White House intelligence officials speculates that a security team of 15 Saudi Arabians were sent to Istanbul in order to capture Khashoggi and take him back to Saudi Arabia. Turkish officials place the blame due to the recording evidence that includes Arabic voices and sounds of beating. However, Saudi Arabian officials have repeatedly denied the allegations and claimed that Khashoggi left the building shortly after entering.
Due to the vague details behind the investigation, U.N. officials and lawmakers request for better action, suggesting economic sanctions to be placed on Saudi Arabia. However, due to Saudi Arabia’s high oil supply, President Donald Trump finds sanctions harmful to the American economy and employment. On October 11, Trump did state that there will be “severe punishment” if it was discovered that Saudi Arabia was behind the disappearance.
In a recent update on October 19, Saudi Arabia released information that confirms Khashoggi’s death due to a an argument that escalated into a fist fight, which ultimately led to his death in the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has removed five high ranking officials from their positions and detained 18 Saudi Arabians based on the report. Trump called Saudi Arabia’s confirmation a “good first step” and finds their claim “credible,” but that the U.S. has not finished their investigation yet.
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| Virginia Mayo -- AP/REX.Shutterstock from TIME Magazine |
In my opinion, it is disheartening to hear about any person’s death, but the circumstances under his situation and his status frustrate me due to the political climate. His reporter status endangered his life due to the criticisms he had for the Saudi Arabian government, criticisms that might have led to the violence and death. The idea that other countries do not have share similar ideas behind our 1st Amendment for freedom of speech concerns me because there would be less diversity and room for improvement if everyone was forced to have uniform values and was forced to stay quiet about possible critiques. If the media has to cater to those in authority, then the reality or truth of events can rarely be expressed, which might lead some people to falsely believing an overly positive story. It is quite suspicious that Saudi Arabia confirmed his death even though they kept denying that they had any knowledge, seeming that they wanted the publicity. While his death may be seen as one of many in modern times, he is being characterized as a “patriot” in the opinion article published by his fiance. I would agree with this “patriot” symbol in that he represents the importance of the whole truth, the idea of free expression and the connection between the media and the truth. As lawmakers, Trump, and the American public demanded for the truth, the current executive branch must figure out how to deal with this matter peacefully and tactfully, especially as we have economic ties with Saudi Arabia and would like to avoid another war. Khashoggi’s death serves as an important reminder to be cautious with other countries and to request the truth for any story, especially this suspiciously vague and haunting one. For a different take on this story, check out this Washington Post analysis article on the possible connection between Khashoggi's murder and Saudi Arabia's political message.
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http://time.com/5430093/saudi-arabia-khashoggi-dead/
4 comments:
As far as I know, CNN has been covering this event with skepticism. Given that Saudi Arabia is a totalitarian monarchy, the government of Saudi Arabia has way more power and control over the media. Therefore, CNN (and other media sources) have suspected that Saudi Arabia's confirmation of Khashoggi's murder could just be a story created by the government as a cover-up story - which hints at the possibility that the Saudi government might have been involved in the murder.
Whether these speculations are true or not, such stories like these reveal the modern media's skepticism in what they cover; in other words, these stories highlight their function as investigators.
Given that Saudi Arabia has changed their narrative multiple times, from denying that Khashoggi was ever killed, to claiming he died in a fistfight, then ultimately stating he was to be kidnapped and interrogated, its hard to buy that this is the complete truth. Because the Saudis now claim that rogue officials orchestrated the attack and deposed those officials, it may well be to preserve Mohammed Bin Salman's reputation. Unfortunately, even though the media rightly shines a critical eye on these accounts, it is up to state-led investigations to uncover evidence, some of which (like Turkey) may have other motives to fabricate evidence and reach biased results.
I agree with what Max stated about the trouble of believing what they have to say. Changing a narrative once is enough to create skepticism but multiple times makes it hard to know if anything that is being said is true. Andre explained how the government of Saudi Arabia plays a major factor in the story as well which I completely agree upon. The power of the government to create a story to cover for themselves is entirely plausible because of how they have decided to address this issue. Without fully knowing, it is possible for there to be false evidence, cover-ups, and much more corruption behind the scenes.
As mentioned before, I think that the amount of alterations to the story regarding Khashoggi's death makes it very likely that Saudi Arabia is trying to cover up their interrogation with him. While Trump states that this is a good first step for Saudi Arabia, we can't necessarily believe the stories that Saudia Arabia state. In America, the first amendment gives us the freedom of the press allowing people to share their opinions (even though news companies these days seem more like a business). However, as Andre mentioned, Saudi Arabia being totalitarian gives them a lot more influence over the media.
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