While evidence mounts that Saudi theocrat Mohammed bin Salman ordered the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a hand-picked death squad in Istanbul, the Australian government is hoping we’ll forget all about the incident.
After pretending Khashoggi’s murder was a non-issue for weeks, on October 20 the government was forced to ditch Australia’s diplomatic representation at the Saudis’ Future Investment Initiative after regime officials admitted Khashoggi had been “killed” in the Istanbul embassy in a “fistfight” — one of many lies from the Saudis, who had initially claimed Khashoggi left the embassy safely. Within hours of the “fistfight” story, Saudi officials changed it to claiming he died in a choke-hold during an abduction attempt. A day later the story changed again to an admission he’d been murdered, but it was a “rogue operation”.
Further evidence released by the Turkish government — which has consistently outwitted the Saudis in releasing a steady drip of information that demolished each of the kingdom’s lies in turn — now shows bin Salman ordered the murder.
Despite the Saudi government repeatedly being demonstrated to be lying about the murder, the Australian government has done nothing in the three weeks since its October 20 announcement. When queried as to what further steps the government had taken since then, DFAT told Crikey:
The investigation into Mr Khashoggi’s death is still underway. Once the results of the investigation have been released, the Australian Government will take a decision on the appropriate response. The Foreign Minister has encouraged the Saudi Government to cooperate fully with this investigation. On 5 November, the Australian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva raised Australia’s concerns about Mr Khashoggi’s death in the UN’s Human Rights Council as part of Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review.
But it’s unlikely the “investigation” into Khashoggi’s murder — ostensibly a joint Turkish-Saudi operation — will find definitive proof the regime ordered the murder. Saudi officials sent to “assist” with the investigation in Istanbul in fact helped destroy evidence. An independent inquiry is impossible anyway given the deep loathing of the brutal Erdogan regime for the Saudis and the Turks’ determination to use the incident to humiliate bin Salman. Former senior Saudi officials have said the kingdom will never permit an independent investigation anyway.
That’s very handy for the government, because despite the wealth of evidence this was a crime ordered by the very top of the Saudi government, Australia can go along with the lie that it was a “rogue operation” and take no further action against a country it is desperate to sell weapons to. That is, it can go back to its default position of hoping everyone ignores Saudi Arabia’s monstrous human rights abuses for economic considerations, and because the Saudis are notionally on our side in the war on terror — despite all that Saudi funding that flowed to Islamic State, and Saudi involvement in 9/11.
And there still remains the question of how safe Australians and Australian residents are from Saudi death squads in its diplomatic facilities in Australia. This is a country that readily engages in the most sadistic violations of civilised norms. There’s no reason why anyone else would be safer than Jamal Khashoggi.
I just don’t get it…of course there’s the oil thing but even so, would you really turn a blind eye to a regime which sponsors the murderers of your own citizens!
Well … yes in fact. Haven’t heard a word from Foghorn Leghorn’s chicken coop about the likely return of the vile murderous embezzler Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka.
With all delicacy, R.H. tot-up the number of American citizens that have been killed in Israel by protesting
settlements to free movement. The definitive example was a girl that got flattened by a bulldozer. She was
in clear sight of the driver yet he was instructed to flatten her. Then there are the abductions (including
Australia) to say noting of the matter of passports on Julie’s watch.
More to the point is the question concerning the Treaty of Westphalia where it was “agreed” that other
countries would not dabble in the affairs of sovereign states; the proceedings from about 1870 to 1940
being cases par excellence. We have a choice but there are significant “down-sides” as to what we select.
Bernard will you STOP calling the regime of Muhammad bin Salman “theocratic.” Just STOP. The Saudi Arabian government is the government of the Saud family. The kingdom is the property of the Saud family, that’s why it’s called SAUDI Arabia. Not Islami Arabia. The Saud family has an agreement with the Wahabi religious establishment that they won’t interfere on each other’s turf. That’s all. The country is not theocratic and MBS is far from being a theocrat. Is Australia partly theocratic because when the government treads on the Catholic Church’s toes they object strenuously and the government backs off? Look, we don’t subscribe to Crikey to read wilful inaccuracy, will you fix this please?
Vain hope I fear Rais. The same applies, collectively for Crikey, in regard to perspectives on political ideologies (notably Fascism – but their knowledge of Conservatism is equally unsound). Their problem extends well beyond differences of opinion to conflict with fact. Incorrect references to the Z-word and the anti-S adjective display similar deficiencies of knowledge (and education).
The editorship is incapable of reform; moreover its not the least interested. Its just News Corp in reverse. I wish I could describe The Monthly and Crikey as the written equivalent of the thinking persons’ Alan Jones or Kyle Sandilands or the scribblings of Bolt but even there it fails. Crikey’s major weapon is ad hominem-ism which suits the majority of the readership admirably. Well done for sticking with it. I’m out in nine days.
Agreed Kyle…It is almost impossible on Crikey, The Guardian and other supposed enlightened publications, to not have a comment moderated out of existence if it contains the “Z” word.
My reply to a comment by your good self concerning “Amateurish Morrison pays the price for trade stupidity” of 14Nov18 11:17 has been sitting on its butt since 15Nov18 10:12
I have expressed arguments with which some people don’t agree but nothing controversial.
BK – you didn’t mention Saudi funding of madrassas in Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, from which sources emerge kids with little useful training for the real world, thus unemployable and susceptible to being left behind and vulnerable to grievance and anger.
Do you have any actual references for that DF? I’m genuinely interested to know because in my youth I spent 3 1/2 years in a madrassh in Indonesia and the fellow students I’ve caught up with later tend to be in small business, public service and teaching. Haven’t seen much unemployment. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, which is why I’m asking.
You recently described yourself as “elderly” so presumably the madrassa you attended (assuming this isn’t the usual taqiya) long predated the export of well funded wahhabi/salafist extremism.
After all, Obama attended a madrassa as teenager in Indonesia.
The woeful record of saudi funded fanaticism being promulgated throughout the world is no secret – Pakistani madrassas being best known to Diggers for their delightful graduates, the Taliban.
“Taqiyah” is a Shiah thing, you don’t learn that in Indonesia. I was in the madrasah back in the early to mid 1970s well before the reported boom in Saudi donations but I visit Indonesia and Malaysia quite often. It’s likely that the kind of people I mix with would knock back offers of aid with Wahabi connections but such institutions do exist. I was asking in regard to the description “from which sources emerge kids with little useful training for the real world, thus unemployable and susceptible to being left behind and vulnerable to grievance and anger.” Many other sources than the Saudis, such as wealthy Indonesians, expatriate Indonesians and at least one retired Aussie teacher are sponsoring madrasahs or Islamic primary schools often providing vocational training to kids from poorer families. I know several people who sponsor this type of institution. By the way, Obama attended a secular type school, not a madrasah. And from what I’ve heard, fighters in Iraq and Syria originating from Southeast Asian countries amounted to just a few hundred.
One US-resident Saudi dissident journalist is murdered and all this outrage breaks loose. Two thousand Yemeni children are bombed to death, tens of thousands of their siblings face death from Saudi-blockade-induced starvation and it barely raises a whimper.
Hear. Hear. I would sooner hear what the Australian Government is doing to show its disgust at what is been done to Yemen. Unfortunately, the USA is the biggest supplier of arms to the Saudi’s – our big brother must know best, I suppose?
Just heard that that China is getting close to having operational Fusion Power – hope they will share it with us so we can throw back Morrison’s Coal & stop Saudi Oil that helps them buy death from the US.
It is bizarre that one of the responses to this murder has been to put pressure of the Saudis to “do something” about their long running war on Yemen – which presents the Drumpfster with a problem for his $300B “beautiful weapons” sales.
Throughout the Western arms industries, there is much pressure being put on respective governments to get this matter of the front pages because, jobs.
..as well as “off the front pages”.
The pressure now coming on the Saudis to get out of Yemen has to be good. Even the US with all its own wars can’t justify that war now.