Shame in Scotland

Above is the video showing the return home of Pan Am 103 bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi to Libya-to a hero's welcome. Yes, the gutless Scottish Government actually released the one person convicted of bombing the Pan Am jet that crashed over Lockerbie, Scotland killing 270 people.

One doesn't know where to direct the most outrage. Is it to the Scottish government and their justice minister, Kenny McAskill, who ordered the release on humanitarian grounds because al Megrahi was supposedly dying of cancer? Or to the Libyan Government and those Libyans who greeted this monster upon his arrival in Tripoli? Should we be outraged toward our own government, whose weak, tepid response almost seems to suggest quiet acquiescence?

And there are so many questions to be asked-questions that may never be answered. Let's start with the Scots. Was it really humanitarian considerations that led to this decision? Or did they bend to Libyan pressure? Was Libyan oil a consideration? Was one consideration the outrageous problem they (and the UK) face from their radical Muslim population? Was this designed to placate that population? If so, it would represent the height of cowardice.

Let's turn to Libya. What kind of barbaric mentality leads people to give a hero's welcome to a man who blew up an airliner and killed 270 people? Did the Libyan Government try to win this man's release? Remember, this is a man who was a Libyan Secret Service officer. The fact that this man was allowed to come home to that kind of welcome in Moammar Gaddafi's tightly-controlled society only reinforces the fact that he (Gaddafi) was behind this evil deed (as the Libyan Government later tacitly admitted before the UN).

And what about our own government-which spans both Republican and Democrat administrations? A few years ago, after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi seemingly turned over a new leaf. He swore off terrorism and turned over whatever weapons of mass destruction he possessed or was working on. What did we give him in return? Part of the answer is diplomatic recognition and a financial settlement that involved restitution by the Libyan Government. Did someone agree that at some point, we would not do anything to prevent the release of the terrorist held in Scotland-beyond a mild protest? Why did we forever swear off getting our own hands on those who carried out the bombing? Why have we not moved heaven and earth to get our own hands on those responsible or to keep this one animal in a Scottish prison? The answer has everything to do with real-politik and little to do with justice. Frankly, I am not impressed by the pusillaminous reactions of people like Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder and Barack Obama. The President, for his part, "warned" Libya not to give a hero's welcome to al-Megrahi. You see the result in the video.

And what about that Senate delegation led by John McCain that met with Gaddafi just recently in Libya? Was this subject discussed? Has there been any quiet American acquiescence in this release? Don't the American people have a right to know why this outrage has happened?

I can only hope that the Scottish people are showing similar outrage. After all, 11 residents of Lockerbie were also killed on the ground when Pan Am 103 crashed. Right now, I am not feeling too kindly towards Scotland. I am not one of those boycott organizers, myself, but I seriously doubt I'll be buying any scotch or ale from Scotland anytime during the rest of my life.

This is a shame on everyone involved.