The mess with BP is, if you will excuse a lowly pun, a gasser. BP, it seems, closed a $900M deal to drill offshore in Libyan waters just as the dopey Scots released on "compassionate grounds" the sole convicted bomber whose mass murder killed 270 innocent civilians headed for home & Christmas on PanAm Flight 103, on December 21, 1988. The bomber's release last August was procured in part by a doctor certifying that he had but a few months to live, a medical opinion that the doc now says he was pressured to make; now, the doc says the bomber might live...10 (yes, ten) years.
Congress & President Obama promise a full investigations and UK PM David Cameron, who criticized as "nonsensical" the release when it was announced last summer, promises full cooperation. Fair enough.
But NOT good enough. As the bomber's release was procured by what lawyers call "fraud in the inducement" it should be regarded as a nullity. The feckless Scots have no leverage against Libya, but the US & UK do. Options: (1) send a Predator drone to help the bomber, now in Libya, meet his Maker, should surveillance reveal an opportunity for action; (2) warn Libyan thug-ruler Muammar Qaddafi that failure to release the bomber to the US or UK will cost him Big Time, as we re-impose strong economic sanctions; (3) fine BP $1B--equal to the sum of the value of its ill-gotten $900M contract with Libya & $100M for good measure.
Bear in mind that the UK could have, in devolving to Scotland control of judicial matters, retained a veto over action in the Lockerbie bomber case. Such would have enabled the UK to stop the 2009 release. Former UK PM Tony Blair had committed to the US that the bomber, if convicted at trial, would never be released. Then, as the Scots set to release him last summer, the UK acted as if it were a mere bystander, powerless to stop the deal. The lack of power was, however, a position the UK could have--and should have--avoided. We must make sure the UK helps us this time around.
Bottom Line. Investigating this atrocity is not alone enough. Punishment must be meted out for such a tawdry bargain with a terrorist mass murderer and the thug-state that now harbors him.
Letter from the Capitol, LFTC, 9/11, National Security, Terrorism, Homeland Security, Foreign Policy, Conservative Politics
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