Manama: No official reaction has been issued yet by Saudi Arabia on the vote by the US Congress to override President Barack Obama’s veto of a bill allowing 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
However, several analysts warned that the vote would gravely strain relations between the two countries and could mark the end of a close alliance between them.
Analysts and social media users said that Saudi Arabia would have enough resources to deal with the situation.
The vote by the Congress against Obama’s veto is a serious setback for the US history and sovereignty, said Salman Al Ansari, the founder of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC), an organisation that aims to further strengthen the historic relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States, both politically and economically.
“The vote took place at a highly critical moment in the run-up to the US presidential elections in November. The vote was unexpected since the Congress often endorsed presidential vetoes. This indicates that there are personal interests at stake that members of the Congress wanted to achieve,” he said, quoted by Saudi news site Sabq on Thursday.
Al Ansari said the US would be affected significantly by the decision in the three core areas of security, the economy and diplomacy.
Security wise, it will be an opportunity for terrorists and extremists to strike at the US and threaten its security under the pretext that it is fighting Islam and Muslims and wants to blackmail them, he said.
The extremists will also seek to promote the idea of demonising the United States, and the need to punish it by threatening its security and interests across various countries, Al Ansari was reported as saying.
Economically, the decision will drive foreign investments in the United States to seek safer environments elsewhere because the US will become a target for those who want to sue it for any reason.
Politically, the decision by the Congress will disrupt the relationship of the United States of America, with the Arab and Islamic countries as well as with the West.
Most online users condemned the US decision as “nothing more than cheap, blatant and brazen blackmail of Saudi Arabia with, ultimately, terrible consequences for the US.”
