A blood money deal is a blood money deal,” said Sen. Charles Schumer.
I called it a crock of steaming haggis last year when I wrote about Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi’s early release from the Scottish prison on the grounds of compassion, and it still is. The Scots knew damn well when they released him that he wasn’t dying anytime soon, and the only reason he was released, as we find out this year, is because he was the key that unlocked the cap on the giant oil fields in Libya.
Justice? None — not for the 243 passengers on board Pan-Am Flight 103, Clipper Maid of the Seas, or the poor souls who were pleasantly living their lives in quaint little homes in Lockerbie, Scotland, where the doomed jet crashed on Dec. 21, 1988.
At the time I asked, what the hell is wrong with Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill? He was the bozo who signed the release papers letting al-Megrahi out of prison so he could go home and die. Let’s all say it together: “Yeah, right.” Al-Megrahi wasn’t anywhere near death’s door. In fact, in recent photos, he looks pretty damn healthy and alive.
What a miracle, I’m sure the rest of the world would like to know what al-Megrahi did to turn around his death sentence from terminal cancer, how he morphed into the healthy and fit person he is today. A recent report said he would probably live at least another 10 good years.
Only 10 more years — what a pity he’s free. It would have been so much more refreshing if he had another 10 years left, but behind bars in his Scottish cell. It’s not fair, it’s not justice, especially, not for all those people who died a horrible death in the skies over Lockerbie. Not fair to those left behind, the wives, husbands, parents, children, neighbors, friends, and a community that is forever changed. Each day of their lives are lived remembering what they lost. No peace, no rest, no closure, and now, no justice.
Not for nuthin™ if al-Megrahi’s early release proves to be directly linked to the BP contract and BP has blood money on its overalls, then it just might be a case of what comes around, goes around. Not the accident of a faulty cap, but a quirky turn of karma.
