The CIA concluded that the Saudi crown prince was involved in and likely gave the order for the killing of dissident Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. On Sunday, President Trump said that he has the audio recording of that killing, but he won’t be listening to it.
He should reconsider.
On Oct. 2, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve a document allowing him to marry his fiancee, who was waiting outside. When he never returned, she called the police, prompting an investigation by Turkish authorities. In the aftermath, the Saudi government at first denied the accusation, then admitted it was culpable and was moving to punish those involved.
One key piece of evidence for the CIA and the investigation into the murder is an audio recording from inside the consulate. Now that audio has been handed over by Turkish intelligence to the United States.
In the interview on “Fox News Sunday” Trump said he had spoken to the crown prince only a few days ago, and during that call he had assured the president that he had nothing to do with the killing.
Regarding the tape specifically, Trump told Fox host Chris Wallace, “We have the tape. I don’t want to hear the tape. No reason for me to hear the tape.” The president went on to describe the recording as “a suffering tape,” adding, “I know everything that went on in the tape without having to hear it. … It was very violent, very vicious and terrible.”
But as Trump tries to find a way to avoid blaming the crown prince and damaging the relationship between the kingdom and the United States, he would do well to understand exactly what the key U.S. ally is willing to do to its enemies, and hearing the murder unfold on tape would be a great place to start.
Although Trump is right that he doesn’t need to listen to the tape to know that Khashoggi was murdered violently, hearing the audio humanizes Khashoggi. It makes him a fellow human who lost his life in a gruesome fashion, instead of just a media story that stands in the way of smooth U.S. relations in the Middle East.
Likewise, Trump should also pay close attention to the information about how the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen conducted airstrikes that left civilians dead.
These things are difficult to hear about and painful to engage with. But the U.S. president has a responsibility to know what its allies, such as the Saudi crown prince, are willing to do to those who oppose them. This is especially true as the U.S. continues to sell billions of dollars worth of arms to the Saudi government and its allies while also relying on Saudi oil supplies as it ramps up pressure on Iran while supporting Saudi efforts in Yemen.
As the U.S. weighs how to navigate the complicated relationship with Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the murder, the murder itself, including the details and the role of the crown prince, must not be ignored by the president.
In the end, Trump might well decide that broader U.S. goals are more important than holding the crown prince accountable. But if Trump is willing to look past the murder and the war in Yemen for the sake of strong U.S.-Saudi relations, he should at least hear and know what exactly it is that his administration is sweeping under the rug.
Human rights abuses must not be merely words on a page or complications for foreign policy.
