World

THE KHASHOGGI AFFAIR

Truth-telling in the Age of M-BS

Truth-telling in the Age of M-BS
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Abdulaziz al Saud smiles prior to an official luncheon held in his honour at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Spain, 12 April 2018. EPA-EFE/EMILIO NARANJO

The ever-changing saga of Jamal Khashoggi’s demise continues to go forward, roiling international relations and personal agonies alike.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive

Sir Walter Scott

The other day, when I first heard one of the newest versions of the mythical writhing by the Saudi government in its efforts to explain away the circumstances that led to Washington Post columnist and Saudi regime critic Jamal Khashoggi’s death and his (still missing) remains, I was particularly struck by the scene painted by the kingdom’s explanation.

In this scenario, it was the idea that 15 physically fit Saudis from that country’s security services had been forced to fend off the wild, near-demonic, super-strength actions of a rather pudgy, late middle-aged journalist. And remember, this was a man who had entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the hunt for some document or other that would allow him to remarry. The end result was for him to end up dead. This took 15 militarily trained men.

A bizarre clarification eventually followed that explained there had only been nine of those men as the others who had arrived for those special duties had been consumed by their administrative obligations. Ah, so in this set of iterations, it went from Khashoggi eventually being subdued by an entire rugby team’s worth of beef – 15 men – to there having been a titanic struggle in which the Saudi government side only had a baseball’s worth of hunks to subdue him, fatally. Put yourself in Khashoggi’s place and visualise the results, either way.

Of course, this version had only come along after efforts to deny anything was wrong in the first place had failed, and after a not-so-body-double had failed to be convincing in a ploy to show a kind-of-Khashoggi had exited the consulate. And this was followed by tales of rogue elements secretly trying to torture him, or planning to bring him back to Saudi Arabia in an extrajudicial rendition, or intending only to interrogate him, or fly him to Mars, perhaps, had all fallen flat. (Most recently, the Saudis have said the killing appeared to have been premeditated. Duh.) And all of the stories had been carefully drawn to avoid a veritable elephant in the room – the very clear (by pretty much everyone) understanding that nothing happens in the kingdom, absent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s nod of aproval, and that it all takes place under his basilisk gaze.

Naturally the Saudis’ continually morphing explanations and apologias have not been aided by persistent, continuing leaks from Turkish authorities (and other leaks from elsewhere among yet other security services) that have hinted, well, actually more than hinted, that there is real evidence of the torture, death, and dismemberment of the late Mr Khashoggi, and that it will, soon enough, be revealed. This Turkish effort on behalf of the very unfortunate Khashoggi has, along the way, helped obscure the rather awkward, unpleasant fact that the Turkish regime is reported to have a thousand or so journalists in various prisons around the country – although there have been no reports, so far, of bone saws being part of that prison policy, unlike the apparent Saudi modus operandi.

Meanwhile, the very folks who had been the Saudis in general, and the crown prince in particular’s, most ardent suitors, defenders, and promoters, US President Donald Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, have been edging away slowly, gently and oh so nervously from their heretofore loving embrace of him. Any moment now, we shall be hearing that neither Trump nor Kushner had really known the crown prince or his father, and that they had been warning each other for months no good would come from that love fest with the swords and the glowing orb that had marked Trump’s first international visit as president.

Soon enough, we may even learn that the Trump administration is worried about Saudi bad faith over that ginormous arms deal whose size, cost, and reality keeps changing every time the president discusses it.

Then, Trump had moved away from his championing of the theory of mystical rogue elements in Saudi security services to sighing and calling the whole mess the worst cover-up ever. Ever.

Of course, “ever” has multiple meanings. In one, it could mean horrific, terrifying, and awful. Trump, with his usual reliance on superlatives in language, seems to have been arguing for this interpretation, ignoring the history of Watergate, as well as his own ongoing efforts to hide the details of his tax affairs and financial records, as well as any evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Republican efforts to build on that meddling, or worse.

But the other meaning, of course, of “worst” would be inept, dreadfully sloppy, slovenly, and, frankly, unbelievable. And that yardstick would certainly be an appropriate way to talk about the Saudi fairy tale being trotted out so far.

As things stand now, President Trump has warned that a full accounting must be made, and that the malefactors will be blacklisted from gaining visas to enter the US. The secretary of state and the CIA director have both gone to Riyadh to figure it out – or something. Let us now explain the meaning of a slap on the wrist, if we must.

The Saudis, meanwhile, are trying to square the circle of this whole debacle, without further tarnishing Mohammed bin Salman’s now thoroughly scarred international reputation. (They went ahead with his highly touted Davos in the Desert investment conference, even if the international A-listers largely stayed away by the planeload, putting a real damper on the party.) Part of their problem is in thinking that throwing vast gobs of money at lobbyists and think tanks was going to be sufficient to keep their reputation well burnished, almost regardless of what they might do in a basement room in their Istanbul consulate. Or in the air over Yemen, for that matter.

The Turkish government is, of course, relishing the whip hand they have in being able to bring low their cross-town rival. Slightly further afield, the Iranians, who are on the other side from the Saudis in a vicious disaster of a civil war in Yemen, have barely been able to keep from piling on as well. And as for the US, it is now caught in its awkward embrace with the Saudis and Mohammed bin Salman, as the Khashoggi matter remains murky and unconcluded.

Oh, and just by the way, no one has managed to demonstrate that the victim had received the appropriately administered last rites of his faith at the time of his passing. The Saudis did manage to dragoon Khashoggi’s son to a palace so that the king could say how sorry he was that Khashoggi senior had passed away. Is there a Saudi Arabian word for “chutzpah”?

The killers, of course, can hardly release photographic documentation or a death certificate, without generating yet further complications in their ever-changing story of how it all went down. As Kurt Vonnegut used to say, “And so it goes.” DM

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.