Foreign policy: Fearing they might finally be held accountable for their role in 9/11, the Saudis are making wild threats against U.S. financial markets. After 15 years of protection, the Wahhabi sheiks are feeling the heat.
Obama will make his fourth trip to Saudi Arabia Tuesday -- the most of any president. He will no doubt bow again before the Saudi king, something that’s also unique to his presidency.
To be sure he is duly subservient, the Saudi foreign minister last week warned Washington it would wreck the U.S. economy if it strips the Saudi government of immunity and makes it liable in any lawsuits involving 9/11 and the role it played in the attacks.
In a break with Obama, Hillary Clinton has come out in support of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which would let 9/11 families sue foreign sponsors of terrorism in federal court. JASTA has strong bipartisan support, ranging from GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham on the right to Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on the left.
Introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the legislation earlier this year was passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a unanimous 19-0 vote.
Riyadh also wants to kill any chances of 9/11 plaintiffs getting their hands on 28 pages of classified evidence implicating Saudi officials in 9/11 so they can introduce the explosive information in court. That means keeping a lid on that radioactive section of the congressional report on 9/11, which candidate Obama promised 9/11 families he would declassify but instead has locked up in a vault.
Calls for releasing the Saudi document are growing. In fact, there is an official movement underway to do so, one that has gained traction since recent terrorism strikes here and in Europe. Two resolutions demanding Obama make the papers public, one in the House and the other in the Senate, are attracting both Republican and Democrat co-sponsors by the day.
Then, last weekend, the issue turned red-hot when “60 Minutes” aired an expose on the 28 pages and Saudi complicity in 9/11. CBS interviewed several 9/11 commission members who agreed the 28 pages ought to be declassified.
The House of Saud, in turn, broke out the brass knuckles. It threatened to dump hundreds of billions of American assets it holds -- including some $750 billion in U.S. bonds -- if the U.S. clears the path for 9/11 families to sue the kingdom, while declassifying the 28 pages of evidence allegedly showing its complicity in 9/11.
The Saudi royal family worries its assets will be frozen by a federal judge. But why worry if they’re not guilty? Let the evidence come out.
If the administration continues to bottle it up, it will look like it gave into blackmail. Next, China will blackmail us over the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
Besides, it’s an empty threat. The Saudis would be hurt more than us if they sold Treasuries.
Not only would such a massive sell-off be technically difficult to execute, it would roil world markets. It could destabilize the dollar, which would, in turn, send ripples through the Saudi Arabian riyal, which is pegged to the greenback.
The Saudi threat reflects a palpable fear regarding the possible removal of their U.S. immunity, after 15 years of getting a pass for global terrorism.
First radical elements of the kingdom attack us, damaging our economy. Then the Saudi government threatens to make us pay if we blame it for the destruction of Manhattan and the murder of 3,000.
This has been blackmail all along -- black being the color of crude oil. But now, thanks to fracking, the Saudis have less leverage and are instead resorting to economic blackmail.
No, we're not trying to oust the House of Saud. But Obama should call their bluff and sign the bipartisan JASTA bill, a much-needed tool in our arsenal against terrorism, and unlock the 9/11 dossier.
