Hitting Them Where it Hurts

August 18, 2002

by John F. Schmidt

There is such a thing as poetic justice, and our hearts rejoice to see it. Perhaps we see the beginning in a trillion dollar lawsuit filed Thursday August 15, 2002 against more than seven-dozen defendants including the government of Sudan, seven banks, eight Islamic foundations, three Saudi princes and the bin Laden family firm.

The object is to recover damages for the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. The plaintiffs include more than 900 family members and relatives of those killed. The number is expected to top 1000 plaintiffs within a month. Following the lead of the lawsuit filed against Libya in the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster, this action aims to cripple banks, charities and some members of the Saudi royal family who are associated with terrorism.

The 15-count suit filed in Federal Court in Alexandria, Virginia will mostly affect assets held in the United States, but the sponsors have announced intentions to go after funds wherever they can reach them. Triple damages are payable by Federal law to claimants against Terrorists, according to one of the plaintiff’s attorneys. Despite the huge claim, the plaintiffs say their ultimate goal is not money, but deterrence of global terrorism.

Unknown to most Americans, the Saudi royal family - at least some prominent and rich members - have been bankrolling terrorism. For starters, they have sponsored generous payments to the families of suicide bombers in Palestine. That amounts to a subsidy for terrorism. Saudi Arabia’s contribution to world terrorism is commented in Joseph Farah’s recent article The Kernel of Evil.

At a briefing given last month to a top Pentagon advisory board, Saudi Arabia was described as an “enemy of the United States.” In the August 6, 2002 edition of the Washington Post, author Thomas R. Ricks reported on this somewhat unusual current of thought, which is at direct odds to the official American posture toward Saudi Arabia. One recommendation of the briefing was to issue an ultimatum to the Saudi Arabian government to stop backing terrorism or face seizure of its oil fields and its financial assets in the United States. The briefing stated, “The Saudis are active at every level of the terror chain, from planners to financiers, from cadre to foot soldier, from ideologist to cheerleader.” Laurent Murawiec, a Rand Corporation analyst, prepared the briefing and further commented, “Saudi Arabia supports our enemies and attacks our allies.”

Saudi Arabia has used its vast oil revenues to finance the spread of a very virulent strain of Islam called Wahabism. Religious indoctrination academies called Madrassis have been set up with Saudi money in many countries, including the United States. These schools teach hatred of the Jewish race and Christian religion and Jihad against all “unbelievers”. In Palestine they are a breeding ground for suicide bombers feeding fresh recruits into the terrorist network.

The vast majority of the world’s violent hot spots - from the Philippines, to India, to Pakistan, Sudan, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan…the list goes on…are incited by Wahabist Muslims spurred on from Saudi Arabia.

President Bush has declared an unconditional War on Terrorism. But the Saudis refuse to cooperate in intelligence gathering against the al Quaeda, and continue to block attempts to seize assets or trace banking transactions thought to be linked to terrorist activities. They are one of only three countries that maintained diplomatic relations with the terrorist government of Afghanistan until long after the attacks on America. Bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia, as were most of the 9/11 attackers.

What are the results of Wahabism in Saudi Arabia? The women have no rights; they’re not even allowed to drive a car. Some female teens burned to death recently in Arabia because they were not allowed out of their burning structure without proper chaperones. Non-Muslims cannot practice their faith even in the privacy of their own homes. Muslims that don’t subscribe to extreme Wahabism are considered unbelievers and are persecuted. The religious excesses of the Taliban in Afghanistan that prompted the worlds’ Liberal press to hyperventilate are every day fare in Saudi Arabia. The Afghanis got their ideas of strict religious government from the Saudis. What we criticize in the Taliban should also be criticized in the Saudis.

This trillion-dollar lawsuit targets the Saudis’ money. Without that vast resource provided by oil, they are virtually powerless to spin their web of terror. The U.S. Government should join this lawsuit and recover the cost to the U.S. taxpayers. This court case is necessary both to recover damages and to establish the moral correctness of our position.

The U.S. should also stop protecting the Saudis from the consequences of their religious fanaticism. Even yesterday, the U.S. government declared

The plaintiffs face an uphill battle against great odds, but they are very determined people. Among them is Thomas E. Burnett, Sr., the father of the young man who led a passenger revolt against the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 and died on September 11, 2001 when it plummeted to the ground in Southwestern Pennsylvania. We can perceive where the son got his character, because a son’s bravery is born in a father’s heart.

Something tells me that these are people who will not give up. Neither should the rest of us. Let’s hit them where it hurts - in their pocketbook.

__________________________________________

John F. Schmidt has written numerous articles over the last decade. Politically, he is an Alan Keyes-type Republican. Along with his wife, he has organized voter drives in Pennsylvania, and been active politically since the 1990 elections. His livelihood, until recently, was spent in automation engineering for a large global equipment manufacturing company, specializing in coal mining. WANB in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania hosted Schmidt's weekly talk radio program "Issues and Answers." His writing is intended to relate the headlines of today to the foundation of eternal truth - the Scriptures. He currently resides in Palm Beach County, Florida. Visit his website at: Inalienable-Rights.org

Send the author an E mail at Schmidt@ConservativeTruth.org.

For more of John's articles, visit his archives.


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