Iran Fined. Will The Families Collect?

I don't mean to sound rude, but… Do these people actually think the government of Iran is going to say come forward and say "Oh, wow, I guess we owe you some money", and write them a great big check?

Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge declared Friday in a ruling that left survivors and families shedding tears of joy.

U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth described his ruling as the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country. "These individuals, whose hearts and souls were forever broken, waited patiently for nearly a quarter century for justice to be done," he said.

Pardon me if I keep sounding rude, but exactly how is an American court ruling applied overseas? Can an American court ruling really be enforced overseas? If so, why don't we apply foreign court rulings on Americans here? Yeah, I know, that's ridiculous isn't it?

The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and a handful of survivors to try to collect Iranian assets from various sources around the world. Finding and seizing that money will be difficult, however, and the families are backing a law in Congress that would make it easier for terrorism victims and their families to do so.

Again. While I agree that the families need closure and all that, how will hunting down assets of a foreign nation going to help them recover from their losses? Trust me, I understand, and that this is Iran we're talking about, but does $10,995,850 really make up for the loss of a loved one? Seriously?

"This is a sense of victory, of winning a battle," said Paul Rivers, who was a 20-year-old enlisted Marine on the second floor of the barracks when it exploded. "When we win the war is when we collect, when we make them pay for what they did."

Maybe I'm just not getting it. I thought making someone pay for a crime they committed meant holding someone responsible and punishing them for what they did. Will collecting the $2.65 billion dollars really bring "justice" for the service members that died?

Not in my mind it won't.

Note: Don't send me email about how insensitive I am on this issue, or the fact this is Iran we're talking about, or that Iran supports terrorism. I KNOW that. We all KNOW that. I just don't see how punishing them by taking money is going to bring justice to those 241 service members.