashoggi.

Third, The Times' Mark Mazzetti authored a story yesterday, "Year Before Killing, Saudi Prince Told Aide He Would Use ‘a Bullet’ on Jamal Khashoggi," about a newly leaked intercept of a conversation of crown prince Mohammed bin Salman plotting Khashoggi's murder a year prior to the actual event:

The conversation between Prince Mohammed and the aide, Turki Aldakhil, took place in September 2017, as officials in the kingdom were growing increasingly alarmed about Mr. Khashoggi’s criticisms of the Saudi government. That same month, Mr. Khashoggi began writing opinion columns for The Washington Post, and top Saudi officials discussed ways to lure him back to Saudi Arabia.

In the conversation, Prince Mohammed said that if Mr. Khashoggi could not be enticed back to Saudi Arabia, then he should be returned by force. If neither of those methods worked, the crown prince said, then he would go after Mr. Khashoggi “with a bullet,” according to the officials familiar with one of the intelligence reports, which was produced in early December.

Mazzetti story is likely timed to coincide with the renewed push in Congress to punish the House of Saud.