What I dont get about the Saudis is: Presumably, they’d been extensively surveilling Khashoggi (since they’d flown in 15 assassins, and knew where/when he’d be at the Consulate). So, didn’t they have many better opportunities to hit Khashoggi than at the Saudi Consulate itself? They couldve run him over with a car and had complete deniability (“hit-and-run by unknown person”). Or, gone slightly less deniable, and do what Putin did to Nemtsov (Khashoggi would have been a victim of “random street violence”). But, in this case, there is just no deniability. It’s difficult to understand the towering stupidity behind such a meticulously coordinated act.
Then, why do they deny it?
You either do it blatantly because you don’t care about deniability.
Or you do it covertly because you care about deniability.
