Lockerbie Bomber Goes Free

I will admit that I am a little impassioned about this story since I went to Syracuse University and many of my friends were Remembrance Scholars. But that does not change the fact that Scotland is creating a great injustice!

My Synopsis: 35 Innocent SU students and 208 other passengers had their lives violently taken from then in a terrorist plane bombing over Lockerbie Scotland on Wednesday December 21st, 1988. Alleged motive, anger of US foreign relations with Lybia in the 80s. But don't take my word for it.

Recent Events: After serving 8 of his minimum 27 year sentence Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi is was released today by the Scottish government because he is dying of cancer on ground of compassion. (See title link for NYT Story).

Are we to assume then that the wishes of a dying terrorist trump the wishes of 200+ mourning families, the US Secretary of State, 7 other US Senators, not to mention many international citizens?!

Why have sentences if you can get out them for good behavior, or "compassion"? If one exhibited good behavior or compassion to begin with would you not be free anyway?

Rabbi Michael Melchoir address this issues very poignantly when a Chautauquan asked him about how do we show compassion for Megarahi. While he didn't offer an opinion, he made the stance that compassion is a two way street and we cannot just look at it from one side. Thus my judgement does reflect this attempt to see compassion from both sides.

Ideally, and though it disgusts me to say it, Megrahi should be released. This is compassionate. I cannot imagine the most compassionate leaders of history thinking otherwise. However, this is a illusion. We do not live in a compassionate world. And showing one act of compassion towards a terrorist is going to have negative repercussions that will circumvent the compassion showed. Removing the illusions that surround idealism, we see that you cannot show compassion for someone who has bastardized human rights.

You want further proof: Munich jailed a90 Nazi 65 years after his first trial. He is certainly near death, but Germany doesn't believe compassion should be on the side of those who failed to show it just because they're dying.

But is something really compassionate if it creates injustice?