SAUDI ARABIA: A BUMBLING TERRORIST GOVERNMENT.

ICHEOKU says if it is proven that the government in Riyadh had anything to do with the disappearance of the Saudi Arabia born journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, there will be a huge price to pay. No despotic government should be allowed to bank on their friendship with Washington DC to wreck havoc on its people, especially those ones already on self exile for fear of their lives and not within their own countries' territorial space. 

Stories abound of so many countries which throw their citizens to wild dogs to be devoured alive and nothing happened; simply because it was their internal affairs matter and there is no need to disturb the groove just because their government decided to solve their problem their own way and in a manner they know best how to. This indifference is more pronounced where the perpetrating country is a rich country with vast and extensive investments in Western economies and fear of their pulling their money out, compels the beneficiary Western countries to look the other way and not to attract the ire of such despotic countries. Saudi Arabia is one such country and they have milked it for such a long time. 

Saudi Arabia has been going rogue on international laws and respect for human rights of their citizens; and getting away with so many of such murders and for such a very long time, that it has somewhat become normal, tolerable and acceptable. This has empowered them somewhat to continuously deploy such a reign of terror  on their citizens, in order to maintain their servile obedience and peradventure, continue to survive as an absolute monarchical government. 

But this particular murder, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, is a murder gone too far. If and when they are eventually found culpable, they should be made to pay a hefty price, including cutting off of diplomatic relationship, if that is what it will take to make them a better government, that is compliant with respect for the human rights and the protection of her citizens. They cannot continue their systematic elimination of those of their citizens who they consider existential threat to their despotic well being, without consequences. 

The world was happy to welcome the initial baby steps reforms by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; and were happy when he allowed women to drive and encouraged them to work in Saudi Arabia. There were other commendable sundry reforms which he engineered since coming to power. But all these lofty ideals must not be a license for unchecked despotism. Indiscriminate arrest and imprisonment of critics, arbitrary executions, torturing and murdering, and now dismembering of critics by the government, is a bridge too far and which they must not be allowed to get away with. 

Even Kim Jong Un does not dismember North Korean citizens, admitted he had fed his uncle alive to a pack of starving wild dogs. Saudi Arabia went too far and in such a brazen, idiotic, petulant manner, which has now forced Washington DC into a corner, and which demands only a commensurate severe response. There is simply no way of getting around it or sugar-coating the egregiousness of what took place in Turkey; even at the pain of losing their investments in the United States of America. 

How could they go this rogue and on a foreign territory and be this mean and very brutish, to torture, murder and then dismember a journalist inside their embassy in Turkey, for simply writing mere stories and reporting news. His crime did not fit the punishment; and he was not even charged, tried and convicted. Such intolerant, despotic arbitrariness, must not be tolerated and they must be made to pay a King's ransom, short of severing every diplomatic ties with the Kingdom of Saud. If they could be this audacious in a foreign country, imagine what goes on inside their Kingdom where they maintain maximum dictatorship; and you wonder what animals these white robe wearing humanoids are that could carry out such a brazen, barbaric, human rights violations of her citizen, torturing, murdering and dismembering him. 

Why murder a critical journalist on a foreign soil. Why not just kidnap him, take him back to Saudi Arabia, try him for whatever offense he might have committed, convict him and then lock him up for good. Why do such a pedestrian, unprofessional job of killing him inside their embassy, knowing fully well that there will be traces, questions and that there will be no other possible way to explain his disappearance short of producing him. That he was seen and witnessed entering the consulate and was expected to also be seen coming out of it. That when he did not step out as he had stepped in, that his journey ended right inside the consulate. A very poor, untrained and inept executioners, did a poor dirty number on a journalist and they cannot escape the consequences. So, the question is what degree of punishment will be meted out to Saudi Arabia, rather than their proving their innocence short of producing the journalist. 

ICHEOKU heretofore calls on every world governments, including Washington DC, to register their united displeasure at Saudi Arabia, by immediately severing all diplomatic and economic contacts with Riyadh.  The measure could be for just a few months, as a warning that such dastardly act is not tolerable, cannot be tolerated and will not be tolerated in the future. 

They were not even smart in going about it, because were they, they would have taken a page from Kremlin and have hired assassins gun down the journalist in the middle of the road, while going to the embassy, if they must kill him. But to have him come into the embassy and whack and dismember him there, is the height of gross ineptitude, none professionalism and an unthinking barbarism. What happened to the mantra of "without a trace?" Why pull off such job when you know that it can be traced to you? Carrying out a State sponsored terror on an innocent citizen, whose only weapon is his key pad, is not a good testimonial for any government, particularly one which is considered a friend of the United States of America. 

The Saudi Arabian government killed Jamal Khashoggi, but they did not succeed in actually killing him, as millions world wide have now come to know the journalist, whom only a very few knew prior. They tried to silence him by killing him, but have now thrown millions of candle light searchlight on their Kingdom and how despotic their government is. A government that tortures, kills and dismembers journalists is not human and does not belong in the comity of civilized Nations, such that the United Nations Organization should consider taking action against them as well. In short they burnt their fingers and hands, as well as their feet and legs in carrying out this hit on Mr Khashoggi. The action was both pathetic and imbecilic in execution, and smacks of job by rank amateurs. 

How can you reform a government when you are killing those who are pointing you to the direction of the areas where the reforms are needed. Your critics are often your best friends, for a reason that you learn from them by not continuing in your trajectory of errors. The government in Riyadh went too far and must be punished for carrying out such barbaric act, torturing, murdering and dismembering a journalist on a foreign soil.

ICHEOKU says it is rather too patronizing for the government in Riyadh to so simplistically dismiss the accusation that it has a hand in the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, as lies and baseless allegation; otherwise where is Jamal. If the accusations are false, then they should produce Jamal Khashoggi or explain how a person who walked into their embassy in Turkey, magically disappeared without a trace and did not walk back out. 

Recall that the Saudi Arabia born journalist and a Washington Post contributor, Jamal Khashoggi, vanished on October 2, 2018 after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish bride. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also said that Turkey is in possession of a video which showed how Jamal Khashoggi was "interrogated, tortured and then murdered" inside the consulate before his body was dismembered. Not good.

ICHEOKU says Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is forever tainted and forever damaged for orchestrating this heinous murder of a journalist; except of course, some conservative rogue elements in his government, who does not like his reformist agenda, decided to pull a fast one on him, in order to make him a pariah in the Western world. ICHEOKU says anything short of this far fetched theory, that it was a rogue elements of his government that carried out the torture, murder and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi, without permission or authorization from the highest echelon of the government, will forever cast a beastly shadow on the young Crown Prince and his reputation is forever damaged and irreparably too. Not good. Put in another way, the guy is a beast who authorized this barbarism and he should be avoided as a heartless, blood sucking, goombah. He does not belong in a civilized society. Pitiful Dracula of Riyadh. SAD.