Given the way Scottish authorities handled the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi last summer, the only thing left for them to do now is act like Captain Renault in Casablanca and exclaim they’re “shocked, shocked” to find that Megrahi is still alive.
Three months ago, I called Scotland’s “compassionate release“ exactly what it was: an oil deal dressed up as mercy. I wrote that the Scots released Megrahi for the same reason many believe the Americans invaded Iraq — oil. I warned readers not to be surprised when this supposedly dying terrorist outlived his three-month death sentence. And I mocked Scottish authorities for insulting our intelligence by citing compassion while refusing similar mercy to far more worthy convicts.
Well, Allahu Akbar! (God is greatest!)
Because, just as I predicted, Megrahi is evidently coping exceedingly well with his “terminal illness.” So much so that an indignant US Senator Charles Schumer is now demanding he be extradited back to his Scottish prison cell, immediately.
Here’s what Schumer wrote to British PM Gordon Brown over the weekend:
The bottom line is Megrahi should have never been released in the first place but it would be even more outrageous if he were to be able to live a long and free life after his release… Justice in this case was life in prison, no exceptions.
Schumer’s moral demands are justified. But they’re futile. No matter his outrage (or President Obama’s political entreaties), the British simply cannot afford to renege on their Faustian exchange with Libya. This is a done deal.
Now all that’s left for Libyan authorities to do is announce that Megrahi has had a spectacular recovery thanks to the superior medical treatment he’s received in Libya since his release.
Senator Schumer is a notorious grandstander. But, in this case, iPINIONS shares his moral outrage.
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