The price of terror: One bomb. One plane. 270 lives. The history-making struggle for justice after Pan Am 103: [Lessons of Lockerbie for a world on the brink]

"President Bill Clinton called it "an attack against America," but after Libyan agents planted a bomb aboard Pan Am Flight 103, killing 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground, America did not strike back. Instead, the grieving relatives of the victims did the unthinkable - as mere civilians - and tried to force Libya to pay for its crime. Lawyers told the families that they could never sue Libya in American courts, and they were right. This would require changing a bed-rock principle of international law - a change that every government in the world feared and fought, including the United States itself.". "Working virtually alone at first, Allan Gerson, a former diplomat and prosecutor of Nazi war criminals, took on the case and spent the next eight years on the families' quest for justice. In this high-stakes game of international power politics and legal maneuvering, there were friendships, jobs, and reputations lost, but a precious principle - that of accountability under the law - was strengthened and preserved. Now Gerson and his co-author, Newsweek writer Jerry Adler, follow the threads of this extraordinary tale back to that deadly night over Lockerbie, Scotland - and forward into a new era of international justice, when terrorists will learn to fear the righteous retribution of their own victims."--BOOK JACKET.

President Bill Clinton called it an attack against America, but after Libyan agents planted a bomb aboard Pan Am Flight 103, killing 259 people in the air and 11 on the ground, America did not strike back. Instead, the grieving relatives of the victims did the unthinkable - as mere civilians-and tried to force Libya to pay for its crime. Lawyers told the families that they could never sue Libya in American courts, and they were right. This would require changing a bedrock principle of international law - a change that every government in the world feared and fought, including the United States itself.

Working virtually alone at first, Allan Gerson, a former diplomat and prosecutor of Nazi war criminals, took on the case and spent the next eight years on the families' quest for justice. In this high-stakes game of international power politics and legal maneuvering, there were friendships, jobs, and reputations lost, but a precious principle - that of accountability under the law - was strengthened and preserved. Now Gerson and his co-author, NEWSWEEK writer Jerry Adler, follow the threads of this extraordinary tale back to that deadly night over Lockerbie, Scotland - and forward into a new era of international justice, when terrorists will learn to fear the righteous retribution of their own victims.

Allan Gerson, the attorney representing the families of 600 people killed on 9/11 in a suit against Saudi Arabian interests and the Sudan, here recounts the landmark case, and his role in it, that made it possible for civilians to sue international and state sponsors of terrorism: The $2.7 billion judgment against Libya for its role in the 1988 terrorist attack that killed 259 people aboard Pan Am 103 and eleven on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland.On August 15, 2002, families of 600 people killed in the September 11 attacks filed suit in Washington, DC's U.S. District Court against Saudi Arabian banks, charities, members of the Saudi "royal family," and the government of Sudan, seeking hundreds of billions of dollars in damages for alleged Saudi and Sudanese sponsorship of al Qaeda. "Saudi Arabia and others have been involved in a protection racket for many years," said lead attorney Allan Gerson. "The function of the lawsuit is to expose this and to seek damages, not only for its own sake but to serve as a deterrent." Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 10 1 The Darkest Day......Page 12 2 Pan Am’s Shame......Page 29 3 Investigation......Page 45 4 “National Will”?......Page 66 5 A Breakthrough......Page 83 6 Tracking Libya......Page 104 7 Assessing Damages......Page 120 8 Smith’s Complaint......Page 145 9 Defection......Page 166 10 Revolving Courts......Page 189 11 A Cairn at Arlington......Page 210 12 Oklahoma......Page 228 13 Sovereign Immunity Suspended......Page 251 14 Constitutional Intervention......Page 263 15 Camp Zeist......Page 283 16 Civil Trial......Page 296 Appendix Cast of Characters......Page 314 About the Author......Page 320 Credits......Page 321 About the Publisher......Page 322 Front Cover......Page 1 A riveting narrative traces one man's ardent quest for justice for the victims' families of the terrorist attack on Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in a court of law, which paved the way for U.S. citizens to hold foreign governments accountable for terrorist acts. 10,000 first printing. Chronicles the struggle of the family members of those aboard Pan Am Flight 103 as they fought Libya and international law in order to achieve justice for the victims of the bomb attack.