Surprise: Obama administration approved al-Megrahi release
The Obama administration has lied to you once again. I'm sure you are shocked. After insisting for the last year that it opposed the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi - the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 - it now turns out that the release was approved by the Obami after all (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). The US has tried to keep the letter secret, refusing to give permission to the Scottish authorities to publish it on the grounds it would prevent future "frank and open communications" with other governments.Well, no one can accuse the Obama administration of not being soft enough on terror.
In the letter, sent on August 12 last year to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and justice officials, Mr LeBaron wrote that the US wanted Megrahi to remain imprisoned in view of the nature of the crime.
The note added: "Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the US position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose."
Mr LeBaron added that freeing the bomber and making him live in Scotland "would mitigate a number of the strong concerns we have expressed with regard to Megrahi's release".
The US administration lobbied the Scottish government more strongly against sending Megrahi home, under a prisoner transfer agreement signed by the British and Libyan governments, in a deal now known to have been linked to a pound stg. 550 million oil contract for BP.
It claimed this would flout a decade-old agreement between Britain and the US that anyone convicted of the bombing would serve their sentence in a Scottish prison. Megrahi was released by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill on the grounds that he had three months to live, making his sentence effectively spent.
The US Senate foreign relations committee launched a probe after The Sunday Times revealed this month that Megrahi's doctors thought he could live for another decade.
A source close to the Senate inquiry said: "The (LeBaron) letter is embarrassing for the US because it shows they were much less opposed to compassionate release than prisoner transfer."
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:08 PM
2 Comments:
I would like the answer to a simple question: Why did the issue of "compassion" toward a man convicted of being complicit in the murder of a planeload of people (many students on their way home for the holidays) even come up? Seriously, I would think that the very nature of his crime would preclude the entire line of thought.
Oh, and if that complete lack of judgment, and complete lack of compassion for the families of the victims, wasn't enough, this bunch of appeasing America haters is also a bunch of lying sacks of exrement. That last factor, alone, is enough for condemnation to be heard from all parts of the political spectrum...but I'm not holding my breath waiting for the leftards to condemn this.
Mr Megrahi did not destroy the Lockerbie plane. Your terrorist government and that of Iran did.
I have spent 20 years looking at this and know what I am talking about.
Charles Norrie norriecb [at] gmail [dot] com
Post a Comment
<< Home