Saudi Crown Prince & the Pre‑Planning of a Journalist’s Demise
What the New York Times Uncovered
According to the NY Times, a conversation intercepted by U.S. intelligence revealed that in September 2017, Mohammed bin Salman told his aide Turki Aldakhil that he was ready to take Jamal Khashoggi with a bullet.
Key Takeaways
- September 2017 – 13 months before Khashoggi’s death.
- Premise: “If Khashoggi won’t come back to Saudi Arabia, he’ll be brought back by force. If that fails, a bullet will do the job.”
- The prince may not have meant literally shooting, but the language was unequivocally ominous.
- Saudi Arabia initially denied any foreknowledge of Khashoggi’s disappearance.
- Later, the state admitted a team was involved in the killing, but portrayed it as a rogue operation, explicitly excluding the crown prince.
- US agencies had kept the tape under wraps, only transcribing it after mounting fresh evidence linking the prince to the murder.
The Chronicle of a Disputed Narrative
After Khashoggi began publishing angry op‑eds in The Washington Post, Saudi officials grew more volatile. The Times’ report suggests that the kingdom’s anger may have fueled a tightly–planned, pre‑zero‑day operation.
Rumblings in the Headlines
The CIA has also released statements that the crown prince was the mastermind behind the murder. The two sides of the story – Saudi deflection and U.S. indictment – paint a chilling portrait of a high‑level decision that turned lethal.
Perspective
If you’re wondering how a king‑in‑training allegedly figured out on a phone call that removing a dissenting journalist might be preferable to…well, let’s call it “involving the national security apparatus,” you’re not alone. The story reminds us that political power can be as ruthless as it is ritualistic.
Bottom Line
The conversation showed a chilling chain: emotional frustration, intervention planning, and finally a very literal “bullet.” Whether the language was literal or figurative doesn’t change the fact that the prince’s words were a pre-emptive step toward a lethal conclusion.
