Release of mass murderer couldn’t have been any uglier

Release of mass murderer couldn’t have been any uglier

It seems like only yesterday that we were decrying the possibility that a man convicted in the murder of 259 men, women and children would be released by the Scottish courts on compassionate grounds.

Actually, it‘s been nearly a week, and during that week Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi was ordered released from custody by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill after serving only eight years of his life sentence. Al-Megrahi, a Libyan spy, deserved that life sentence for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. He deserved no more compassion than he gave his innocent victims, man yof them American college students flying to New York for Christmas at home.

MacAskill said that as a prisoner given less than three months to live by doctors, al-Megrahi was eligible for compassionate release. But release wasn’t mandated, and we would argue that MacAskill should have been more concerned for the survivors of Al-Megrahi’s victims than for Al-Megrahi.

It was not difficult to predict that Al-Megrahi was going to receive a hero’s welcome when he arrived in Libya. And that is exactly what happened.

Just imagine

It’s too bad that MacAskill did not imagine the pain this act of compassion for a murderer was going to cause for the parents of children who died when Flight 103 fell from the sky. Would that his sense of compassion had extended to considering that 20 years ago parents were happily anticipating the return of their children from study abroad when they learned that those children were dead. Those parents were now subjected to coverage of throngs of happy Libyans gathered at the airport waiting to greet their hero, Al-Megrahi. The irony for parents who obviously can never go to an airport without thinking of the homecoming they never got to have is too painful to consider. But MacAskill should have considered it. Anyone with the word justice in their title should have considered it.

And surely the blame is shared by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who had to have sanctioned the bombing of Flight 103 when it happened and who, despite his attempts to portray himself as a more civilized leader today, arranged for Al-Megrahi’s flight home on his private jet and for an airport reception that he knew would be seen as an act of defiance against the West.

Next month, Gadhafi will give a speech at the United Nations. It will be interesting to see if anyone in the diplomatic corps, including those from the United States, have the courage to treat him with the contempt he has earned. More than likely, the only voices that will be raised against him will be those of some of the relatives of Flight 103 victims and their supporters who will be outside the U.N. building — and outside of Gadhafi’s earshot.

The West should not be surprised when terrorists and the nations that spawn them look upon Scots and Brits and Yankees as a hapless and craven bunch.