Assassins and Murderers Without Borders: The Case of Jamal Khashoggi

2nd October, 2018 was a normal day in Istanbul and business activities were going on as usual. The world was about to witness a macabre incident which would shock everyone anywhere on this earth to the bone. He was just going for papers from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul so that he will be able to marry his girlfriend, and also finalise his divorce with his first wife. But this man entered the consulate and never came out. His life ended once he entered the consulate. Little did he know that 15 assassins were waiting  to snuff the life out of him. Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who was once close to the Saudi ruling house but turned an avowed critic a year ago, had to leave Saudi Arabia because he felt his life was in danger. Reports suggest that before he entered the consulate, he gave his phones to his girlfriend who was waiting for him outside and told her to make a call if he does not come out after some time. She did exactly that when Khashoggi failed to come out of the consulate. Here comes the interesting part.
The Turkish authorities then told the whole world that they had evidence to back their claims of the journalist being killed inside the consulate. This was denied vehemently by the Saudi authorities claiming that Khashoggi left the consulate through the backdoor. After 17 days, the narrative from the Saudi authorities started to change. They were also not good at telling lies. They then with the palpable support of the Yankee president, Donald Trump fabricated the Rogue Theory, blaming Khashoggis death on some rogue elements within the Saudi Intelligence. Turkey then released pictures of 15 men with some being Saudi intelligence officers, a forensic expert and special forces flying in two separate private jets into Istanbul on the same day Khashoggi disappeared inside the Saudi consulate. Fast forward to the present day, gory details have emerged from the Turkish intelligence agency through the Turkish media of how Jamal Khashoggi was killed. The Saudis then threw in another lie by saying that the journalist died in a fist fight when he entered the consulate. They also told us that he died in a choke hold.
In my opinion, I hope the Turkish authorities release the full details of what actually happened to Jamal Khashoggi on that fateful day. Also, who will enter a consulate and fight with 15 trained assassins, knowing Khashoggi not to be a martial art expert? Why will 15 men be assigned to kill one man who is very harmless and cant even kill a fly? What happened to his body? Was this hit sanctioned by the Saudi authorities with Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman (MBS) being in the full knowledge of what went on in the consulate? Will these assassins ever be brought to justice?  Were the Turks spying on the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul all this while? How did they get to record what happened in there? I hope to get some answers to these questions. I am no security expert but just a harmless blogger who is so much concerned about what happens on the international scene.
From what we are hearing and watching in the media, it seems these assassins are without borders, meaning, when you are a critic of their government and you are on any part of the earth, you could be killed by them whenever they want to. This I find so disturbing and a very cowardly act because, the most feared intelligence agencies in the world such as Russias KGB/FSB, Americas CIA, Israels Shin Bet/MOSSAD and the British Mi6 will not even go this far, despite they also having their own methods of killing their enemies around the world. It seems the Saudis have upstaged these intelligence agencies with this new method and I know by now they will be scratching their heads as to how this happened. Hell would have broken loose if this brazen and dastardly act had been committed by the Russians or the Iranians, but the hypocrisy goes on as the world leaders are well measured in their condemnation of this heinous crime.

Remembering 9/11

It all started as a normal day for me on September 11, 2001 which was a Tuesday. I had gone to talk to my dad about an important issue concerning my tertiary education. I was in Koforidua in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I came back to my Aunty's place which was in the same area as my parents residence. i decided to take a nap. Deep into my sleep i heard the house phone ringing, i picked it up and it was my Aunty's husband who was telling me to switch on the television for something tragic had happened in the US and it was being shown live by most of the major news networks all over the world. I did just that and i realized that the US was under attack by some cowards. I became glued to the television set as i watched the events unfold on CNN via our national television station, GTV.  I could not move out of the room as i did not want to miss any second of what was happening in the US. The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were burning as two commercial domestic airplanes had crashed into them. The Pentagon had also been attacked as a plane also crashed into a part of it killing some of the staff. Another plane was also brought down as it was trying to make its way to another target.  By the close of the day, the whole world was waiting for any news on the perpetrators of such an atrocity. In all about 3000 people both on the four commercial planes and on the ground in the Twin Towers and scores of Fire Service and Security agents were killed. This tragic incident in my opinion could be said to be second to what happened at Pearl Habour on December 7, 1941 which also killed about 3000 soldiers when the Japanese launched a kamikazi attack on the American Naval fleet in the South Pacific. May the souls of all the victims of these cowardly acts rest in perfect peace as we remember the September 11 attacks on the US. Though so many conspiracy theories abound about who actually orchestrated this dastardly act, i hope those mistakes that made the perpetrators take advantage would not be committed again. God bless us all.