Setting the Standard: Protecting US Journalists Abroad

Setting the Standard: Protecting US Journalists Abroad

By: The Visor Editorial Staff

On Oct. 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a critically acclaimed Saudi Arabian journalist for the Washington Post, headed to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up the paperwork for his upcoming wedding. Thinking it would be a routine errand, Khashoggi left his fiancée outside with his phone. Little did he know, he would never walk out, as he was assassinated and dismembered inside.

Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian citizen working in Virginia as a writer for the Washington Post with his residential green card. His pieces criticizing the Saudi government quickly skyrocketed him to fame, attracting national attention for their brutal honesty and unbiased truth. After he disappeared on that fateful day in Istanbul, Turkish authorities were quick to investigate the crime scene, concluding that the murder was evidently premeditated and completed by a 15-member team flown in from Saudi Arabia. 

The Saudi government initially denied any involvement, insisting that Khashoggi left the consulate unharmed. Weeks later, they claimed it did occur but was inflicted by “rogue actors,” and that the crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had no knowledge of the operation beforehand. While Bin Salman has publicly denied having any involvement in the assassination, the CIA found that he’d likely orchestrated it himself, according to a 2021 de-classified Office of the Director of National Intelligence report titled “Assessing the Saudi Government’s Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi.”

As Americans and as Catholics, it is not morally and ethically consistent for a nation that claims to value freedom of the press to maintain a close alliance with a country that murdered a journalist working for a U.S. publication, because that is not only un-American, but it disrespects God’s law.

It isn’t news that journalism is under attack. Governments around the world have attempted to control the press through violence, imprisonment, threats, and censorship for decades, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi is an example of how dangerous this can be. The United States Constitution clearly outlines freedom of the press in the First Amendment, whereas Saudi Arabia ranked 169th on the Reporters Without Borders Global Press Freedom Index in 2018. The silencing of a man who wasn’t afraid to be truthful about the problems with his own country is anything but American.

Furthermore, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are told to follow God’s law; “By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him ‘to do what is good and avoid what is evil.’ Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person.” (CCC, 1706) Murder is not following the law of God, doing what is good, or avoiding what is evil, and it is certainly not loving God or neighbor.

We acknowledge that this issue isn’t black and white. Just because Saudi Arabia is a nation that doesn’t align with our values doesn’t mean we can completely cut off ties with them; doing so would obviously have detrimental effects on our country’s economy and international relations. However, there is a difference between acquaintances and friendships. It is possible for the US to maintain diplomatic and economical relationships with other countries without displaying as much pomp and circumstance, as the presidential administration did in the last week when Mohammed Bin Salman visited the White House.

America must stand for freedom, for the very beliefs on which it was founded. The Visor believes we should hold other countries to the same standard.