Comments on: Where’s the Outrage?

By: Matthew Yglesias » The “No Drama” Foreign Policy

Matthew Yglesias » The “No Drama” Foreign Policy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:13:04 +0000

[...] release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi. But David Frum’s post on the matter reminds me of one of the things I most appreciate about Barack Obama’s approach to foreign [...]

By: joedee1969

joedee1969 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:44:29 +0000

This is a hard hitting piece today. Check it out:

http://americaspeaksink.com/2009/08/democrat-all-that-power-wasted/

By: dacookson

dacookson — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:47:52 +0000

In the UK many families of the bereaved have looked at the evidence and supported the decision. They have been campaigning for years to try and find out more about what happened and thought that an appeal by Megrahi would help bring this about. Everyone knows there was a quid pro quo but so what? The Home Secretary reversed a decision recently to release high profile prisoner Ronnie Biggs on similar compassionate grounds after he'd previously adamantly refused to do so, presumably in anticipation of this case. Clearly this has been in the pipeline for a while. At then end of the day a man with an unsafe conviction has been released, what's more without going through the embarrasment of exposing the holes in the case. The Lockerbie incident was almost certainly in retaliation for the US shooting down the Iranian passenger jet during the first gulf war but I guess the US government don't want to remind people about that. The interesting fact about this is that American families of the deceased seem to be outraged whereas British families aren't, presumably because the Brits are more familiar with the case and apparently better able to think for themselves. It just shows the American tendency towards blind faith. Here's a story in The Mail. Megrahi was a pawn and almost certainly a scapegoat who at least has the chance to die with some dignity.

By: jreb

jreb — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:39:50 +0000

Ottovbvs, you continue to try to lambaste Republicans and Bush in particular in every comment you make. Yet you conveniently choose to ignore the Democrats role such as in the Libyan Reclamation Act sponsored by Vice President Joe Biden (then Senator Joe Biden) and passed in both houses by unanimous consent (Democrat controlled House of Representatives at the time and with Barack Obama as a US Senator).

By: ottovbvs

ottovbvs — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:03:46 +0000

sinz54 // Aug 22, 2009 at 8:36 pm

“ottovbs: Not even the British newspapers, not the Times of London”

………So we now believe every word we read in the newspapers do we…….According to the scots they made the decision………..as McCaskill confirmed…..The Times of London btw is a Murdoch owned very anti govt newspaper

By: ottovbvs

ottovbvs — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:59:14 +0000

jreb // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:33 pm
“The “Bush did it” whine “ottovbvs” keeps repeating”

……Pathetic as ever in defense of their hero……..So the “whining” families of the Lockerbie victims were all completely happy with this and did not wish to continue pursuing legal action against the Libyan govt from which they were blocked by Bush administration……….Is that correct?

By: Rel

Rel — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:37:23 +0000

Wasn’t this conviction pretty contentious, following a trial riddled with questionable testimony and evidence? Guilty or not, perhaps the odds were quite good that al Megrahi was going to be acquitted on appeal. If so, the choice was not: (a) Let him rot in jail vs. (b) release him on “compassionate” grounds, but rather (a) release him as a wrongly-accused martyr vs. (b) release him on “compassionate” grounds. I don’t know that this is the case, but if this is the real back-story then the actions of all involved are much more comprehensible.

By: dacookson

dacookson — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:30:22 +0000

I certainly can’t raise any outrage. Who can doubt that the US wouldn’t have done the same if the roles had been reversed. It’s not as if it has a good track record of taking into account the sensitivities of its allies when making decisions in its national interest. Even this so-called progressive administration threatened to withdraw intelligence co-operation if the UK went ahead with a torture investigation which might have embarrassed it. It looks like the man’s conviction was unsafe for a start and that’s supposed to matter in the legal system. If Americans are offended so what? Do its allies have to endure these neverending petulant and vengeful reactions every time a decision is made which might well be right but embarrasses or ‘offends’ the US. What has the UK got out of its political relationship with the US anyway in recent years? The opportunity to die in its useless and immoral wars? A nice little banking crisis in return for bowing to every economic policy that comes their way. The UK has payed off its war debt, so thank you very much but mind your own two-faced business.

By: Patterico’s Pontifications » Gordon Brown’s Friend, Libya’s Col. Gaddafi (Updated: Obama’s Tepid Response)

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:54:11 +0000

[...] David Frum says the Obama’s mild response to al-Megrahi’s release is another example of his [...]

By: sinz54

sinz54 — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:36:42 +0000

ottovbs: Not even the British newspapers, not the Times of London or even the left-wing Guardian, are buying the story that the Justice Ministry did this entirely on their own without pressure from the British authorities. Neither are Time Magazine nor the NY Times–and neither of them were ever fans of Bush.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked Justice Secretary MacAskill if he could name any prior case in Scotland where a convicted murderer sentenced to life imprisonment but who had a terminal illness was allowed to be released. MacAskill couldn’t name any–including one noteworthy case, a murderer who had serious heart disease recently who asked to be released, but who was nevertheless confined to prison till the murderer died of a heart attack there.

Finally, Qaddafi’s son poured salt in the wound by “thanking” the British government for interceding to get the terrorist released.

David Cameron has demanded a full accounting from PM Brown.