I gained my information from an article posted by Worldnet Daily on June 1, 2009:
"The Obama administration has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Saudi Arabia and four of its Princes from being held accountable for their alleged role in the 9/11 attacks which killed 3,000 Americans according to a report in Joseph Farah's Bulletin."
The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act(FSIA) generally protects a sovereign state but there are exceptions that can be invoked. The Obama administration under FSIA have requested for the Saudis to be immune from prosecution even though there is ample evidence of complicity that both the Saudi Government and named Princes had knowledge that the charities they were funding funneled money in support for Al-Qaida's attack on 9/11.
In 2006, families of the 9/11 victims' filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia and four Saudi Princes that allege that they donated to charitable organizations with the knowledge that the charities diverted funds to Al-Qaida. The Saudi Government cited FSIA in their defense, and the court sided with the Saudis and the 2006 case was dismissed. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2008 upheld this decision, citing FSIA and that the exceptions to immunity did not apply to Saudi Arabia since the U.S. had not designated a state sponsor of Terrorism.
Now the Obama administration has filed a court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court and asked the court to deny a petition for a higher court ruling by families of the victims of 9/11 in their effort to sue Saudi Arabia and its Princes.
"The families of victims of 9/11 have expressed outrage at the Obama administration."
Do you think that Saudi Arabia and its four Princes should be able to use FSIA in order to gain immunity for their accused actions? Do you think that the Obama administration should be interfering in the Saudi court case? Or should the Obama administration have let the court case play itself out without trying to influence the court in any way? Do you think that exceptions to FSIA should only apply to nations that are denoted by U.S. government as state sponsors of terror? Does the Obama administration have an obligation to the families of victims of 9/11 to allow them to pursue justice against the Saudi government and its Princes for their alleged role in the 9/11 attacks? Do you think that the families of victims of 9/11 have every right to be outraged at the Obama administration? Do the families of 9/11 victims have a right to pursue justice?
OPINION: One problem I have with these court rulings is that the court ruled that a country can only be held accountable for a terrorist attack against the United States if the country has been identified as a state sponsor of terrorism. I also believe that the families of victims of 9/11 are due their justice and just compensation for grievances caused by the 9/11 attacks. I believe that FSIA should not apply to the Saudis and its four Princes since the prosecution had ample evidence of complicity that both Saudi government and its four Princes had knowledge that the money they were donating to charities was being funneled to Al-Qaida for the terrorist attacks. I don't think the Obama administration should be interfering with the court process in order to benefit the Saudis.
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