Congress Overrides Obama on Bill Allowing 9/11 Lawsuits Against Saudi Arabia

US Congress defied some of the nation's top military commanders by overriding President Barack Obama’s veto of a law allowing those who lost family members in the 9/11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia in US courts. The country is a key US ally in the Middle East, but most of the 19 attackers who used commercial jets to attack New York and Washington in 2001 were Saudi citizens. Analysts have long suggested that the country’s support for the fundamentalist sect of Wahhabism contributes to extremist views. Obama and the intelligence community are warning that the law could pose unintended consequences, including upending the “1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which supports the doctrine that the courts of one country do not sit in judgment of another government or actions within its borders,” reports Joe Gould for Defense News. US troops and government workers of all types may be targeted for retaliatory treatment, but few members of Congress wanted to vote against 9/11 families days before the presidential November 8 election. Lawmakers are already working on revisions to tighten the bill, and Congress has continued to approve arms sales to Saudi Arabia. – YaleGlobal