Bill Allowing Suits Against Saudi Arabia Will Not End Well For U.S.

In an ill-advised move, the House and the Senate voted to override President Obama’s veto of the bill that would allow 9/11 families to sue Saudi Arabia over its apparent links to the terrorists. The vote was overwhelming in both houses of Congress, making this a bipartisan error. Right now, countries that are designated state sponsors of terrorism do no have immunity from being sued in US courts. Countries not on that list do have that immunity. This bill would limit that immunity even further, excluding states that have alleged ties to terrorists, which now includes Saudi Arabia.

This will only come back to bite us in the end, as other countries will retaliate in a similar fashion. This will put US service members at risk in other countries around the world and probably trigger lots of legitimate and bogus suits against the US. It is a major breach of international law involving sovereign immunity. But, in typical fashion, Congress seems to think that we can constantly abrogate international law without any of the consequences of doing that blowing back at us.

Incredibly, after voting 97-1 (Harry Reid being the lone holdout) to override Obama’s veto, 28 Senators sent a letter to the bill’s sponsors raising a concern about the “unintended consequences” of the bill. Yes, this was the Senate, that bastion of learned deliberation.

Yes, I feel sympathy for the 9/11 families and I understand their belief that Saudi Arabia was linked to the attacks. But this will not end well for the US and some of its citizens. But it is clear that very few in Congress considered what will happen in the future; they just wanted to make sure they got the votes in November.