The government of Saudi Arabia has admitted what everybody knows: Emissaries from Riyadh murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The kingdom predictably blamed the murder on rogue operators who will now be held accountable—i.e. scapegoated. “We are determined to punish those who are responsible for this murder,” foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News’s Brett Baier on Sunday. “The individuals who did this, did this outside the scope of their authority. There obviously was a tremendous mistake made, and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up. . . . Even the senior leadership over intelligence service was not aware of this.”
The Saudis issued a statement saying the tragedy was a result of “discussions” between Khashoggi and “persons with whom he met” that “led to quarrels and an altercation, which tragically resulted in his death.” This seems to be the diplomatic way of saying Khashoggi was set upon by thugs, murdered, dismembered, and disposed of.
By denying any knowledge of the dissident journalist’s fate for weeks, the Saudi government has forfeited the civilized world’s obligation to take the polite version seriously. The foreign minister’s attempt to put daylight between Khashoggi’s murderers and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is to be expected—but in no way credible. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, and there are no significant checks on the crown prince’s powers. That MBS bears direct responsibility for the brutal extrajudicial execution of a permanent resident of the United States is beyond question.
Saudi Arabia’s many critics among Washington’s politicians and commentators are calling for the United States to push King Salman to replace his son with another as crown prince. It’s undeniable that MBS has behaved with wanton irresponsibility—his kidnapping of the Lebanese prime minister; his preposterous and damaging overreaction to a critical tweet by the Canadian foreign minister; his badly waged war in Yemen. Against these must be weighed the crown prince’s right-minded hostility to Iranian imperialism; his openness to an alliance with Israel; his realization that Saudi society’s oppression of women is crippling it; and his oft-stated intention to end Saudi subsidization of Wahhabi radicalism around the globe.
Even so, the United States cannot abide an ally that brazenly murders its citizens in a foreign country. A direct and specific condemnation from the White House and the State Department is necessary. The time for hedged statements is over. In the longer term, as Elliott Abrams explains on our website, American policy on Saudi Arabia can’t ignore the need for checks on the crown prince’s power. Since his ascension, MBS has been consolidating his authority, and today has, in effect, unlimited power over the Saudi defense, security, and economic agencies. That is an exceedingly foolish way to structure a government—as MBS has amply demonstrated.
