Posts Tagged ‘Lockerbie’

Testing the Special Relationship

by coldwarrior ( 101 Comments › )
Filed under Libya, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, Terrorism, UK at February 8th, 2011 - 6:30 pm

“Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests.”-Lord Palmerston

Indeed, the former Prime Minister is correct in that matter. Pursuing permanent national interests is a main function of governments; this can be balanced against keeping long time allies, which in and of itself is a form of national interest, but allies are not to be permanent at the price of security or sovereignty. Sometimes allies will act in self interest against the interests of their allies. The test of that friendship is two fold, what the offending country is willing to do against an ally in pursuit of its own national interest, and what the offended country is willing to accept and not react to in deference to that friendship.

The above conundrum of foreign relations is most recently being put to the test between the US and the UK. There has been much hand-ringing and ink spilled over the wiki-leaks revelation that President Obama gave the Russians The British nuclear locations and the types of warhead that are deployed and are in development in order to get the latest SALT treaty ratified. It appears the information given was on the British Trident missiles that are manufactured and maintained in the US. Britain will not confirm its actual number of missiles, but most of the information is out here in defense circles already. That being said, an ally does not do that sort of thing especially just to get a practically meaningless treaty about strategic nuclear weapons passed. The sending back of the Churchill bust and giving the queen an Ipod of his speeches does not fall into the realm of abuse of an ally; those acts were of a selfish, narcissistic man trying to appease the ghosts of his father, the Kenyan, who hated and fought against Britain and colonial rule and was imprisoned for those actions. For Obama, as has been discussed on this blog since before is election, those things are personal and Third World Liberation driven. I am sure after he is gone, the bust of Churchill will be returned and the Queen will have long forgotten about the Ipod. These acts are transient and personal, the revealing of nuclear secrets are not; this is an actual abuse of an ally.

Abuse of an ally brings me to this: The Labour Governments under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown negotiated with Colonel Gaddafi to release the Pan-Am flight 103 bomber so that a British Petroleum contract with Libya would be approved by Colonel Gaddafi; at first both PM’s denied the action, however, it has been revealed by British Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnel that the denial is a lie and the Labour governments were very active in this mess. This terrorist bombing killed 190 American Citizens and 80 from 20 other countries. Prime Minister Cameron is outraged over the release, the denial/cover-up, and is considering calling an inquiry into the previous government’s role in this act. It is very apparent that both Blair and Brown’s Labour Government are very complicit in working for the release of convicted terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrah. The excuse for release was that he was in the terminal stages of prostate cancer with less than 90 days to live, he is still very much alive 18+ months after his release in August of 2009.

The American government would be next in line to try Abdelbaset al-Megrah for 190 counts of murder and other charges if he were ever released by the British. No one expected his release as he was serving many life terms in England. Prime Ministers Blair and Brown both decided to follow Lord Palmerston’s quote and test how much abuse America would take so that an oil contract for BP could get approved by the Libyans. The reaction from the State Department and the White House is one of disappointment that our ally would do something like this and that the decision to release him for an oil contract was a mistake.

So, the special relationship between the US and the UK moves on, both sides have undercut the other and acted in what was perceived by the governments as their own national interests. The US gave away some British nuclear secrets to get a treaty and the UK released a murderer of 190 Americans to get an oil contract. Both sides shrugged off the actions because both sides know that Prime Ministers and Presidents come and go, and as of right now, the relationship between the UK and the US has been tested by both sides and survives as it is in fact the closest thing to a permanent interest that both sides have in the realm of foreign affairs. How many more Labour/Democrat driven ‘tests’ can the relationship survive is anyone’s guess.

Tags: Gordon Brown, libya, Lockerbie, Nuclear Weapons, President Obama, Tony Blair, UK, wikileaks
Posted in Libya, Nuclear Weapons, Politics, Terrorism, UK | 101 Comments »

Gaddafi’s bribes to Scotland in order to free a terrorist

by Mojambo ( 199 Comments › )
Filed under Terrorism, UK at December 8th, 2010 - 2:00 pm

Remember that “compassionate” release of the man responsible for the Lockerbie explosion of the Pan Am jet? Allegedly he had only a few months to live because of prostate cancer, well miracle of miracles he is still alive. It was as we all suspected – a bribe to Scotland that the feckless Scottish government grabbed at.

by Claire Smith

The Scottish Government was offered a “parade of treats” by the Libyan government in order to secure the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, according to the latest papers released by WikiLeaks.

Cables from US diplomatic staff reveal that Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, also made explicit and “thuggish” threats to halt trade deals with Britain if Megrahi died in jail – and that senior diplomats feared reprisals on British citizens.

The newly-leaked papers show that ministers, including then foreign secretary Jack Straw, believed that Megrahi could have five years to live – contrary to claims by the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, that he had only months to live.

A spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond last night dismissed the information contained in the reports as “tittle-tattle”, and said the Scottish Government completely stood by its decision to release Megrahi.

However, he claimed that the leaked cables revealed the former UK government was “playing false on the issue” and that “we were the only ones playing with a straight bat”.

[…]

However, when Mr MacAskill finally announced a “compassionate release” – to a storm of protest the following August – the US ambassador said the Scottish Government had been unprepared for the international backlash. Washington’s ambassador to London, Louis Susman, reported: “It is clear that the Scottish Government underestimated the blowback it would receive in response to Megrahi’s release and is now trying to paint itself as the victim.

“The Scottish Government severely underestimated both US government and UK public reaction to its decision… Alex Salmond has privately indicated that he was ‘shocked’.”

Robin Naysmith, who served as the SNP’s representative in Washington, was also said to have confirmed that Mr Salmond was shocked by the US outcry.

“Naysmith underscored that Scotland received ‘nothing’ for releasing Megrahi, while the UK government has gotten everything – a chance to stick it to Salmond’s SNP and good relations with Libya,” said one leaked cable.

A spokesperson for Mr Salmond last night insisted that the revelations did not contradict earlier statements that there was no commercial reason for Megrahi’s release.

Read the rest here: Gaddafi ‘offered Scots treats’ to free Megrahi

Tags: Claire Smith, Lockerbie, Scotland
Posted in Terrorism, UK | 199 Comments »

WTH?

by Kafir ( 110 Comments › )
Filed under Libya, Terrorism at August 13th, 2009 - 3:01 pm

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, is to be released next week, it has been reported.

Megrahi, who is currently appealing against his conviction, has asked to be freed on compassionate grounds.

The decision to release Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, rests with Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary.

Earlier this week the pair met at Greenock prison where Megrahi is serving a life sentence for his 2001 conviction for blowing up PanAm flight 103 in December 1988, leaving 270 people dead, in the worst terrorist atrocity and the biggest mass murder in British legal history.

Mr MacAskill has also been considering a request from the Libyan government for Megrahi to be transferred to his home country to see out the rest of his sentence.

The transfer request was made by Libya to the British government in May, less than a week after a treaty allowing prisoners to be transferred between the two countries was ratified.

Under the agreement, the country holding a prisoner should give its answer within 90 days.

The Scottish Government has responsility for prisoners in Scottish jails, in effect giving Mr MacAskill the final say on Megrahi’s release.

But Mr MacAskill said last month he would miss the 90-day deadline, which expired on August 3, because he was waiting for more information.

No transfer can take place if criminal proceedings are active, meaning Megrahi would have to drop his latest appeal against his conviction in order to be sent home.

Mr MacAskill has spoken to the US Attorney General and the US and British families of the Lockerbie bomb victims. He has previously said political and economic factors will not influence his decision.

An earlier request, made in October 2008, was rejected by Appeal Court judges after they heard medical evidence that with adequate care, Megrahi could live for several years. The court heard such requests are normally only granted when a prisoner has less than three months to live.

The BBC and other broadcasters quoted unnamed sources claiming Megrahi would be released next week, and returned to Libya before the start of Ramadan.

However, a spokesman for Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, denied the reports, calling them “complete speculation”.

“No decision has been taken, either on the application for compassionate release or the application under the prisoner transfer agreement and so it is entirely speculation,” he said.