4 critical unanswered questions about Jamal Khashoggi

It has been over two weeks since Jamal Khashoggi disappeared in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2. While a quick search for Jamal Khashoggi will result in thousands of new daily articles on the latest details in his case, we still do not have answers to the most basic questions surrounding his likely death.

How did Khashoggi establish U.S. residency?

We still do not know how Khashoggi managed to immediately establish U.S. residency in June 2017, following his self-exile from Saudi Arabia. 

It’s quite shocking that a man with direct connections to the founders of al Qaeda and who openly supported and rooted for the U.S.-designated terrorist organization Hamas was able to skip the line and acquire a green card in such a short time.

Perhaps Khashoggi was helped by several influential backers. He had at least one billionaire patron in the controversial Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who has several connections to American companies and government figures.

Khashoggi did spend his college years in the United States, graduating from Indiana State University in 1983. It’s unclear whether that helped him establish residency.

How did Khashoggi cut to the front of the line?

How did Jamal Khashoggi lose his life?

Turkish and Qatari media outlets have insisted for weeks, without providing evidence, that Khashoggi was a victim of torture and brutal dismemberment by Saudi officials. The state-sponsored news outlets continue to repeat the claims, citing audio and video footage of Khashoggi’s supposed execution. Yet following his October 2 disappearance, none of that reported evidence has seen the light of day. 

It’s safe, at this point, to assume that Khashoggi is no longer with us. However, we still have no idea what exactly happened to him after he entered the consulate in Istanbul. Was Khashoggi the victim of a botched rendition? Was he brutally murdered? That remains entirely unknown.

Why is there a media blackout on Khashoggi’s radicalism?

From his decades-long relationship with Osama bin Laden to his support for terror until his last days, Jamal Khashoggi wished death upon whom he perceived as his enemies and wanted to instigate violent revolutions in the Middle East. These simple facts are readily available in publications such as Conservative Review, The Federalist, Frontpage Mag, and in other new media sites, but are very difficult to find in the pages of legacy media publications. 

His Arabic writings and commentary are readily available for all to read. They reveal his clear ideology as a regressive Islamist who followed the Muslim Brotherhood playbook on overthrowing America’s Gulf allies and waging war against Israel. 

Khashoggi’s writings have on several occasions expressed support for the U.S.-designated terrorist group Hamas. He was also staunch defender of al Qaeda co-founder Abdullah Azzam. 

Moreover, Khashoggi’s tweets are rife with anti-Semitism. He excused Palestinian terrorism as a reaction to “Jewish usurpers.” He hated Israel in its entirety, hoping that it would one day “die by force.” Khashoggi also mitigated the importance of the Holocaust, comparing it to the Palestinian “Nakba.”

The New York Times, Washington Post, and countless more outlets have published hour-by-hour updates on the Khashoggi situation. Yet hardly any legacy media publications have found the space to recount his well-documented radicalism. Why is that?

Why did the Washington Post hire Khashoggi?

Mr. Khashoggi began writing for the Washington Post in September 2017, only a couple months after he moved to the United States.

We know that he was a virulent critic of President Trump. Khashoggi came on as a “Global Opinions” columnist following his claim that he was banned from Saudi Arabia for criticizing Riyadh’s relationship with the new president. Was Khashoggi hired to provide an international angle to the paper’s anti-Trump resistance?

There’s also the reality that the Left has become very cozy with the Muslim Brotherhood and other regressive Islamist groups. It’s possible that the Khashoggi hiring was simply more evidence of the Left’s sympathy for Islamists. Or did one of his billionaire patrons or U.S.-based contacts use connections to secure the gig for Khashoggi?

With so much at stake, it’s time to get to the bottom of these critical questions surrounding the Khashoggi affair.

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