As if the anti-Muslim, anti-Arab rants of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump weren’t damaging enough to the friendly relationship between the US and the Arab world, the Senate has recklessly and unanimously driven another nail in the coffin with its passing of a bill permitting survivors of 9/11 and family members to sue Saudi Arabia for damages.
Although it has yet to be rubber stamped by the House, pundits predict it will have an easy ride pitting President Obama who has expressed his strong objections, against lawmakers.
President Obama says he is prepared to wield his veto, saying, “If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.”
He’s got that right! There must be hundreds of thousands of widows, orphans and people without limbs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq that have solid cases against the US government, the Pentagon or the CIA.
Moreover, let’s not forget that the United States recruited, armed and funded Arab militias to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation. Known as “Afghan Arabs,” initially led by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam and later by Osama Bin Laden, they formed the kernel of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group.
CNN’s Peter Bergen once quoted the head of Pakistan’s security services contending that “the CIA supported the mujahideen by spending taxpayers’ money, billions of dollars of it over the years, on buying arms, ammunition, and equipment…”
The US created this Frankenstein’s monster without considering that one day it would bite its master. If the bill goes into law, it would set a precedent opening the floodgates. However, if support for the bill turns out to be overwhelming, his veto is liable to being overruled.
However, it’s not to his credit that he didn’t defend his case on the grounds that the 9/11 Commission found that Saudi authorities had no part in the attacks on that fateful day. “We have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization,” it read.
In fact, the existence of such a bill is betrayal of America’s longstanding and closest regional ally, which is going all out to battle terrorism and extremism while standing as a buffer against the nefarious ambitions of an enriched, legitimized and financially empowered Iran.
Compounding these slanderous accusations are statements from all the three remaining presidential candidates. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders back the bill, while Trump is pushing to have the redacted pages in the 9/11 report declassified tweeting, “It’s nice to know who your friends are, and perhaps who your enemies are.” That, of course goes both ways. Trump doesn’t know that in 2003, according to CNN, Saudi officials asked the Bush administration to release the redacted 28-pages, a request that was refused.
What’s the game here? Unlike most of the victims of America’s military interference in the region, the loved ones of those deprived of their lives on 9/11 aren’t struggling to survive when they have already received compensation from the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund with 2,980 families receiving an average of $2 million. Some 94 families chose to opt out preferring to take their claims to the courts and there are unconfirmed reports that some walked away with up to $5 million.
So when there is no element of dire need, and no grounds whatsoever to involve the Saudi government, this exercise appears to be entirely politically motivated.
If the worst comes to the worst, they may find themselves responsible for rattling the global economy, for shredding the principle of sovereign immunity and for opening the gate for individuals around the world to seek redress for America’s alleged crimes in courts.
Although it has yet to be rubber stamped by the House, pundits predict it will have an easy ride pitting President Obama who has expressed his strong objections, against lawmakers.
President Obama says he is prepared to wield his veto, saying, “If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.”
He’s got that right! There must be hundreds of thousands of widows, orphans and people without limbs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq that have solid cases against the US government, the Pentagon or the CIA.
Moreover, let’s not forget that the United States recruited, armed and funded Arab militias to fight in Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation. Known as “Afghan Arabs,” initially led by Abdullah Yusuf Azzam and later by Osama Bin Laden, they formed the kernel of the Al-Qaeda terrorist group.
CNN’s Peter Bergen once quoted the head of Pakistan’s security services contending that “the CIA supported the mujahideen by spending taxpayers’ money, billions of dollars of it over the years, on buying arms, ammunition, and equipment…”
The US created this Frankenstein’s monster without considering that one day it would bite its master. If the bill goes into law, it would set a precedent opening the floodgates. However, if support for the bill turns out to be overwhelming, his veto is liable to being overruled.
However, it’s not to his credit that he didn’t defend his case on the grounds that the 9/11 Commission found that Saudi authorities had no part in the attacks on that fateful day. “We have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization,” it read.
In fact, the existence of such a bill is betrayal of America’s longstanding and closest regional ally, which is going all out to battle terrorism and extremism while standing as a buffer against the nefarious ambitions of an enriched, legitimized and financially empowered Iran.
Compounding these slanderous accusations are statements from all the three remaining presidential candidates. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders back the bill, while Trump is pushing to have the redacted pages in the 9/11 report declassified tweeting, “It’s nice to know who your friends are, and perhaps who your enemies are.” That, of course goes both ways. Trump doesn’t know that in 2003, according to CNN, Saudi officials asked the Bush administration to release the redacted 28-pages, a request that was refused.
What’s the game here? Unlike most of the victims of America’s military interference in the region, the loved ones of those deprived of their lives on 9/11 aren’t struggling to survive when they have already received compensation from the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund with 2,980 families receiving an average of $2 million. Some 94 families chose to opt out preferring to take their claims to the courts and there are unconfirmed reports that some walked away with up to $5 million.
So when there is no element of dire need, and no grounds whatsoever to involve the Saudi government, this exercise appears to be entirely politically motivated.
If the worst comes to the worst, they may find themselves responsible for rattling the global economy, for shredding the principle of sovereign immunity and for opening the gate for individuals around the world to seek redress for America’s alleged crimes in courts.
