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| Regan meets the Mujaheddin |
{26.09.16} In a rare display of bipartisanship, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill allowing families of 9/11 terror victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its role in funding the terrorists that brought down New York City's Trade Center. But the Current Occupant vetoed the bill claiming it was an "uncoordinated" way to determine foreign government involvement in the terror attacks. There is mounting evidence the Saudi government acquiesced funding of Osama Bin Ladin's Al Qaeda. Bin Laden himself was a member of a family with close connections to the Saudi royal family. His father founded Saudi BinLadin Group, a construction firm that owned exclusive rights to all construction projects in the Kingdom prior to King Faisal's death in 1975. A survivor's group responded that the President's veto was "outrageous" and founded on "unconvincing and unsupportable" reasoning. Hillary Clinton says she supports the measure, and her opponent called his veto, "shameful".
However, the veto very much represents the wishes of the Pentagon and national intelligence apparatus which has backed the Saudi Royal Family since the end of WWI despite their documented connection to funding extremists including the jihadists that drove off the Soviets in Afghanistan. Bin Ladin's terrorist organization grew out of this group of disaffected fighters. Fifteen of the nineteen identified members of the organization that attacked the Pentagon and Trade Towers were Saudis. The Saudi government has opposed the legislation from its inception, citing the principle of sovereign immunity. Currently the Saudis are backing the Syrian rebels, some of whom are Islamic extremists, locked in a disastrous civil war to overthrow dictator Bashar al Assad.
Although the President has used his veto power sparingly, in just eleven pieces of legislation none of which have been overridden, he may face a veto override with the 9/11 families bill. The Republican Senate Majority Leader and the bill's Democratic co-sponsor both told reporters they believe the necessary support to override the President is present.