What happens when you’re in debt to the devil. Isn’t this blackmail? Sure seems like it. And, of course, Obama is doing their bidding with Congress.
Saudi Arabia has told the Obama administration and members of Congress that it will sell off hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of American assets held by the kingdom if Congress passes a bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in American courts for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the bill’s passage, according to administration officials and congressional aides from both parties, and the Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon. The officials have warned senators of diplomatic and economic fallout from the legislation.
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.
Several outside economists are skeptical that the Saudis will follow through, saying that such a sell-off would be difficult to execute and would end up crippling the kingdom’s economy. But the threat is another sign of the escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States.
The administration, which argues that the legislation would put Americans at legal risk overseas, has been lobbying so intently against the bill that some lawmakers and families of Sept. 11 victims are infuriated. In their view, the Obama administration has consistently sided with the kingdom and has thwarted their efforts to learn what they believe to be the truth about the role some Saudi officials played in the terrorist plot.
“It’s stunning to think that our government would back the Saudis over its own citizens,” said Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 and who is part of a group of victims’ family members pushing for the legislation.
Also to read:
must read – #SaudiArabia funds radical jihad & has for decades.But we've looked the other way @Ralph_Peters1… https://t.co/ygOTDyRmOe
— KT McFarland (@ktmcfarland) April 17, 2016
***************************************************
Why is this proposed bill being raised now, 15 years later? Did GOPe avoid during Bush years because W was against and establishment doesn’t do the right thing when it goes against the wishes of senior establishment? Obama is opposing because of principle. Wrong principle but his nonetheless. Obama believes that only international bodies should hear disputes not the U.S. judicial system. GOPe probably thinks, well we let the Iran deal go through because of our planned and natural incompetence, why wouldn’t Obama let this go through when it doesn’t hurt Iran. Obama also likely doesn’t want GOPe to have a national security victory prior to election but I still think his main reason is his principle toward international bodies.