Scottish "Justice" Secretary Releases Lockerbie Bomber On Grounds Of "Compassion"

Here's my Neanderthal thought for the day...you kill 270 people and you forfeit any clams to mercy or compassion.

Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, has been released from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds and is expected back in Tripoli this afternoon.

Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said that he was upholding the deepest held values and beliefs of the Scottish people in allowing al-Megrahi to go home to Libya to die.

..."Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people, no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated," said Mr MacAskill, announcing his decision at a packed press conference in Edinburgh at 1pm.

I don't think Kenny MacAskill is familiar with what "justice" and "compassion" actually mean.

On the upside, Libya has promised they won't hold a hero's welcome home for him, so there's that.

When this happened I was a sophomore in college. One of my friends had transferred from Syracuse and she was in a panic for days trying to find out if anyone she knew was on that flight (it was the Dark Age before cellphones, email, Twitter and the rest). I imagine that was a scene played out in tens of thousands of places around the country and the world. For hundreds of families, the reality became all to clear soon enough.

So no Kenny, I don't think this killer is worthy of an ounce of compassion. In fact, he should have been put down 8 years ago (after avoiding any justice for over a decade) and in a better world we wouldn't do business with an American killer like Qadaffi (but that ship has sailed...to bad Reagan didn't go back and finish the job)

The only consolation is that this piece of filth is dying. Here's hoping it's a long, slow and painful process. I suppose that's not compassionate. Too bad.

Via @jaketapper: The Times Of London snears...nothing personal just business. Dirty business but business nonetheless.

For Colonel Gaddafi, the return of al-Megrahi will be seen as a triumph. From his decision, in 2003, to give up his weapons programme, the Libyan leader has sought to throw off pariah status, a transformation all but completed when he was invited to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. The return of Libya to the table of nations has some important benefits to Britain and the US. Libya has helped to curb the flow of illegal migrants to Europe; it has taken a strong stand against Islamist extremism; and it has opened up its energy industries to Western investment. And thereby hangs a problem. Any future deals will now carry the suspicion that the way was cleared by a deal over Lockerbie.

It is unlikely that this salutary state of affairs all round has been co-ordinated. That said, Mr Salmond’s words are rich in irony: “There will be no consideration of international power politics or anything else. It will be taken on the evidence in the interest of justice.” But the international agreement that stipulates alMegrahi should serve his term in Scotland ought to stand. It would not be too cynical to suggest that all interests have, in fact, been served with one specific exception: the interest of justice.

posted by DrewM. at 09:54 AM

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