The U.S. Senate went after Saudi Arabia Tuesday, after unanimously passing a bill that would allow the families of September 11 victims sue the Middle Eastern country.
Let the White House vs. Congress fight begin…again.
The bill, which the White House has threatened to veto, is now passed on to Congress to decide whether or not it will pass.
What’s more, the Saudi government has warned that if the bill passes, it will sell its holding in U.S. Treasury, which the New York Times put at $750 billion. This would put the U.S. in a precarious situation.
However, according to Zero Hedge’s latest post on the matter, the Treasury disclosed (for the first time in over 40 years) that Saudi only has $117 billion.
“The Senate’s passage of the bill, which will now be taken up in the House, is another sign of escalating tensions in a relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia that once received little scrutiny from lawmakers,” ZH continued.
But, several media sources are noting that analysts and economists don’t think Saudi would try to selloff its U.S. dollar reserves, because it would actually do more harm to the Saudi economy than to the U.S. economy.
“Questions about the role Saudi officials might have played in the terror plot have lingered for more than a decade, and families of the Sept. 11 victims have used various lawsuits to try to hold members of the Saudi royal family and charities liable for what they allege is financial support for terrorism,” NYT reported.
Previous lawsuits were unable to gain any momentum due to a 1976 law that gave foreign nations immunity for lawsuits in the U.S. court system. However, by passing this bill, the Senate has found a loophole in that Americans can sue foreign nations if they “are found culpable for terrorist attacks that kill American citizens within the United States.”
Even if I agree with this bill, and think any Saudis– whether government or not – having any involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks should be held accountable, I am a little annoyed at the fact that again, America is seeking justice abroad instead of within its own borders.
How about impeaching former president George W. Bush and former VP Dick Cheney for what happened around the time of September 11th…and thereafter.
