Jamal Khashoggi, a proxy for world’s strongman leaders brought down
The news of the Khashoggi killing seems to go quieter with each day that passes. On November 20 President Trump declared that there is much to lose in lost trade deals with the Saudi’s and that there is not enough evidence linking the killing to the Saudi Crown Prince led regime of Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is implicated in the brutal assassination of the respected Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was appointed to his current position by his father, King Salman. The Crown Prince, also referred to as MBS, can be added to the list of demagogues who have risen to power in the face of public discontent. The new wave of demagogues all share the same rally game plan- the false promise and hopes of a new era of prosperity while creating fear and descent.
You can add Brazil now to the list that have chosen to buy into the game plan that sees the strongmen in charge. This list includes the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, Poland and Austria.
Khashoggi was the biggest critic of MBS, warning in his work that MBS was an impulsive leader that was dangerously undermining his country’s interests. Sadly Khashoggi’s who wasn’t afraid to continue his critics of investigative journalism will send his strongest message by his own brutal assassination. His death should once again be a reminder and warning to the world that this is a rogue state.
The message being sent is that we are an administration of marauding capitalists that do not care where the chips fall. In the meantime the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster goes on in the Yemen genocide as eight million people risk famine. MBS abducted the Lebanese prime minister, Saad Hariri. And then their is the quarrel with Canada over human rights.
MBS has been sending a message, and the message seems to be “it’s my way or the highway,” turning the country into an autocracy. Canada has played a leading role in the international community refusing to turn an eye as MBS’s fellow members of the royal family live abroad in self-imposed exile.
Sadly Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Chrystia Freeland has stood alone amongst the international community that have remained for the most part silent.
The Saudi royalty have decided to run budget deficits while building their war armory on equipment imported from the U.S. and Germany, and to a lesser extent Canada. Now while Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel has frozen arms exports to Saudi Arabia pending the Khashoggi deah investigation, President Trump is saying that their is not enough evidence to link the Saudi regime to the killing.
Offshore institutional investors that are expected to fund the Saudi Vision 2030 plan will likely look to politically safer places to invest. As the Saudi’s look to diversify away from oil perhaps MBS’s behaviour will force the country change it’s leadership.
