If you were surprised by the killing and dissection of Jamal Khashoggi by representatives of the government of Saudi Arabia, you have not been paying attention. Execution by beheading has been the preferred method of ridding the Kingdom of its undesirables for decades if not centuries. Even today, through the first four months of 2018, at least 48 souls have been dispatched to the great hereafter by the Saudi authorities wielding swords, often carried out in the town square at 9:00 in the morning. They are now working on their technique of executing multiple beheadings simultaneously. I guess this is what counts for progress in The Kingdom.
And what were the atrocities that could bring such a judgement down on the head (no pun intended) of the unfortunate?. According to releases from the Saudi government, these executions were carried out for a wide range of crimes including murder, robbery, adultery, and “terrorism”. I put terrorism in quotes because their terrorism is not necessarily the same as our terrorism. It is an all purpose term which includes such threatening behavior as “thought crimes.” Another way to describe thought crimes is to say “political opposition.” Yep, they have been known to execute by beheading those of their citizens who commit the dastardly crime of political opposition. And these are the guys that we just must have as allies in the never-ending search for a delicate balance of power in the Middle East. So it follows that no one should be surprised that Khashoggi, a citizen of the Kingdom residing in the US, and who, from his platform at the Washington Post, was clearly a political opponent and critic of the King and His Minions. He was smart enough to steer well clear of the desert Kingdom, so they couldn’t very well get him to the town square and the local sword swinger. They did the next best thing and lured him to their diplomatic station in Istanbul, dispatched him by unknown means and then sliced him into small bits and pieces. Not as good as a public beheading in the town square, but it got the job done. The only thing unusual about it was that they then denied it. Completely out of character. I guess they were a little shaky because they weren’t on their own turf, er, I mean sand. BTW, given their druthers, they would have also crucified Mr. Khashoggi as they often do after a beheading in the Kingdom. They tack the unfortunate executee on a post in the middle of town for a few days as an example to all.
All of this comes to mind not because I am outraged at the fact of Mr. Khashoggi’s death and brutal disposition by the hand of the Saudi government, although I am, indeed, outraged. Sadly, I have become inured to death by government action. It hasn’t been all that long ago that we, (the US of A) were sending some of our citizens to their greater reward by strapping them in a electrified chair and pulling the switch, or by looping a noose around their neck and dropping them through a hole in a raised platform, which sometimes had the effect of popping their head off. A little like beheading don’t you think. Of course, we no longer behave in such outrageous and brutal ways. Now we inject them (while they are strapped to a gurney) with a three drug cocktail that is supposed to kill them forthwith, but sometime doesn’t. But, you say, we operate under the rule of law that protects the rights of all citizens. This is, indeed, true except for the ones that we execute only to find that they were not guilty of the crime that got them killed. Oops, I’ve gotten far afield from Mr. Khasoggi’s fate and the behavior of his government.
As you know, the Khassoggi matter has received no end of press coverage these last few weeks. Even as I’m writing this, CNN is reporting on the “courageous” action of our Senate to condemn the killing of Khashoggi and chastise their putative leader Mohammad Bin Salman, much to the displeasure of our President. I suspect the more relevant reason for my interest is the fact that at one time, long ago, I knew the family. No, I did not know Jamal, but rather his uncle, the infamous Adnan, and his daughter Nabila (now a US citizen). Adnan was a well- known, businessman who was well connected to the royal family. He is often referred to as a “wealthy arms dealer and playboy.” Wow, that is a pejorative characterization if I’ve ever heard one. More officially, it is thought that he came to his wealth (which at one time was reported to top out at $4 billion or so) by being a “Commercial Representative” for foreign businesses wanting to do business with the Saudis, some of whom sold weapons systems to the Saudis. For a time Adnan was the Commercial Representative for my company in Saudi Arabia. BTW, you should know that, at the time, one could not do any business in Saudi without engaging the service of a Commercial Representative. Here’s how it worked. You signed on as a client, you bid on contracts for goods or services, and if you were fortunate enough to be selected, you paid the CR 10% or so off the top. For example you proffer a bid to build out the technical infrastructure for King Abdul Aziz University for let’s say $10,000,000 or so, if you get the contract, you pay your CR $1,000,000 which you have added in to the cost base of your bid. Sweet deal, huh. Everyone wins.
Actually, I don’t think I ever actually sat down with Adnan, but did our business through lawyers. I know. It seems really odd, and maybe even fishy, but that’s how it worked. Although my memory is a little shaky, I believe I met his daughter Nabila, or was at least in the same room with her, at some Washington function. Nabila is only important to my story because Nabila was also the name of Adnan’s yacht (which at 200 feet was purported to be the largest private yacht in the world at the time). Heck, it’s not so unusual to name something after one of your kids. There’s a rich oil guy in Dallas that named a city park he funded for his 12-year-old son. But back to the Nabila. Adnan was a larger than life character, but like all of his ilk, he finally came a cropper (financially speaking) and had to struggle to keep the bankers away from his core assets. He put the Nabila up for sale at, I’m told, a steeply discounted price. Who knows what a steeply discounted price is for a 200′ yacht is? In any case, sniffing a deal at a discount to be had, you-know-who came calling. Yes, The Donald bought the Nabila from Khashoggi. Before the deal actually closed and money changed hands, Adnan had a bit of seller’s remorse in that he thought it would be unseemly to put a yacht with his daughter’s name on it in the hands of a notorious (even then) playboy from NYC. He went back to Trump to ask that he take Nabila’s good name off the boat. Trump, knowing an opportunity when it presented itself, said, “Sure I’ll take Nabila’s name off the yacht…for a price.” And he did, after Adnan discounted the price once again.
So what’s the point of all this, you say? Well, I guess there is no point except that it is, after all, a small world. I’m told that Nabila, now lives with her children and her second husband in New York. You might also be interested to know that Dodi Fayed, who died in that infamous car crash in Paris with Princess Diana was Nabila’s cousin.
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