Khashoggi Murder Evidence

“The rotten tree-trunk, until the very moment when the storm-blast breaks it in two, has all the appearance of might it ever had. The storm-blast whistles through the branches of the Empire even now. Listen with the ears of psychohistory, and you will hear the creaking.”

— Hari Seldon

The above quote is from the Science Fiction novel Foundation.  Substitute the words House of Saud for Empire and the words common sense for psychohistory and it’s as relevant today as it was when Isaac Asimov penned it more than seventy years ago.  Saudi Arabia displays all the hallmarks of a cruel dictatorship.  The damning of curiosity, the suppression of free-speech and a free press, the persecution of dissidents, the freezing of caste, the harassment of minorities, the enforcement of a state religion and rampant misogyny are all self-evident.  Apostasy, witchcraft, premarital sex and being gay are all offenses punishable by public beheading.  Is there any rational person who actually believes that this medieval kingdom is capable of introspection let alone meaningful reform? 

Abdulaziz ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Faisal ibn Turki ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al Saud or Ibn Saud for short was the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).  His rise to power was not achieved through a democratic election or a popular uprising but by ruthless military conquest.  Ibn Saud might well have in turn been deposed and long forgotten but for one fortunate turn of events.   In 1938 petroleum was discovered in Saudi Arabia.  This commodity, so vital to the war effort, enabled Ibn Saud to form an alliance with Franklin D. Roosevelt aboard the USS Quincy thus cementing his hold on power. 

Fast forward to the year 2018.  The current POTUS has stated that our alliance with the KSA is too important to jeopardize over a trifling matter such as the murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi.  Was Saudi Price and heir apparent Mohammad bin Salman responsible for the murder of a US based journalist?  Maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t.  But if the KSA doesn’t buy bombs from the good old USA they’ll simply buy their bombs form someone else such as China or Russia and that wouldn’t be good.   So let’s not get our knickers in a twist.  A pragmatist would say that there’s no reason to throw out the baby with the bathwater.  But to be truly pragmatic we must ask this question; how much longer can the Saudi Royal Family hold power?  All those defense contracts will be of little value once someone else takes the throne in Riyadh.