Since Saudi Arabia publicly acknowledged that the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi had been a preplanned murder and that the kingdom’s earlier story on his death was fabricated, questions have swirled as to just what the U.S. would do, if anything, to hold its close ally accountable.

Weeks after the dissident journalist’s killing, the plan is clear: impose serious-sounding sanctions, pay lip service to the idea that such extrajudicial killings are unacceptable, and dance around anything that would implicate the Saudi crown prince or hurt long term bilateral relations.