The Pan Am terrorists is received in Libya. AP Photo Amr Nabil
Great Britain chose to let a known terrorist go. Today Abdel Basetal al-Megrahi was allowed to go back to Libya under a policy which allows for compassionate release under the Scottish system of justice. The decision was made by the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill who said al-Megrahi will die from prostate cancer within months and should be allowed to return to his family in Libya.
As can be seen in the video below al-Megrahi was welcomed back with an informal parade in his home country. The families of victims from the bombing have been understandably outraged by his release. The question now becomes who should their outrage be directed toward? In the most recent episode of Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room" Jack Cafferty and some of the victims blamed President Obama for "allowing" the man to be released.
I sympathize with the families and their outrage but wonder if they overestimate the power of the President of the United States in blaming him for the terrorist's release. Americans seem to have the opinion that we have such extensive power that we can order countries what to do with no repercussions. This reflects an American hubris which is does not account for the reality of global politics.
Suppose for instance President Obama demanded the bomber not be released before his flight back to Libya. This statement would have only had the effect of cementing the man's release as Scotland as Scotland then would have been seen as a weak puppet of the United States if they actually gave into the request. To provide some perspective, pretend Great Britain made demands on us regarding our Justice Department's release of prisoner. If President Obama gave in to this demand can you imagine the the reaction of Fox News to the President taking orders from a foreign country?
The fact is all that President Obama could reasonable do under these circumstances is issue his statement disagreeing with the decision of Scotland. What other options did he have? Were we to go to war with Scotland over their decision? Were we to put trade sanction on a country because they chose to release one man? The United States is the most powerful country in the world still but we are just one country in a large field of global politics. If we place sanctions on countries every time we disagree with them we will quickly find ourselves in economic trouble from protectionism.
In a world where we increasingly resist interference from other countries with our affairs (see Iraq conflict) we should be prepared for other countries to resist our interference as well. Ultimately, the President is not the dictator of the world. We can only make an accurate judgment of the President's decisions when we have a realistic view of of the his limited power.
Comments
I beleive we have treaties with Scotland that could have allowed us to demand to take custody of this man, to put him on trial here in America.
Or Obama could have forced this plane to land at some other location once it left Scottish air space.
Yes, The there were US persons on the flight that were not allowed to peacefully die. Have you began to think about how terrifying it must have been to be on that plane... You simply do not die instantly on an airplane! You fall, spinning, being tossed back and forth like a shaken can of beans until you die, unless you happen to be lucky enough to get blown up immediately or sucked out into the -45 degree air to be frozen or suffocate prior to dying in your decent to the earth from 35,000 feet in the air! I think the US should have (and still should)pick him up for the deaths of our citizens! Having him greeted home enthusiastically sickens me, as I would personally condemn ANYONE (even an American) for killing ANY CITIZEN in such a manner on any land! Double jeopardy does not apply in this situation!
Let's just shoot down a plane full of Libyans and call it a day. Yes, I'm angry at the decision; can't you tell?
Robert Moon is spamming The Activity Pit again: twi.cc/lAlq
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