Convicted terrorist goes free. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was convicted on January 31, 2001 of 270 counts of murder for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 (21 December 1988). The remains of the plane rained down on Lockerbie, Scotland.
On Aug 20, 2009 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released from Scottish custody and was repatriated to Libya. The wikipedia article is here.
Since his repatriation, a number of facts have come to light. Here is a Time Magazine article to shed some light on the different discussions.
A Timeline:
That is, I thought that the Brits were being petty - and that my own government, while being inept, did not have knowledge of the transfer until it was too late. I was wrong in that assumption.
It turns out that President Obama's administration did know about the transfer, having been, "kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return."
The Daily Mail continues,
Here is another take, from Powerline Blog.
UPDATED:
Hotair picks up the thread from Astute Bloggers, but you read it here 1st :-) I disagree with Astute Bloggers' conclusion - this action (on the part of BOTH 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates) is reprehensible and simply adds to the body of evidence that that this administration suffers from glaring incompetence (or hubris) I am unable to tell which.
On Aug 20, 2009 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was released from Scottish custody and was repatriated to Libya. The wikipedia article is here.
Since his repatriation, a number of facts have come to light. Here is a Time Magazine article to shed some light on the different discussions.
A Timeline:
- British oil companies were negotiating for deals in Libya in 2007.
- British Justice Minister Jack Straw, wrote a letter to Scotland's 1st minister in Feb 2008 regarding "developing a strong relationship with Libya."
- A prisoner transfer agreement was finalized between Great Britain and Libya in November 2008
- There was a meeting in March 2009 where the position was advanced that al-Megrahi should not die in jail.
- PM Gordon Brown discussed the case with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during the G8 Summit in July 2009.
That is, I thought that the Brits were being petty - and that my own government, while being inept, did not have knowledge of the transfer until it was too late. I was wrong in that assumption.
It turns out that President Obama's administration did know about the transfer, having been, "kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return."
The Daily Mail continues,
The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.In other words, our new administration is so completely out of touch with America that they could not gauge what the reaction would be to releasing a terrorist who murdered 270 people, 180 of them American.
Here is another take, from Powerline Blog.
UPDATED:
Hotair picks up the thread from Astute Bloggers, but you read it here 1st :-) I disagree with Astute Bloggers' conclusion - this action (on the part of BOTH 2008 Democratic Presidential candidates) is reprehensible and simply adds to the body of evidence that that this administration suffers from glaring incompetence (or hubris) I am unable to tell which.
