United States Congress has recently passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA). This bill would theoretically provide a channel for family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its involvement in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. President Obama is expected to veto it. This might be the first time I agree with our president on something. I do not know President Obama’s personal reasons for vetoing and, for the purpose of this article, it does not matter. The reason this legislation should be vetoed is because it will eliminate the already eroding sovereign immunity that exists among western nations. It is just another extension of globalization. As much as I would love for the victims’ families of 9/11 to see some form of justice, this is one of the most ridiculous ways to pursue it.
Most of Obama’s supporters on the issue cite two concerns regarding the issue. First, the concern that if it becomes “legal” for United States citizens to pursue civil lawsuits on the international level, it will reciprocally open up the U.S. government for civil lawsuits by citizens from other nations. Furthermore, there is the concern it will lead to retaliatory attacks or kidnappings of U.S. Citizens in nations where such lawsuits are in progress. Then of course there is the concern over Saudi Arabia freezing its assets in the U.S.
My own reasons for disliking this legislation go beyond worries over fiscal matters, counter-suits and kidnappings. It is not a matter of whether foreign citizens will choose to sue the U.S. government, because someone surely will. It is a matter of who is going to prosecute such lawsuits and who enforces the verdict. The Supreme Court of the United States has no jurisdiction in Saudi Arabia. Will it be an international court linked to the United Nations? Hopefully not, because the United Nations cannot provide an objective platform for such a thing. As it stands, the U.N. already exercises way too much influence over the U.S. The success of such legislation could lead to a further disregard for U.S. authority, power, and sovereignty.
At best, such lawsuits will go nowhere. Just because the U.S. or the U.N. says it is okay for citizens to sue Saudi Arabia, does not mean Saudi Arabia will care, and why should they? After all, the whole logic behind suing them is because they bear some burden for the lives lost on 9/11. If they cared about American lives the Saudi government would have done something about Al-Queda in the first place! There is no way, outside of war, to force the Saudi government to pay. An international body judging such lawsuits would have to be formed. By the way, the U.N. already attempts to enforce international law and it does a deplorable job. Most nations outside of western civilization ignore international law at their convenience. But let us assume for a minute that such a body could successfully enforce such a thing.
At worst, such lawsuits will succeed in being prosecuted. A few American families may get a little money but what about the overall impact to our nation? Should this happen, where does it stop? You are not likely to find one nation on this planet without a citizen who carries a grievance against the U.S. government. Who will determine the criteria for prosecuting cases against the U.S. or other nations and will there be any regulation of frivolous lawsuits? Globalization already has the U.S. tied in with every nation and global company on the planet. This will only tie up the U.S. with more international red tape, and all Americans will feel it in one way or another.
Success of such lawsuits will only lead to the U.S. being less sovereign and more accountable to an international body which has no business directing U.S. fiscal or foreign policy. This is the very concept which led to the British rejecting the European Union. In fact, this is the very reason why the 13 colonies chose to revolt against the British Monarchy! In both cases, neither group felt it was right to be regulated by a foreign entity imposing its regulations on them. Globalization could force the U.S. to come full circle. This legislation could very well be the first step on the last road leading to complete globalization.
Globalization is the whole reason why President Obama does not want to offend the Saudi government. Globalization has tied us into Saudi Arabia in multiple ways; to the degree where one could argue our ability to seek justice for lost American lives has been compromised. American lives are becoming expendable because it is too risky to respond with any real authority to a nation which trains terrorists to attack us. Too many American oil companies are at stake and too many American’s do not want to wait in line for gas.
Either way, globalization has tempered the U.S. far too much. If Congress truly wishes to do justice to the victims of 9/11 it could do so. It could declare war on Saudi Arabia or endorse an embargo or sanctions. It could vote to hold Saudi terrorists for ransom to raise money for the families. It could pass legislation that could lead to the U.S. being energy independent so we could tell Saudi Arabia to go pound sand; then our options would be truly unlimited. I too want justice for all those American lives lost, but this simply is not going to do a fair job. A lawsuit is the kind of nerf ball response that our enemies now expect of us.
Neither are such lawsuits going to act as a deterrence to future terrorist attacks. Radical Islamic Terrorists do not care if the Saudi, Iranian, or Syrian governments are going to pay out a couple million dollars to a few Americans. They will still endlessly search for ways to kill Americans and destroy everything western civilization stands for. Their ideology goes beyond material value and governments that fund terrorism will continue to fund it no matter how hard it hits their pocket books. Pre-2003 Iraq and pre-Nuclear Deal Iran are perfect examples of this.
The U.S. risks setting a precedent it may not be ready or willing to follow up on. If this bill is passed and all necessary channels for the victims’ families are established to take Saudi Arabia to court, the verdict is only as enforceable as the defendant wants it to be. It would not do justice to the 9/11 victims’ families. It is time to think outside the box in terms of pursuing justice for Americans.
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