Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 01:58 pm
There is a move underway in Congress led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) in the form of S. 2040, the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, to allow Americans to sue foreign governments for terrorism: in particular, Saudi Arabia for its role in the 9/11 attacks:
The purpose of this Act is to provide civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever acting and wherever they may be found, that have provided material support, directly or indirectly, to foreign organizations or persons that engage in terrorist activities against the United States.
Saudi Arabia says if it is passed, economic reprisals will follow. President Obama doesn’t want to see the bill pass. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have announced their support for the bill.
As reported by The New York Times, which broke the story,
Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi foreign minister, delivered the kingdom’s message personally last month during a trip to Washington, telling lawmakers that Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
Dire economic consequences are not, of course, something easily ignored, particularly by a president who faced an almost unparalleled economic crisis on the day he took office. A president who is still trusted by half of the American people with the economy he so carefully restored.
Hillary Clinton, so often linked Obama’s foreign policy as his former Secretary of State, has come out in support of Schumer’s 9/11 legislation. Press Secretary Nick Merrill tweeted Sunday,
.@HillaryClinton on @chuckschumer's bipartisan efforts for 9/11 accountability and justice: pic.twitter.com/uMgV1XcaIl
— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) April 17, 2016
She said on ABC’s This Week that,
“Obviously, we’ve got to make anyone who participates in or supports terrorism pay a price, and we also have to be aware of any consequences that might affect Americans, either military or civilian or our nation.”
Sanders released the following statement “supporting legislation that would let families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sue Saudi Arabia if the government is linked to the attacks”:
“I support legislation by Sen. Chuck Schumer that would allow Americans, including the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks, to use U.S. courts to determine if foreign entities are culpable for terrorist attacks in the United States and seek restitution for the damages and lives lost.”
“I also believe it is time to declassify the 28-page section of the 9/11 Commission Report on the potential sources of foreign support received by the hijackers. The families of those lost on that terrible day have the right to review any evidence that connects the hijackers to foreign supporters, including potentially those in Saudi Arabia as former Chairman Bob Graham of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has suggested may be the case. If no such connection exists, then our country deserves the information necessary to put that speculation behind us.
“I understand that the Obama administration is conducting a review to declassify that section of the commission report, and I would urge them to declassify this information as soon as possible.”
Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 Americans is well documented and controversial. There were 19 attackers that day in 2001, and 15 of them were from Saudi Arabia. Adding to suspicions are 28-page section of the 838-page 9/11 Commission Report (2004) referenced by Sanders, that we have not been allowed to read. Both the Bush and Obama administrations cite reasons of national security. They also fuel suspicions that America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, is being protected by our government.
Now retired Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has charged that there has been “an organized effort to suppress information” about Saudi Arabian support for terrorism at the executive level. Sen. Schumer tried as far back as 2003 to get President Bush to declassify the missing pages, leading 46 senators in the effort, saying,
“The bottom line is that keeping this material classified only strengthens the theory that some in the US government are hellbent on covering up for the Saudis.”
One of the highjackers, Zacarias Moussaoui, now serving a life sentence in a U.S. Supermax prison, pleaded guilty in February and has alleged Saudi royal family involvement in the plot, despite the 9/11 Commission’s findings of “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization [Al-Qaeda].”
Moussaoui was arrested before the attacks and so did not participate. A lawsuit brought against Saudi Arabia was dismissed by a judge last September who cited insufficient evidence to trump Saudi immunity, and Saudi Arabia calls Moussaoui a “deranged criminal” without credibility.
Schumer and Cronyn, if their bill becomes law, would remove that immunity.
The Saudis might be making an empty threat, given the dependence of their currency on the American dollar, and by hurting the United States they would be hurting themselves, it is alleged. A choice between doing what is right and doing what is practical has members of both parties supporting the legislation, including Al Franken (D-MN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and the much-hated Chuck Grassley (R-IA). As noted by the Times, “It passed through the Judiciary Committee in January without dissent.”
It is certainly ironic that on almost the only issue upon which Democrats and Republicans in Congress agree, President Obama stands opposed to them.
Amid arguments the U.S. still needs Saudi Arabia (and presumably that Saudi Arabia still needs the U.S.) President Obama departs for Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, and while the 28 pages stay in a secure basement of the White House, they will remain over his head like a perhaps more-than-metaphorical Sword of Damocles. Obama will reportedly decide within the next two months whether to declassify the controversial pages.
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