Implications of Saudi Journalist's Murder

This past week, reports of a murder inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey flooded the press. Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who has been highly critical of the Saudi royal family, was held inside the consulate, murdered in cold blood. Reportedly, his body was also brutally mutilated. Though a formal investigation has yet to be administered, the evidence presented thus far suggests that members of the royal family had knowledge of the murder, despite their denial of all accusations of involvement. What makes this situation even crazier, however, is President Trump’s continued parroting of the Saudi line. Trump has made it a point to tweet about and announce that the king told him he was not involved in the murder. This and this alone supposedly has been enough for our president to take the royal family’s side in this affair. Yet Trump’s position likely (hopefully) is not founded on blind trust in the king, but on his desire to protect U.S. economic interests in the nation. Yet, this could have consequences that Trump himself may not be able to forsee.It was just less than two years ago that the United States and Saudi Arabia signed a $110 billion arms deal while the nation remains our second largest supplier of oil. We clearly have strong economic ties with the country, and it would be detrimental to ruin our relations with them. Nonetheless, throughout history, we have assigned ourselves the role of the leader of the Free World and the protector of all peoples. Thus, it is our obligation to support innocent people who suffer under oppressive regimes. It is both immoral and irresponsible as a leader to take the king’s word as gospel and sacrifice our moral integrity through the process.This situation speaks to something deeper than a single murder, though. Over the past century, America has gained a nasty reputation for meddling in Middle Eastern affairs with only their own economic interests in mind. This has led to a strong anti-West sentiment that has spread across the entire region and has ignited many terrorist organizations to grow more violent.This is not to say all Middle Easterners are anti-America, but anger toward the West is widespread. There is a common misconception, however, that hatred of the West translates to hatred of democracy and freedom. Yet, this is untrue. Middle Easterners across the board have preferred a democratic system in which they have political justice and freedom, even if that vision does not exactly mirror the Western notion of a democratic society. Donald Trump’s comments defending the king only propagates the idea that we only care about economic interests when, in fact, many American citizens care about the well-being of Middle Easterners. Though we may have pleased the Saudi regime, we have betrayed an innocent man and, with him, all Saudis. Regimes may change frequently in the Middle East, but the population will always remember what the West does in relation to their country and region for years. It is time for our leader to step up to the plate, do what is right and, if we are lucky, actually do his research on the Middle East. Only then can we hope for long-term improvements in the region.