Since the Oct. 2 disappearance of 59-year-old Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudis have denied any involvement in his death. Saudi officials have said Khashoggi left the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, despite no video record of his departure. Now that an audiotape surfaced confirming Khashoggi’s interrogation, torture and death at the hands of 15-Saudi operatives, the Kingdom offered a new explanation.: Khashoggi’s was killed by a botched interrogation with operatives that did not have the authority from either King Salman or his son, Defense Minister Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Reported in Israel’s Harraetz newspaper and carried by CNN, unofficial government sources indicate that Riyadh will cop to the killing but only by rogue elements in the interrogation team. President Donald Trump echoed that view earlier in the day.
When you consider the lack of plausible deniability from Riyadh’s latest excuse, it makes you wonder whether or not anyone can possibly believe it. If the Saudis have already lied about Khashoggi’s disappearance, it’s more difficult to offer a new story, that rogue elements with the interrogation team went overboard. Saudi officials already said that the 15-member Saudi delegation, arriving at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport, were tourists, not government backed assassins to terminate Khashoggi’s anti-Bin Salman reporting. Whatever happened in the Saudi consulate, there’s little plausible deniability talking about a botched interrogation. When you consider there’s no body left, it’s difficult for the 15-man Saudi hit squad to claim they made a mistake, especially after the Saudi government vehemently denied any involvement in Khasoggi’s death. Once the Saudi’s categorical denial, it’s hard to backtrack.
Speaking to reporters before his helicopter tour in the Florida Panhandle of hurricane Michael, President Doanld Trump echoed the Saudi’s attempt to save face, telling reporters rogue elements could have been responsible for Khashoggi’s death. Several key member of Congress have already expressed reservations about continued Saudi arms sales. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.), one of Trump biggest critics in the 2016 campaign, demanded that if the Saudis killed Khashoggi, there must be severe economic sanctions. Saudi officials said yesterday that they would hit back at any country imposing economic sanctions. Trump said economic sanctions would hurt American defense contractors more than Saudi Arabia, ready, if need be, to buy arms from Russia and China. Rubio wants to send a loud message to Riyadh that the U.S. won’t tolerate extra-judicial assassinations.
Saudi Arabia already called press reports of Khashoggi’s assassination, dismemberment and removal from the Saudi consulate “baseless.” U.S., European Union and U.K. officials wants a credible crime scene investigation, literally two weeks after Khashoggi’s disappearance. Any crime scene investigation isn’t likely to turn up much blood, fiber or DNA evidence when Saudis had two weeks to scrub the facility. Speaking with King Salman, Trump said he knew nothing of any such Saudi operation. That’s entirely possible because his renegade so, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salaman, likely ordered the operation. But if both King Salman and Bin Salman deny knowing anything about the operation, it can produce the plausible deniability about a Riyadh-backed operation. “We said that they are working closely with Turkey to find an answer,” Trump said. “I am immediately sending our Secretary of State [Mike Pompeo] to meet with the King.”
If Ryadh knew nothing about the 15-man hit squad, Saudi Arabia will have to find a scapegoat to blame for the operation, proving it was not ordered by the Kingdom. Saudi’s Gulf Cooperation Council.closed ranks, with Dubai-based real estate tycoon Khalaf al-Habtoor calling on Gulf Arab states to boycott any country that pulls its representatives from the “Davos in the Desert” economic summit in Ryadh. “Together we must prove we will not be bullied or else, mark my words, once they have finished kicking the Kingdom, we will be next in line,” said Habtoor, hinting at some type of retaliation. For the last two weeks, Saudi Arabia hasn’t said much other than deny any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance. Now that the facts are coming out, the Kingdom pivots with the rogue operation explanation. Whether it’s credible or not, the world had few good options.
If the Saudi government insists they knew nothing of any operation to abduct or kill Khashoggi, there’s little Trump can do to dispute the claim. Despite initial denials, it’s within the range of possibility that the government knew nothing about any operation to abduct or kill Khashoggi. Much like the Marh 4, 2018 Novichok poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, U.K., Russian President Vladimir Putin emphatically denied Russian state involvement. While there are plenty of doubters, as there are with Saudi Arabia today, there’s no way to disprove the rogue agents’ theory, something not approved by either King Salama or Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi’s assassination will eventually fall out of today’s news cycle, especially after Riyadh gives an explanation with plausible deniability. Saying the Khashoggi’s affair wasn’t approved by the Saudi government gives Riyadh cover.
