uh...screw that.

[John Curnutte]

 I agree let him die in jail , its better for all involved . IMO

[Anaxogoras]

I change my mind:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/world/europe/22lockerbie.html?_r=1&hp

[oakranger]

Yea,  I think it is time to assassinate the SOB.

[LYNX]

Bit of an odd 1 this saga.

If you recall the Lockerbie bombing was widely suspected to be revenge for an American warship shooting down a Libyan airlines 3 or 6 month earlier.  Mistaken identity was sighted and I'm sure compensation was swiftly awarded.  It was all very suspect as to why this occurred.

Two so called "rogue" agents were arrested after Lockerbie with only 1 convicted.  Doing time for being a criminal or perhaps a patriot, maybe both.  Some of the victims relatives disagree with his guilty verdict.  Some requesting the his appeals bear fruit so's they get to the real deal.  Which IMO would never happen.

Libya hands them over, pays the compo, abandons nuke research and to a degree starts to tow the line.

Big oil claimers to get it's greedy mits into Libya.  Libya stands to get big kick backs and a roll on the word stage again.

The guy convicted has months to live and abandons any appeals to clear his name.  Compassion levied and returns home.

Was he a criminal or just doing his job?  Who knows?  One things for sure the relatives of the victims on BOTH airlines ain't getting anything near what Libya and big oil will make out of their deaths.

[RTHolmes]

I'm pretty sure the guy is a scapegoat and the conviction unsafe, but thats a matter for the appeal process.

The most worrying thing about this whole affair is the release on compassionate grounds. The rest of the world finds it bewildering that a guy who has been convicted of murdering 270 people should be given any compassion.

The people of the UK also find it bewildering, and even more worrying for us is that its sympomatic of a legal system which doesnt represent the public interest. Most people agree that we have a pretty decent system when it comes to arrest and conviction, however the sentencing and parole part of the equation is a very bad joke. Earlier this year Ronnie Biggs was released on compassionate grounds having finally served 10 years of a 30 year sentence for armed robbery (having escaped and evaded capture for 35 years.) If you dont want to die in jail, dont commit the crime.

Sentencing is also sickeningly lenient. Attack and kill a stranger? and youll get 6-8 years (of which youll serve 4-6). Beat your 3yr old child to death? youll get 10-12 years (of which youll serve 8-10). Rape? chances are you'll get a fixed penalty. Plus you'll serve your sentence in prison conditions which are for the most part indistinguishable from a decent business travellers motel. And politicians from all sides wonder what we can do about rising crime 

[Anaxogoras]

Those are some important thoughts RTHolmes.  I think it's helpful to distinguish the 3 alternating goals of punishment that come in and out of fashion:

1. Incarcerate the criminal because he deserves it.
2. Incarcerate the criminal to reform him and improve him.
3. Incarcerate the criminal to protect society.

Which one are we working with here?  What troubles me is that none of these approaches has ever done a wit to prevent future crime.  The UK seems to take approach #2 more than the USA; #1 and #3 are the more popular approaches here.

I think the motivation for releasing a criminal on compassionate grounds is high mindedness.  It's a demonstration that although harm has occurred, the society is above resentment and is ready to move on.  In this particular case, the criminal is no longer a threat to society, there's no point in reforming him because he'll be a dead in a number of months, and punishing him further would be punishment for its own sake.

Where they really screwed up, and where I was naive, is in predicting how the release would be perceived in Lybia.  I'm going to be blunt: Scotland looks foolish.  What Scotland believed it was doing out of high mindedness the Lybians seem to perceive as weakness or even an outright pardon.

[soda72]

Looks like FBI director Robert Mueller is not happy about the release...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8216122.stm

[texasmom]

Interested in telling Kenny Macaskill your pleasure or displeasure at his decision and how it will affect your future trips to Scotland?  His email address is: kenny.macaskill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

[Maverick]

I take my earlier post back. They should have sent him home in an unmanned target drone with a bomb in it, then blew up the bomb at 20,000 feet over the Libyan capital.
 

[jdbecks]

what happened to the person who authorised the acidental shooting down of the Iranian passenger jet by the US warship?

[soda72]

what happened to the person who authorised the acidental shooting down of the Iranian passenger jet by the US warship?

What happened to the Iraqi pilot that attacked the USS Stark? 

[jdbecks]

What happened to the Iraqi pilot that attacked the USS Stark? 

probley got shot down in the 1st gulf war   

[LYNX]

what happened to the person who authorised the acidental shooting down of the Iranian passenger jet by the US warship?

I must say I got my stories mixed up.  The Iranian airliner incident had NOTHING to do with lockerbie.  Nothing but my mistake for linking the incidence's together. 

Having briefly looked into the lockerbie stuff it seems it's suspected to relate to the past tentions and bombing of Libya with US forces bases in England at the time.  The UK would have given it's permission to use it's airspace for an act of aggression.

My apologies...to many beers

[Die Hard]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

[Stalwart]

Having watched someone die of cancer over a period of almost 2 years, the illness is punishment enough.

Then they should keep this guy hooked up alive and ill as long as possible.