How far is too far when it comes to global politics? Is it when we learn that one of our allies is a nation that publicly beheads people for a plethora of ridiculous reasons including sorcery? Or is it when we learn that this ally imprisons people for simply speaking their mind? Perhaps it is when we learn that this same nation commits war crimes in Yemen.

At what point do we as U.S. citizens decide it is necessary to put our foot down and take a stand against such atrocities? If we do not put our foot down and demand action then we are no better than the nation committing such acts. We cannot claim to be a defender of human rights while simultaneously ignoring the human rights violations committed by an ally. If Saudi Arabia’s public beheadings of people for blasphemy and their imprisonment of activists is not enough to draw harsh condemnation by the United States, surely being responsible for the murder of a member of the American press should. This is why the president must take a stand against the Saudis and show the rest of the world that the United States does not tolerate such offenses by anyone, especially an ally.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian national, lived in Virginia and wrote for The Washington Post. Khashoggi was a fierce critic of the Saudi Royal family and crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman. According to a BBC article about his murder, Khashoggi “first visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 28 September to obtain a document certifying that he had divorced his ex-wife, so that he could marry his Turkish fiancée.” Khashoggi believed that he was safe on Turkish soil, but what ensued after he entered the consulate created an international firestorm.

According to numerous reliable news sources like CNN, it is now clear that Khashoggi was assassinated in the consulate by a Saudi hit squad. The Saudi government initially claimed that he had left the consulate unharmed. According to Euan McKirdy, Sarah Sirgany, and Clarissa Ward of CNN, the Saudi government later claimed “he died in a fistfight involving more than a dozen Saudi officials at the country’s consulate in Istanbul.”

However, according to Shane Harris, Greg Miller, and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post, a report later released by the CIA “…concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last month, contradicting the Saudi government’s claims that he was not involved in the killing.” The resulting action of the Trump administration, according to Jesus Rodriguez of Politico, was to impose sanctions targeting 17 Saudi Arabian officials.

Sanctions against people no longer in power does nothing to punish a regime that had come to believe that it could commit such an atrocity against a journalist without much international commotion. They do nothing to punish a government that believed that it could get away with blatantly lying to the world about their assassination of a journalist.

Trump should take this opportunity to sanction Mohammed Bin Salman and the Saudi government. Trump has even been receiving pressure from his own party to punish the Saudi government. According to Molly K. Hooper of The Hill, “Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters that if the crown prince were to go before a jury ‘he’d be convicted in 30 minutes.’”
I understand the argument that trade with Saudi Arabia is very important for the United States because of our need for oil and Saudi Arabia’s abundance of oil reserves; however, the United States needs to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we do not condone the actions of a strong-armed leader in a world where strongmen seem to be coming to power in droves.