Thread: Saudi Arabia are blackmailing the US

Saudi Arabia wants US to kill 9/11 bill, threatens to dump US assets worth $750 bn - report
Published time: 16 Apr, 2016 14:27


Saudi Arabia appears to be blackmailing the US, saying it would sell off American assets worth a 12-digit figure sum in dollars if Congress passes a bill allowing the Saudi government to be held responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The warning was delivered by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last month during a visit to Washington, the New York Times reported. He said his country would sell up to $750 billion in US treasury securities and other assets before the bill puts them in jeopardy.
The newspaper said Riyadh's resolve to actually deliver on the threat is dubious, since selling off those assets would be technically challenging and would damage the dollar, against which the Saudi national currency is pegged.
Under the current US law, foreign nations have a degree of immunity from being sued in American courts. The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 is one of the reasons why families of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks largely failed to bring to court the Saudi royal family and charities over suspicion of financially supporting the attacks.
The bill introduced in the Senate would waiver the immunity for cases involving terrorist attacks that kill US citizens on US soil. Introduced by Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, it managed to overcome partisan divisions in the US legislation and passed without dissent through the Judiciary Committee in January.
“As our nation confronts new and expanding terror networks that are targeting our citizens, stopping the funding source for terrorists becomes even more important,” Senator Cornyn said last month.
Possible links between the perpetrators of the attack and Saudi Arabia may be hiding in 28 classified pages of the 2002 congressional report on 9/11, which allegedly describe how Saudi Arabian nationals with links to the government financially assisted the 19 hijackers who flew airplanes into World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Many people, including the co-author of the redacted pages, former Florida Senator Bob Graham, have been campaigning for years to make them public.
The Obama administration is opposing the bill, saying it would make foreign nations retaliate by passing similar legislation and target American citizens and corporations in their national courts. Secretary of State John Kerry told a Senate panel in February that the bill, in its current form, would “expose the United States of America to lawsuits and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent.”
ronically, sovereign immunity didn't stop a US judge from last month ordering Iran to pay $10.5 billion in damages to families of the 9/11 victims. The ruling was passed because Iran didn't defend itself against the allegations. These put the blame on Iran over its links with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which, plaintiffs argued, aided Al-Qaeda. The argument is based on the same congressional report, which also said no link between the hijackers and Iran had been found.
None of the 19 hijackers were Iranian citizens. Fifteen were citizens of Saudi Arabia, while two were from the United Arab Emirates, and one each from Egypt and Lebanon.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are bitter regional rivals, adhering to competing sects of Islam and battling for position in the Muslim world. The US had been a stalwart supporter of Saudi Arabia and opponent of Iran, which overthrew the US-backed Shah in 1979 and became an Islamic republic.
Washington's cordial relations with Riyadh chilled somewhat as it sought a thaw with Tehran last year, participating in a deal to resolve the controversy over Iran's nuclear program.

https://www.rt.com/usa/339832-saudi-...ill-terrorism/

Never trust a

Saudis warn of economic reprisals if Congress passes 9/11 bill

(CNN)Saudi Arabia is warning it will sell off billions in American assets if the U.S. Congress passes a bipartisan bill that would allow victims of 9/11 and other terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments.

Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir issued the warning to U.S. lawmakers last month during a visit to Washington, two senior State Department officials told CNN. A source with knowledge of the Saudis' thinking said investments would be put in jeopardy if this bill passes, so they are trying to protect themselves from risk.

Saudis warn of economic reprisals if Congress passes 9/11 bill - CNNPolitics.com

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

...Ironically, sovereign immunity didn't stop a US judge from last month ordering Iran to pay $10.5 billion in damages to families of the 9/11 victims. The ruling was passed because Iran didn't defend itself against the allegations. These put the blame on Iran over its links with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which, plaintiffs argued, aided Al-Qaeda. The argument is based on the same congressional report, which also said no link between the hijackers and Iran had been found.
None of the 19 hijackers were Iranian citizens. Fifteen were citizens of Saudi Arabia, while two were from the United Arab Emirates, and one each from Egypt and Lebanon.

...indeed.

Let them do it. They need the money.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

“expose the United States of America to lawsuits and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent.”

That might be costly. How many people have been killed by The Defenders of Democracy around the world? how many buildings and infrastructure projects destroyed? No wonder obomba is against it and lets face it, it will never happen.

Non story - move on everyone.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

The warning was delivered by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir last month during a visit to Washington, the New York Times reported. He said his country would sell up to $750 billion in US treasury securities and other assets before the bill puts them in jeopardy

Dear sir,

All Saudi bank accounts in US have been frozen. All Saudi owned busnesses in US have been nationalized. All arms sales to Saudi are now stopped and will be sold to Iran. US Embassy in Saudi is being relocated to Iran. Your oil is now subject to a 300% tariff. UN sanctions on the way. This just for starters but do carry on as you see fit. Your piss ant kingdom is an affront to humanity so get fucked.

Over and out,
Joe citizen

Well, yes, arms sales. That would likely hurt both sides equally but the threat of the USA being less enthusiastic to support the Saudi regime in times of perceived trouble will likely be more of a disincentive to the Saudis to carry out their threat. That is unless the Saudis are somehow more confident militarily now than they were before.

The 28 pages are a smokescreen to deflect responsibility away from the main perpetrators - Bush, Cheyney, Rumsfeld and Tony Blair.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

sovereign immunity didn't stop a US judge from last month ordering Iran to pay $10.5 billion in damages to families of the 9/11 victims.

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

Never trust a

...US judge?

"The United States as a sovereign is immune from suit unless it unequivocally consents to being sued.[32] The United States Supreme Court in Price v. United States observed: "It is an axiom of our jurisprudence. The government is not liable to suit unless it consents thereto, and its liability in suit cannot be extended beyond the plain language of the statute authorizing it."[33]
"In Hans v. Louisiana (1890), the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Eleventh Amendment (1795) re-affirms that states possess sovereign immunity and are therefore generally immune from being sued in federal court without their consent."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity


The American Government has gone mad. Sovereign Immunity is as old as the British Common law America borrowed at its inception and is still a right claimed by it and the governments of all 50 states.
Once again the hypocrisy and arrogance of the American Government borders on insanity.

If Saudi did dump these Treasuries (which I doubt they will), they would need buyers for them.

KSA is not the same "ally" as it once was.

Nevertheless, Saudi was crucial for the 1972 US petro-dollar OPEC deal.

Hence--->

Originally Posted by Dapper

The 28 pages are a smokescreen to deflect responsibility away from the main perpetrators - Bush, Cheyney, Rumsfeld and Tony Blair.

^ Yep, if Obama really wanted to earn that Nobel Prize they gave him, these war criminals would have been turned over to an International Court for a war crimes trial.

^spot on mate.

Indeed - but it would be like expecting Miss Piggy to get Kermit arrested for something he did - puppets have no power or control. They are puppets.

Bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia passes the Senate

Published time: 17 May, 2016 16:44

The US Senate adopted unanimously a proposed bill that would allow Americans to sue nation-states for terrorist attacks on US soil, despite opposition from the White House and allies such as Saudi Arabia.
Dubbed “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act,” the bill sailed through the upper chamber of Congress without opposition Tuesday. It now heads to the House of Representatives, which has its own version of the proposal.

“This bill is very near and dear to my heart as a New Yorker because it would allow the victims of 9/11 to pursue some small measure of justice,” said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, according to The Hill.
Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, co-sponsored the bill and apparently prevailed over his South Carolina colleague Lindsey Graham, who had put a hold on the bill last month, citing concerns it would open the US up to lawsuits by foreign governments.

Graham’s office said he dropped the hold over the recent recess, The Hill reported.
The bill faces bipartisan opposition in the lower chamber and the executive branch, however.

“I think we need to review it to make sure we are not making mistakes with our allies and we're not catching people in this that shouldn't be caught up in this,” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said last month, earning thanks from the White House.
The Cornyn-Schumer bill seeks to create an exception in the doctrine of sovereign immunity established by a 1976 law, which has so far shielded Saudi Arabia from lawsuits over the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. Fifteen out of 19 hijackers involved were Saudi subjects.

Citing sovereign immunity, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by the 9/11 families against the kingdom in September 2015. Under the Cornyn-Schumer bill, however, Riyadh could be sued because the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon killed American citizens on US soil.

Saudi Arabia has voiced opposition to the bill. During the visit to Washington in March, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said the country would sell up to $750 billion in US treasury securities and other assets before the lawsuits put them in jeopardy.

The warning was delivered by last month during a visit to Washington, the New York Times reported. He said his country would sell up to $750 billion in US treasury securities and other assets before the bill puts them in jeopardy.

On Monday, the US Treasury Department revealed that the kingdom owned $116.8 billion in securities as of March.

It's a side show. Nothing will happen, and the mystical pages simply say "well some people knew but it was the saud family or anyone in government, so don't worry about it"

More interesting is Iran copying the USA and suing the for all the damage the USA has done.

Almost all countries in the ME are down the drain. Destabilizing the House of Saud and later Iran (or vise versa) could be a plan.

Just have to remember to give the Russians a piece of the pie and hurry before those pesky Chinks get in your way.


Saudi Arabia Needs the U.S. More Than the U.S. Needs Saudi Arabia
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-b..._10000776.html

Foreign Government Involvement in 9/11 Shouldn’t Stay Secret

FACT: 28 pages documenting specific indications of foreign government support of the 9/11 hijackers are being hidden from the American people.

Congressman Thomas Massie described the 28 pages as “shocking” and said, “I had to stop every couple pages and…try to rearrange my understanding of history. It challenges you to rethink everything.”
Shields state sponsors of extremism from accountability—which encourages their continued sponsorship and endangers countless lives around the world
Prevents the American people from making informed judgments about the nation’s counter-terror strategy and foreign policy—past, present and future
Undermines 9/11 family members working to achieve courtroom justice against those who aided and abetted the deaths of their loved ones

Two of those questions seem strikingly relevant today, as a declassification review of just 28 pages said to implicate Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks has inexplicably taken three times as long as the entire joint inquiry that produced them, and while a growing number of current and former officials who are familiar with the pages emphatically assert there’s no national security risk in their release.


https://28pages.org/

The Renewed Sept. 11 Debate Over The 'Missing 28 Pages' And Saudi Arabia




Former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, shown here in 2012, has urged the Obama administration to release the 28 pages of a congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks that have remained classified. Graham and others say this material contains important information about the financing of the terrorists and their Saudi connections

They are often called the "missing 28 pages," and while they are not exactly missing, they are back in the news again.

They are, more precisely, the final 28 pages of a massive 2002 congressional report on the Sept. 11 attacks that runs more than 850 pages. Those last few pages have never fully been made public and they deal with the highly sensitive question of foreign financing of the suicide hijackers who carried out those attacks.

President George W. Bush ordered that those pages be viewed by official eyes only, and they've remained classified ever since. Some who have read them say the time has come to reveal their contents.

Leading those calls for declassification is a former senator, Bob Graham. When he was chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Florida Democrat was deeply involved in the Congressional Joint Inquiry into the run-up to the terrorist attacks and their aftermath.

"While I can't discuss the details of that chapter," Graham said of the redacted 28 pages in an April interview with NPR, "they point a strong finger at Saudi Arabia."

Some of Graham's former colleagues on the intelligence committee are now seconding his call.

"The American people deserve to see this information," said Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who is co-sponsoring a bill that would mandate declassification of the pages. "Then there'll be a debate about what the pages mean," Wyden added. "I've read them; the American people deserve to know what's in them."

Different Interpretations

The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel agrees those pages should be made public.

"I think it would clear the air," said Dianne Feinstein of California. But unlike Graham and Wyden, Feinstein doubts that declassification would have big repercussions.

"I've read the 28 pages now over the years three times — I just read them again last week," she told NPR. "It's my belief that investigative bodies have found essentially no evidence that the 28 pages relate to any specific government's culpability."

A 2004 report by the 9/11 Commission concluded, in a carefully worded line, that it found no evidence that "the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials" had supported the Sept. 11 hijackers.

But investigators did find that Saudis in the U.S. met with, helped and gave money to the attackers as they plotted and prepared for the attacks. One question raised by the classified section of the report is what connection those men may have had with Saudi Arabia's intelligence agency or other parts of its government.

John Lehman, a former secretary of the Navy who was one of that bipartisan panel's Republican members, recently told The Guardian the report should not be read as an exoneration of Saudi Arabia. Lehman also joined the calls for declassifying the congressional report's censored 28 pages.

No Final Word From The Administration

Obama administration officials have not said whether the pages will be made public. But the president's trip to Saudi Arabia last month reawakened the issue, and a decision may come soon. Earlier this month, the White House let it be known a lengthy evaluation of whether to declassify was nearing completion.

"The good news is that our intelligence officials have indicated that they expect to complete that process by the end of June," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, "and we'll look forward to their decision at that point."

At least one of the Obama administration's top intelligence officials is opposed to releasing the pages.

"I think some people may seize upon that uncorroborated, unvetted information that was in there that was basically just a collation of this information that came out of FBI files," CIA Director John Brennan said earlier this month on NBC's Meet the Press, and "point to Saudi involvement, which I think would be very very, inaccurate."

Saudi Arabia, for its part, protested 13 years ago against being "indicted by insinuation" and formally requested that the 28 pages be made public. That appeal was rejected by President George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, two leading senators, New York Democrat Chuck Schumer and Texas Republican John Cornyn, are sponsoring a bill to strip away protections in the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act so that any nation, not just those deemed "state sponsors of terrorism," can be prosecuted for terrorist attacks on American soil.

Opening The Door To Lawsuits

The bill opens the possibility that if a court found evidence that Saudi government officials helped sponsor the Sept. 11 attacks, the kingdom could be liable for damages.

"It creates a very narrow provision which may or may not apply to Saudi Arabia," said Cornyn of what he has called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA. "My attitude is, let the chips fall where they may."

On Tuesday, the full Senate approved the JASTA bill by unanimous consent.

"The United States needs to use every tool available to stop the financing of terrorism," Cornyn declared after the bill's approval. "I'm glad we are one step closer to empowering victims with the ability to hold those who helped perpetrate these horrific acts responsible."

How quickly the House will act on JASTA, or whether it will even consider the legislation, remains unclear. When asked about the bill last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan sounded a note of caution.

"I think we need to review it to make sure we're not making mistakes with our allies," he told reporters, "and that we're not catching people up in this that shouldn't be caught up in this."

Saudi officials are adamantly against the bill. Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir recently warned that to guard against potential lawsuits under JASTA, the Saudi government may feel compelled to liquidate American holdings worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

The bill is also opposed by the Obama administration. "We'd be very troubled by it," Secretary of State John Kerry warned Congress earlier this year, "because what it would do is really expose the United States of America to lawsuit and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent in its current form."

Many Senate Democrats disagree. "The families deserve no less than accountability from Saudi Arabia," says Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal. "The United States has nothing to fear and the administration has been excessively defensive on this issue."

The Renewed 9/11 Debate Over The 'Missing 28 Pages' And Saudi Arabia : NPR

28 pages - nothing to see here. US just keeping it up their sleeve for such a time as they want to invade Saudi. Just more fodder for the brainless mainstream media fools to get all excited about.

"The Obama administration is opposing the bill, saying it would make foreign nations retaliate by passing similar legislation and target American citizens and corporations in their national courts. Secretary of State John Kerry told a Senate panel in February that the bill, in its current form, would “expose the United States of America to lawsuits and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent.”"

So what? Essentially you are trying to protect criminals. Effectively you are saying US citizens can commit crimes overseas and get refuge in the States.
No country should protect their citizens from prosecution for crimes committed abroad.

Originally Posted by Maanaam

"The Obama administration is opposing the bill, saying it would make foreign nations retaliate by passing similar legislation and target American citizens and corporations in their national courts. Secretary of State John Kerry told a Senate panel in February that the bill, in its current form, would “expose the United States of America to lawsuits and take away our sovereign immunity and create a terrible precedent.”"

So what? Essentially you are trying to protect criminals. Effectively you are saying US citizens can commit crimes overseas and get refuge in the States.
No country should protect their citizens from prosecution for crimes committed abroad.

It doesn't say anything of the kind.

We are talking about suing nation states.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

28 pages - nothing to see here. US just keeping it up their sleeve for such a time as they want to invade Saudi. Just more fodder for the brainless mainstream media fools to get all excited about.

say it Pseudo....Zionist, Mossad, Rothschild, Turner etc.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Originally Posted by HermantheGerman

...Ironically, sovereign immunity didn't stop a US judge from last month ordering Iran to pay $10.5 billion in damages to families of the 9/11 victims. The ruling was passed because Iran didn't defend itself against the allegations. These put the blame on Iran over its links with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which, plaintiffs argued, aided Al-Qaeda. The argument is based on the same congressional report, which also said no link between the hijackers and Iran had been found.
None of the 19 hijackers were Iranian citizens. Fifteen were citizens of Saudi Arabia, while two were from the United Arab Emirates, and one each from Egypt and Lebanon.

...indeed.

A twisted and ignored fact that has eluded -

Akin to current affairs and history that is for all practical purposes, invented.