Saudi Warns Of 'Disastrous Consequences' Over US 9/11 Law
- by Leah Brady
- in Worldwide
- — Sep 30, 2016
The two top Republicans in Congress are talking about changing legislation allowing victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia - less than 24 hours after Congress took the extraordinary step of overriding President Barack Obama's veto of the measure to make it law.
"I do think is worth further discussing", Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters, acknowledging that there could be "potential consequences" of the "Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act", known as JASTA.
"We may find that at the end of the day, after years of litigation, that the link is not sufficiently established even for Saudi Arabia", said Curtis Bradley, a law professor at Duke University.
Fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the 2001 attacks were Saudi nationals, but Saudi Arabia, a major United States ally, has long denied any involvement in the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people.
The legislation would amend existing law to allow USA courts to hear terrorism cases against foreign states, narrowing the scope of immunity now granted to sovereign foreigners.
Such lawsuits are generally blocked by a legal principle called reciprocal sovereign immunity, which protects governments from being sued in another country's courts. But there is evidence of contact between Saudi officials and the hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi citizens.
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President Obama was right to reject the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow USA citizens to sue foreign nations for abetting terrorist acts, even if they are not included on the State Department's official list of sponsor states.
"This is what we have been fighting for over a decade, " said Terry Strada, head of the 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism.
"Everybody was aware of who the potential beneficiaries were but nobody really had focused on the downside in terms of our global relationships", McConnell said.
Riyadh has always dismissed suspicions that it backed the attackers, who killed almost 3,000 people under the banner of Islamist militant group al Qaeda. They also warn that it could trigger lawsuits from people in other countries seeking redress for injuries or deaths caused by military actions in which the USA may have had a role. Other lawmakers acknowledged that they didn't pay much attention to the bill.
"What's true in elementary school is true in the United States Congress: Ignorance is not an excuse", said spokesman Josh Earnest. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to approve legislation that will allow the families of those killed in the 2001 attacks on the United States to seek damages from the Saudi government. Indeed, nations could pass laws that would be against our soldiers and cause the U.S.to have no military presence in that nation whatsoever. The New Yorker said he was open to changing the law but not in any way that could hurt the 9/11 families, many of whom are his constituents.
Republicans and Democrats in both houses joined forces to embarrass outgoing President Barack Obama, who complained the move was a "mistake" and a "political vote".
