The poor giving to the rich.

[TragicMonkey]

I'm pretty sure US (and UK and French etc.) arms sales, both legitimate and illegitimate, have led to the death and dismemberment of many civilians as well as servicemen.

Where's their cheque?

It doesn't even have to be weapons. The import/export of fruit has toppled governments, wrecked nations, and caused hundreds of thousands of violent deaths. Every action has consequences and even the innocuous-seeming ones can be devastating.

 

[rockysmith76]

This is something I find very uncomfortable and I wondered what others thought.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-51487712
Sudan is to pay $30,000,000 dollars to the families of 17 persons killed in the attack on the USS Cole. The bombing was carried out by Yemenis in Yemen, and masterminded by a Saudi, on behalf of al-Qaeda in 2000. Sudan had expelled al-Qaeda and OBL in 1996. The government of Sudan has changed since then and those in power are not those in power in 2000. The responsibility of Sudan and in particular the Sudanese people for the bombing seems distant particularly in comparison with some countries who would appear to have a far more direct connection with the events e.g. Yemen.

Sudan is the poorest country in the world by mean wealth per adult ($534), and the US the third wealthiest ($432,365).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_per_adult
My guess is the families of those persons killed are wealthy by Sudanese standards, and getting an additional $1 million would make them fabulously rich. My guess is that the families of these US servicemen / women get a variety of veterans benefits. Whilst the money that the Sudanese government will pay will mean less for education health care etc.

US government revenue is $6 million million (trillion), Sudan's $ 8 thousand million (billion). So this is equivalent to the US having to pay compensation of $ 30 billion. In comparison the US paid $62 million in compensation for the 290 deaths when the US Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 an act for which the US government is clearly more directly culpable than Sudan is for the attack on the USS Cole.

I am uncomfortable about the poorest people in the world having to give what for them is a large amount of money to 'wealthy' people for something which was not their fault. If there were Sudanese people responsible they are not in power and will not be punished by this. this is the sort of collective punishment which most people and international law suggests is wrong.

The Country sheltered him and bears the responsibility, pay the debt and move on. Thats how diplomacy works, in spite of the PC crowd back in the US crybabying the issue.

 

[rockysmith76]

What crimes?

sheltering a terrorist organization for starters.

 

[Thermal]

I'm pretty sure US (and UK and French etc.) arms sales, both legitimate and illegitimate, have led to the death and dismemberment of many civilians as well as servicemen.

Where's their cheque?

Actions which are part of a chain of events that lead to unintended deaths are an inexorable part of world politics. That's a far cry from harboring actual terrorists who intend to directly mass murder.

 

[3point14]

Actions which are part of a chain of events that lead to unintended deaths are an inexorable part of world politics. That's a far cry from harboring actual terrorists who intend to directly mass murder.

As opposed to well organised and disciplined troops who only deliver bespoke killings of whoever it is they're after and anyone within 400 yards or in the same building?


Dead is dead. If your civilian father has been killed by an African terrorist with a pipe bomb, an Afghan freeedom fighter with a regular bomb or a US F14 with a smart bomb, I don't think it matters much to you.