Last week the president announced his intention to veto a bill, recently passed by Congress, allowing the families of victims of the September 11 terror attacks to sue the Saudi government in American civil courts. To Andrew McCarthy, the White House’s position is the correct one:
[E]ven if it is sued successfully, the Saudi government is never actually going to pay any judgments. More to the point, legislation of this kind will spur other countries to enact laws allowing their citizens to sue the United States—and maybe even criminal laws allowing the arrest of current and former American government officials (including military personnel)—for actions taken in defense of our country and pursuit of our interests. Since we have interests throughout the world and a military that acts globally (and lethally), our nation has far more to lose than most by playing this game. . . .
Relations between the United States and any other sovereign, including the Saudi regime, ought to be managed by the political branches—in particular, the executive—in whom the Constitution vests responsibility. . . .
To be clear, I have no sympathy for the Obama administration’s concerns about enraging the Saudi regime. . . . [T]here is also no reason why the Obama administration could not negotiate with the Saudis in an effort to create a fund to compensate 9/11 victims. The Saudis would of course be resistant, but we have cards to play in such a negotiation. . . .
Furthermore, there is no restriction, and should be none, on civil lawsuits against individual Saudi citizens and entities that are complicit in terrorism, including the 9/11 attacks. We should be more aggressive in prosecuting Saudi entities, including “charities,” that provide material support to terrorism—an imperative President Obama has slackened on in the name of appeasing Islamists.
Read more on National Review: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440021/sue-saudis-obama-veto