1-back in the 60s and 70s ya you would get dissidents killed overseas but it's 2018 and the climate (media, domestic access to information, geopolitical considerations) is much different
2-dude was not a political opponent but rather a journalist
3-dude was a renowned journalist, with deep ties
4-dude wasn't even a dissident in a traditional sense, he just expressed some common sense criticism that would've been much more tolerated just a couple years ago, even in Saudi Arabia
5-dude got killed in a consulate
6-dude got killed in turkey
7-this is just the latest in a series of stupid decisions by Mbs