Britain Used To Understand Statecraft

In the past, Britain understood statecraft.

Alas, no more.

It has been 352 days since The Lockerbie Bomber was released from prison, the purported ground for release being “compassion”. The Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, claimed one year ago that The Lockerbie Bomber had fewer than three months to live and, consequently, would be returned to Libya.

At the time, the odious Gordon Brown publicly asserted that the British government was not part of the decision-making process and had placed the matter exclusively in the hands of the Scots. No one in Europe believed Brown’s bald-faced lie, and neither did anyone in North America.

American intelligence officials knew what was going on all along, and American diplomats, privy to intelligence reports, never believed a word that came out of the Scottish Justice Minister’s mouth nor the mouth of the British Prime Minister. American officials had long been aware of the secret oil contracts between Britain and Libya and, further, were aware that the “physician” providing the official diagnosis for The Lockerbie Bomber’s alleged impending demise was an undercover agent of the Libyan government.

Almost one year later, The Lockerbie Bomber is still alive, residing in a luxury villa in a suburb of Tripoli, where he receives a daily stream of well-wishers under the watchful eye of Libyan police, which provides round-the-clock security.

In contrast, the 270 persons killed by the disintegration of Pan Am Fight 103 are, sadly, still dead.

Since The Lockerbie Bomber has not had the decency to die, may I suggest that MacAskill, Scottish Justice Minister, do so in his place?

If MacAskill cannot do so as a matter of conviction, he might at least do so as a matter of good taste.