Hopefully you saw this one? Heavily advertised, & with record public support as a topic, it alas had to go up against the gargantuan wealth of the “absolute monarchy” dictatorship that ordered the murder of the documentaries chief protagonist.
If there was even a scrap of doubt in your midst about whether the Saudis, & more specifically – Mohammed bin Bonesaw – premeditated, planned & performed the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, this concertedly stark & decisive documentary will leave you in absolutely no doubt whatsoever.
It is a damning verdict, all expertly filmed & edited, almost stylishly so.
The irrefutable accounts orchestrated include Turkish forensic police officers, prosecutors & justice ministers along side prominent, exiled Saudi activists & dissidents, UN Special Rapporteurs & Human Rights legal specialists, CIA officials & a wide remit of supporting professionals.
Kashoggi’s widowed fiance, Hatice Cengiz, also contributes a powerful presence.
A broader range of Arab press & activist members provide extraordinary dialogue & critique.
But perhaps the most conspicuous of agitators is the remarkable “dissident” Saudi expatriate Omar Abdul Aziz.
It is an incredible piece of work. The footage, testimonials & assemblage are exceptional, & the quality of the finished feature is stunning.
It also does not shy away from the guilt or gravity of what took place in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Istanbul, nor the fact that the man responsible for ordering the murder is obviously Mohammed bin Salman.
Important related threads are also pursued. Israel’s unforgivable supplying of cyber weapons technology to the Wahhabist autocratic Saudi regime (almost definitely used in the Khashoggi assassination) through the criminal virulence of Pegasus spyware courtesy of the malevolent NSO Group terrorist company. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Canada’s heroic Citizens Lab, clarify the urgent & unprecedented menace this new perilous technology poses to just about everything & everybody. Thank you Israel.
The incorrigible, unimaginable, raw rectal evil of Donald Trump’s terminal transactionist approach towards his billion-dollar bonesaw buddy is laid bare. “I saved his ass” is the widely credited “brag” that The Pricktator has used to describe his immensely controversial & protectionist attitude & actions towards bin Sawman who will have rained down the bloody bribes on the detestable corroptomaniac traitor.
The urgency of this documentary, & its implications for the world should the offender be allowed to escape justice, are worth revisiting.
Joe Biden, who came to power promising to make MBS “a pariah”, quickly folded like the heartless limp rag he is once in office, further humiliating himself with the deeply deplorable “fist bump” & “beg the Bonesaw” humiliation in Riyadh, which resulted in nothing but loss of face & credibility shredded.
We recently discovered the full extent to which hire-a-liar, war criminal, & oligarch & tyrant’s PR man & reputation launderer – Tony Blair – has been busy “advising” bin Bonesaw, including on how to deal with the “public relations” disaster following Kashoggi’s murder.
“Blood money” taken to it’s ultimate acme.
Interestingly, there were fifteen Saudis that travelled to Turkey (many with diplomatic clearance) as the “kill team” to target Khashoggi, who was an American citizen at the time.
Let’s remember that it was also fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 WTC hijackers who were Saudi Arabian nationals.
What a bizarre coincidence.
The diplomatic death squad, as Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Arbitrary Killings – Agnes Callamard – points out, constitutes “a state operation”.
In all seriousness, & ignoring other contributing factors, would the invasion of Ukraine have even happened if such indefensible lenience had not been so disgracefully displayed towards MBS/Saudi Arabia after the killing???
how much of an “emboldening factor” was this for Putin to take that decision?
A lack of consequences.
A lack of deterrence.
MBS had always looked up to Putin. The Ritz Carlton Riyadh was a much more expedited & brazen version of Putin’s exact proceedings previously.
Ramzan Kadryov, Putin’s despotic strongman stooge over in the Chechen fiefdom (Ramzan will become much more independent & defiant now Putin has been so weakened over his epic miscalculation in Ukraine) has been an even clearer role model/idol of MBS.
But MBS has now surpassed them all, more than anything due to the Kingdom’s insane oil wealth & the unfathomable global corruption that supports, solicits & shields the Al Saud.
It all comes down to money & crime
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/24/september-11-former-saudi-officials-questioned.
Does it still matter? It matters MORE THAN EVER! If you missed this documentary, or need a reminder as to the scale of the emergency, this astonishingly clear, & expertly crafted film will serve the task unfailingly.
2020, Brian Fogel