So apparently 9/11 victims can sue Saudi Arabia for the terrorist attacks now that the US Congress has overridden Obama's veto of the bill that would allow such lawsuits.
My first question is, how would such a lawsuit be enforced? Let's say you did sue Saudi Arabia (in a US court, which is what the bill allows you to do) and you were awarded $3.4 million in damages. Who is going to force Saudi Arabia to pay up? What if they say they're not going to pay? Who is going to enforce that? If they don't pay, are we going to bomb them, at which point they would sue us for wrongful military action?
Secondly, this opens up a Pandora's Box of lawsuits for all kinds of historical grievances. Can we sue Germany for WWII? Can Japan sue us for nuking them on the grounds that the nuke may not have been absolutely necessary? Can countries that experience civilian deaths from errant US drone strikes sue us?
This seems to create a lot of problems. What do you think?
My first question is, how would such a lawsuit be enforced? Let's say you did sue Saudi Arabia (in a US court, which is what the bill allows you to do) and you were awarded $3.4 million in damages. Who is going to force Saudi Arabia to pay up? What if they say they're not going to pay? Who is going to enforce that? If they don't pay, are we going to bomb them, at which point they would sue us for wrongful military action?
Secondly, this opens up a Pandora's Box of lawsuits for all kinds of historical grievances. Can we sue Germany for WWII? Can Japan sue us for nuking them on the grounds that the nuke may not have been absolutely necessary? Can countries that experience civilian deaths from errant US drone strikes sue us?
This seems to create a lot of problems. What do you think?
