Abdel Baset al-Megrahi is the notorious Libyan convicted in 2001 of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988. The explosion occurred over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, two-thirds of them American. Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison.
Nevertheless, Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds last Thursday after determining he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer and had less than three months to live.
This incited outrage in America. Members of the preternaturally diplomatic Obama administration damned Megrahi’s release as a mockery of justice, no doubt in part because of reports linking it to oil and gas deals with Libya. FBI Director Robert Mueller sent a blistering letter to Scotland’s Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill:
I have made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors. Your decision to release Megrahi causes me to abandon that practice in this case. I do so because I am familiar with the facts, and the law… And I do so because I am outraged at your decision, blithely defended on the grounds of ‘compassion.’
Your action [gives] comfort to terrorists around the world [and] makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988… Where, I ask, is the justice?
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi then added insult to the Americans’ outrage by defying President Obama’s very public plea not to give Megrahi a hero’s welcome upon his return home. Megrahi was greeted at the airport by thousands, most notably Gaddafi’s heir apparent, hailing him like a conquering hero. Some even waved the Scottish flag as if to suggest their defiance reflected a new Scottish-Libyan alliance.
But here’s why I say a plague on both their houses:
On one hand, it’s utterly incomprehensible for Scottish authorities to maintain that a man they convicted of killing 270 people deserved compassionate release. The inherent insult to the memory of his victims and the lingering grief of their families is staggering.
Indeed, notwithstanding his alleged illness, Megrahi’s release is such an affront to common sense that I’m inclined to believe the Scots released Megrahi for the same reason many believe the Americans invaded Iraq: oil.
It only fueled speculation about a quid pro quo when Gaddafi praised British PM Gordon Brown, himself a Scotsman, as a “courageous friend” for facilitating this release.
On the other hand, it reflects the oxymoronic mixture of hubris and naiveté that afflicts all American presidents (and far too many American citizens) that Obama felt he could dictate how the Libyans should welcome Megrahi home. Especially since he knows full well that most Libyans believe Megrahi was scapegoated for a terrorist attack probably orchestrated by the Iranians.
But barring incontrovertible evidence that he was wrongly convicted, I would have been quite happy to see Megrahi rot in jail. After all, if not him for this crime, then who for what crime?
iPINIONS is ›sensible enough to appreciate, however, that incurring the moral wrath of the Americans for releasing him was a small price to pay for sweetheart oil deals with Libya. And I hope reports about those deals are true.
I just wish Scottish authorities didn’t insult our intelligence by citing compassion as their justification for releasing this mass murderer, especially since they’ve refused to show similar compassion for many other convicts who are (or were) relatively more worthy.
Meanwhile, despite the Americans’ indignant rhetoric and feelings of betrayal, this episode will have no impact on the “special relationship” between the US and the UK. There will be lots of hysterical reporting about mostly feckless attempts to boycott British goods, but that’s it. Nor will this put the thawing relationship between the US and Libya back on ice. Obama’s all about courting insufferable rogues like Gaddafi, remember?
Also, don’t be surprised if Megrahi lives well beyond the three months he purportedly has to live. All praise be to Allah!
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