As is well known, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill released convicted murderer Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on “compassionate grounds” because the bomber of the Lockerbie 747 is supposedly dying from terminal prostate cancer. While anybody with a brain can easily see that that’s monumentally stupid – let the sumbitch die in prison, where he was supposed to anyway – it’s rare to see someone in a position of political authority actually tell it like it is. In this case, FBI director Robert S. Mueller, III, wrote an open nastygram to MacAskill taking him to task for the move.
Over the years I have been a prosecutor, and recently as the Director of the FBI, I have made it a practice not to comment on the actions of other prosecutors, since only the prosecutor handling the case has all the facts and the law before him in reaching the appropriate decision.
Your decision to release Megrahi causes me to abandon that practice in this case. I do so because I am familiar with the facts, and the law, having been the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991. And I do so because I am outraged at your decision, blithely defended on the grounds of “compassion.”
Your action in releasing Megrahi is as inexplicable as it is detrimental to the cause of justice. Indeed your action makes a mockery of the rule of law. Your action gives comfort to terrorists around the world who now believe that regardless of the quality of the investigation, the conviction by jury after the defendant is given all due process, and sentence appropriate to the crime, the terrorist will be freed by one man’s exercise of “compassion.” Your action rewards a terrorist even though he never admitted to his role in this act of mass murder and even though neither he nor the government of Libya ever disclosed the names and roles of others who were responsible.
Your action makes a mockery of the emotions, passions and pathos of all those affected by the Lockerbie tragedy: the medical personnel who first faced the horror of 270 bodies strewn in the fields around Lockerbie, and in the town of Lockerbie itself; the hundreds of volunteers who walked the fields of Lockerbie to retrieve any piece of debris related to the breakup of the plane; the hundreds of FBI agents and Scottish police who undertook an unprecedented global investigation to identify those responsible; the prosecutors who worked for years–in some cases a full career–to see justice done.
But most importantly, your action makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988. You could not have spent much time with the families, certainly not as much time as others involved in the investigation and prosecution. You could not have visited the small wooden warehouse where the personal items of those who perished were gathered for identification–the single sneaker belonging to a teenager; the Syracuse sweatshirt never again to be worn by a college student returning home for the holidays; the toys in a suitcase of a businessman looking forward to spending Christmas with his wife and children.
You apparently made this decision without regard to the views of your partners in the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the Lockerbie tragedy. Although the FBI and Scottish police, and prosecutors in both countries, worked exceptionally closely to hold those responsible accountable, you never once sought our opinion, preferring to keep your own counsel and hiding behind opaque references to “the need for compassion.”
You have given the family members of those who died continued grief and frustration. You have given those who sought to assure that the persons responsible would be held accountable the back of your hand. You have given Megrahi a “jubilant welcome” in Tripoli, according to the reporting. Where, I ask, is the justice?
On the other hand, the BBC was unsurprising in its reporting of this, presenting the “boo hoo, the poor lil’ terrorist deserved to go home” side of the arguement.
Former Scottish First Minister Henry McLeish has described comments by the FBI chief on the Lockerbie bomber’s release as “totally out of order”. …
Mr McLeish said it was an unfair slur on the Scots justice system. A former lord advocate said it was “appalling”.
Henry McLeish said Mr Mueller’s intervention was “totally out of order”. …
“Let’s as Scots, despite the adversity, be conscious that it is Scotland and our criminal justice system which holds its head high throughout the world,” he told BBC Radio Scotland.
“It doesn’t help if some ill-informed remarks are made by the director of the FBI towards that when it’s, quite frankly, none of his business.
None of his business? Seeing that justice is done to scumbags who murder Americans by the planeload seems to be precisely the business of the head of the FBI. The BBC article then goes on to say:
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s spokesman also dismissed the claims, saying: “I don’t see how anyone can argue this has has given succour to terrorists.”
Really? REALLY?
4 Responses to “Letter from FBI Director to Scottish Minister Kenny MacAskill”
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“Seeing that justice is done to scumbags who murder Americans by the planeload seems to be precisely the business of the head of the FBI.”
What justice? Seems to me that justice in the US is not about finding THE guilty person but about finding A person guilty, if necessary by threat or falsification of evidence.
> Seems to me that justice in the US is not about finding THE guilty person but about finding A person guilty
Seems to me you’re wrong. While there are a number of prosecutors who are just looking to make sure they get some prosecutions, the vast majority are seeking the guilty parties.
Scott, I’d like to give you some background to this, if I may. I hope I don’t bore you, but I think there are a few things to be said about this ghastly affair.
Firstly, I’d like to say that, as a British subject, I’m disgusted by the behaviour of our government in this matter. New Labour has always had a certain amount of “realpolitik” to it, but some of their politicians still think that Stain just got a bad press, hate Britain, and regard anyone who harms British citizens as basically a good guy!
Now, a while ago, that is, about 1997, the Labour Party realised that their chances of getting elected depended upon Scotland. The prospect of losing the Scottish vote if Scotland became independent filled them with horror, so they came up with devolution as an alternative, giving them their own Parliament and MSPs (Members of Scottish Parliament). This, unfortunately, backfired, because Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party First Minister, seems to realise that most Scots do not want independence (The SNP got in, but I suspect that’s because, as in England, most people, disenchanted with all mainstream politicians, didn’t vote) and so Salmond has adopted the tactic of demanding as many privileges and advantages for the Scots as possible, so the the English will give them independence whether they like it or not!
Thus the Scottish Parliament want to show that they are as independent a country as possible; they want to show that they aren’t scared of England or America, by p!$$!*g off both!
The plot is thickened by Lord Peter Mandelson (who twice had to leave the government for dishonesty, and who was brought back from a Brussels assignment and given a peerage, rather than compel him to face a by-election for a “safe” Labour seat which he might lose, and whose job it is to prop up our Prime Minister, who was elected neither by the electorate nor his own party (the “leadership contest” was a wash-out after it was made quite clear that no-one better stand against him, and his premiership was agreed by him and Tony Blair in a discussion in a restaurant in the early 1990s)) having mutual friends with Gaddafi’s son. Mandelson is suspected of having done “favours” for his friends before, and, besides, BP and other British companies are operating in Libya – New Labour seem to like businesses who generate tax revenues for them to spend on their daft ideas. Letting the Scots Parliament free the Lockerbie Bomber lets Gordon Brown say “Nothing to do with me!”
Sorry for the complex exposition, but the background is neccesary for you to understand the turgid mess of our government today.
Many English and Scots newspapers are scathing about all this, and a scots friend tells me that many ordinary Scots are hopping mad, especially at the Saltire (Scots flag) being waved in Tripoli, and some think that this affair may bring down the SNP administration.
If there was any doubt about the conviction of this man, he could have appealed. The fact that this will not now happen is fuelling suspicion that our government, or yours, or the libyan government, or all three, have something to hide – the best way to dispell such rumours would have been the appeal hearings – after all, no offense intended to the FBI or the Scots Police, but we know that our justice system sometimes makes mistakes, that’s why we allow appeals, and total transparency banishes conspiracy theories.
If it was desired to show compassion to this man dying of cancer, he could have been moved to a prison hospital wing – if it was desired to be even more compassonate, his mother could have been granted visiation rights (although there are many British and American parents who would like to see their children again, who, after that night over Lockerbie, will not).
It may well be another nail in the coffin for Labour, but unfortunately, we won’t get to chuck them out until the General Election, which must be held by May next year. It is suspected that Labour will suffer a near-total wipe-out, but until then, please bear with us – Anglo-American friendship is too valuable to damage over this, and, rest assured, the majority of us Brits are as disgusted by all this as you are!
Grif
> I’d like to give you some background to this,
Thanks for that! I’ve known that Scots/UK politics were goofy, but I’ve never really looked that deeply into it.
> they want to show that they aren’t scared of England or America, by p!$$!*g off both!
As half a century of anti-Americanism has shown, pissing off the USA is a safe way to thump one’s chest and pretend to be a badass… because the USA won’t go and kick your ass for it. The Russians, on the other hand, might just have a pellet of Polonium just for you….
> Anglo-American friendship is too valuable to damage over this
Don’t worry, UK-USA relations won’t suffer much over this. What *will* almost certainly cause serius damage are the policies, actions, insults and snubs of the anti-UK moron that *we* foolishly elected.