Originally, when it appeared in the news it was families suing terrorists in American courts for the murder of a loved one in Israel murdered by Fatah or Hamas. When we read about the US suing, it was the government suing those who finance or support terrorism.
Now US families are suing--but it's not over the deaths of the victims:
Sailors suffering from injuries incurred 10 years ago in the USS Cole attack are suing Sudan for damages.I suppose the fact that this is a case of suing for damages and not for the wrongful deaths that has Jay Nordlinger cynical.
The suit was filed in Washington on Monday on behalf of eight sailors aboard the destroyer and two of their spouses. They say they have suffered from surgeries for bodily injuries as well as burns, scars, hearing loss and post-traumatic stress.
Earlier, family members of the 17 sailors killed in the attack won $13 million in damages and interest from Sudan.
Sudan has denied responsibility and refused to pay.
The families persuaded a U.S. court that Sudanese support allowed al-Qaida suicide bombers to attack the destroyer in a Yemen port on Oct. 12, 2000. The award was eventually paid from Sudanese assets frozen by the U.S. government.
In You Attack My Battleship, I Sue--Nordlinger writes:
What was this, a slip-and-fall outside a restaurant in St. Paul, whose owners should have shoveled the walkway? Maybe I am being completely dense. (Not for the first time, I realize.) But the appropriateness of these lawsuits eludes me. What has the modern world come to? You attack my battleship, or abet those who do, and I sue you?
I assume that the idea behind the suit is, as in general when suing those who support the terrorists, is to attempt to dry up the funding that allows terrorists to operate. It is not an issue of 'appropriateness', rather it is a question of strategy.
If that is not the case here, then I suppose I would have to agree on the awkwardness of such a lawsuit.
Technorati Tag: Sudan and USS Cole.
1 comment:
This is the "deep pockets" strategy. To go after the regimes that sponsor, finance, equip and give safe sanctuary to terrorists.
The public relations value of such a suit outweighs the inability to collect actual damages. A verdict is the message and that matters more than whether the regime in question is financially harmed by the outcome.
Post a Comment