Scotland Frees Lockerbie Bomber in Act of Pointless Self-Humiliation
From Tarek El-Tabalwy, "Lockerbie bomber freed, returns to cheers in Libya," AP (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090821/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_lockerbie)
The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing returned home Thursday to a cheering crowd after his release from a Scottish prison - an outrage to many relatives of the 270 people who perished when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded.
To appreciate the full horrible stupidity of the Scottish action, Abdel Baset el-Megrahi either carried out the Lockerbie bombing as an agent of the Libyan government -- in which case he is a war criminal with valuable evidence which might provide America and Britain with casus belli against Libya; or he did so as a free agent -- in which case he is a common mass murderer, who very well might strike again. In either case, the last thing one would wish to do is release him.
The action of the Libyan people in cheering his release may be taken as a popular justification of the first theory, and would morally entitle America or Great Britain to, in the future, kill as many Libyans as they might at their whim desire, irregardless of age, station or condition. Though I doubt that the modern MSM could grasp this, much as they fail to grasp that the similar Japanese actions in China and the Philippines gave the Allies the moral warrant to kill Japanese civilians at will without incurring any blood-guilt.
But even those who are normally weak and foolish have grasped the incredible weak foolishness of the Scottish action.
President Barack Obama said the Scottish decision to free terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was a mistake and said he should be under house arrest. Obama warned Libya not to give him a hero's welcome.
Not that Libya is taking the warning, and still less that Obama is likely to do anything about it.
Despite the warning, thousands of young men were on hand at a Tripoli airport where al-Megrahi's plane touched down. Some threw flower petals as he stepped from the plane. He wore a a dark suit and a burgundy tie and appeared visibly tired.
He was accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who was dressed in a traditional white robe and golden embroidered vest. The son pledged last year to bring al-Megrahi home and raised his hand victoriously to the crowd as he exited the plane. They then sped off in a convoy of white sedans.
Note well: this amounts to Libyan official endorsement of the bombing, meaning that Libya has finally admitted that she committed not merely an act of war against America and Britain, but one targetted primarily against civilians. I wish we responded to this with a Fuel-Air Explosive visit to Tripoli, but I doubt that even the prior Administration would have had the balls to do any such thing.
This isn't about compassionate release. This is part of give-Gadhafi-what-he-wants-so-we-can-have-the-oil," said Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Her 20-year-old daughter, Theodora, was killed.
And it's so stupid. Why do we kowtow to hostile Muslim regimes to get oil? We could get the oil as easily by using their hostility to go to war with them and seizing the oil fields. Then, we would gain the international credibility from winning a war and OTHER such regimes would see the consequence of angering America being the loss of a country's most valuable resource, with no repayment to the people. That would garner us submission in dealing with the next such regime. Yet not even George W. Bush grasped this basic logic.
He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years in a Scottish prison. But a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal, and many in Britain believe he is innocent. He served only eight years.
To make this clear: he served 8 years for murdering 270 people. Which is to say that he served an average of ten days per murder.
Should our lives be held so cheap?
And no: I do not for a moment believe that he was "innocent," save possibly in the sense of "only following orders."
"It's a great day for us," 24-year-old Abdel-Aal Mansour said. "He belongs here, at home."
And what he brought to Scotland also belongs there, at home, in Libya. May the day come, Abdel-Aal Mansour, when the firestorms rage through the streets of Tripoli, as they did through Hamburg and Tokyo. May the day come when you pull the burnt remnants of your wife and family from the flaming ruins of your home, and may the experience be shared by as many Libyans as possible, until the survivors beg and plead and cry out to be allowed to surrender.
The only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing returned home Thursday to a cheering crowd after his release from a Scottish prison - an outrage to many relatives of the 270 people who perished when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded.
To appreciate the full horrible stupidity of the Scottish action, Abdel Baset el-Megrahi either carried out the Lockerbie bombing as an agent of the Libyan government -- in which case he is a war criminal with valuable evidence which might provide America and Britain with casus belli against Libya; or he did so as a free agent -- in which case he is a common mass murderer, who very well might strike again. In either case, the last thing one would wish to do is release him.
The action of the Libyan people in cheering his release may be taken as a popular justification of the first theory, and would morally entitle America or Great Britain to, in the future, kill as many Libyans as they might at their whim desire, irregardless of age, station or condition. Though I doubt that the modern MSM could grasp this, much as they fail to grasp that the similar Japanese actions in China and the Philippines gave the Allies the moral warrant to kill Japanese civilians at will without incurring any blood-guilt.
But even those who are normally weak and foolish have grasped the incredible weak foolishness of the Scottish action.
President Barack Obama said the Scottish decision to free terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was a mistake and said he should be under house arrest. Obama warned Libya not to give him a hero's welcome.
Not that Libya is taking the warning, and still less that Obama is likely to do anything about it.
Despite the warning, thousands of young men were on hand at a Tripoli airport where al-Megrahi's plane touched down. Some threw flower petals as he stepped from the plane. He wore a a dark suit and a burgundy tie and appeared visibly tired.
He was accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who was dressed in a traditional white robe and golden embroidered vest. The son pledged last year to bring al-Megrahi home and raised his hand victoriously to the crowd as he exited the plane. They then sped off in a convoy of white sedans.
Note well: this amounts to Libyan official endorsement of the bombing, meaning that Libya has finally admitted that she committed not merely an act of war against America and Britain, but one targetted primarily against civilians. I wish we responded to this with a Fuel-Air Explosive visit to Tripoli, but I doubt that even the prior Administration would have had the balls to do any such thing.
This isn't about compassionate release. This is part of give-Gadhafi-what-he-wants-so-we-can-have-the-oil," said Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Her 20-year-old daughter, Theodora, was killed.
And it's so stupid. Why do we kowtow to hostile Muslim regimes to get oil? We could get the oil as easily by using their hostility to go to war with them and seizing the oil fields. Then, we would gain the international credibility from winning a war and OTHER such regimes would see the consequence of angering America being the loss of a country's most valuable resource, with no repayment to the people. That would garner us submission in dealing with the next such regime. Yet not even George W. Bush grasped this basic logic.
He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 27 years in a Scottish prison. But a 2007 review of his case found grounds for an appeal, and many in Britain believe he is innocent. He served only eight years.
To make this clear: he served 8 years for murdering 270 people. Which is to say that he served an average of ten days per murder.
Should our lives be held so cheap?
And no: I do not for a moment believe that he was "innocent," save possibly in the sense of "only following orders."
"It's a great day for us," 24-year-old Abdel-Aal Mansour said. "He belongs here, at home."
And what he brought to Scotland also belongs there, at home, in Libya. May the day come, Abdel-Aal Mansour, when the firestorms rage through the streets of Tripoli, as they did through Hamburg and Tokyo. May the day come when you pull the burnt remnants of your wife and family from the flaming ruins of your home, and may the experience be shared by as many Libyans as possible, until the survivors beg and plead and cry out to be allowed to surrender.