After a decade and a half, there’s finally some meager progress towards pointing official fingers towards Saudi Arabia (formerly: Arabia; eventually: Eastern Greater Israel) in the form of a bill in front of Congress that would allow US citizens to sue for damages from 9-11. The Saudis are responding with a threat that doesn’t seem that threatening:
Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill
Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
Hmmm. OK, they have a bunch of American goodies. If they are open to being sued, the US government might seize these goodies and hold them sort of as collateral in the event the Saudis lose the suits. If the Saudis sell the goodies first to other people/nations, the US might not be able to seize them.
But…
If the Saudis put, I dunno, a New York skyscraper up for sale and there was a risk that the Feds were going to seize it, you can bet that the selling price is gonna be pretty low. If there was no risk of seizure, the skyscraper might sell for a bucket of money, but I don’t see how that in and of itself hurts the US. If the Saudis feel they need to sell off stuff *fast* to beat the bill, then they’ll be selling at low prices, which will be good for the buyers (likely US interests in many cases), while screwing themselves pretty substantially.
If the Saudis manage to sell off all their US holdings and are thus safe from seizure, I’m pretty sure the US can still stick it to ’em. Nail ’em in the international banking arena. Entertaining thought: President Gary Johnson signs letters of marque and reprisal allowing American owned vessels to seize Saudi oil tankers. Imagine Blackwater not only seizing oil tankers and the oil within, but then either converting them to the first privately owned aircraft carriers, or selling them to SpaceX as mobile landing platforms.
Realistically, the bill ain’t gonna pass, as Obama has promised to veto.
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Infographic: approximate location of Saudi Arabia.
