SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
For the first time since President Obama took office in 2009, Congress has overridden his veto.
The U.S. Senate voted 97-1 to override President Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which would allow victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. The lone dissenting vote was Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who has "always had the president's back":
In a letter Monday to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Tex.) and ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter warned that allowing the bill to become law risked "damaging our close and effective cooperation with other countries" and "could ultimately have a chilling effect on our own counter-terrorism efforts." Thornberry and Smith both circulated letters among members in the last few days, urging them to vote against overriding the veto. CIA Director John O. Brennan also warned of the 9/11 bill's "grave implications for the national security of the United States" in a statement Wednesday.
The House of Representatives voted 348-to-77:
Congress on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to override a veto by President Obama for the first time, passing into law a bill that would allow the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for any role in the plot.
Democrats in large numbers joined with Republicans to deliver a remarkable rebuke to the president. The 97-to-1 vote in the Senate and the 348-to-77 vote in the House displayed the enduring power of the Sept. 11 families in Washington and the diminishing influence here of the Saudi government.
See also: The Risks of Suing the Saudis for 9/11 by the New York Times Editorial Board and this article in the Saudi Gazette.
Previously: President Obama to Veto Bill Allowing September 11 Victims to Sue Saudi Arabia
(Score: 3, Interesting) by HiThere on Thursday September 29 2016, @07:07PM
Israel does many useful things. They are the source of numerous technical advances. Unfortunately, they also have a severe social problem that they seem unwilling to address. In their defense, I don't see how they could address it. They are a very small country surrounded by hostile foreigners. This has more than once lead to "captivity" or "diaspora". And you can't really blame it on their being Jews, because the folk calling themselves Jews today have only moderate connection with the historical Hebrews. Many of them became Jews by an act of government. (S.a. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130116195333.htm [sciencedaily.com] , but I believe the Khazar theory.), and their cultural connection is also indirect.
However, they are a small ethnically distinct group with a different culture than any of their neighbors, and the neighbors have been hostile to them since the days of the British protectorate. This tends to breed militarism and intolerance as a matter of survival.
FWIW, Israel is smaller than New Jersey, and less fertile. And it's surrounded by neighbors who, before they concentrated on Israel, spent much of their time fighting with each other. This is common in areas with lots of small independent nations, and what constitutes a small nation depends on speed of transportation and communication, so the governmental territories have been getting "smaller". With modern communications and transport I expect that North America is the proper size of a nation to reduce friction. (N.B.: Everywhere here where I used "nation", I originally used the term "government", but people misunderstand "large government" in a different way that they misunderstand "large nation"...I'm talking about a government controlling a large or small ares. The size of the bureaucracy is almost irrelevant to this point.)
I don't see a good answer. I expect that Israel will eventually collapse, with many refugees. And I trace the roots of this back to some stupid (or, possibly, evil) decisions made at the end of WWII.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 29 2016, @10:47PM
"You mean i could have killed whoever i wanted if i just screamed 'help i'm being oppressed!' the entire time?!?!?"
Well shit.