Allah's Miracle

By Semperpapa

A year ago today, August 20, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi walked out of a Scottish prison for his last trip home to Tripoli, Libya.
The images of a man in his last days of his life, slowly moving due to the terminal illness that was consuming him and that was at the core of the compassionate release from prison and an absolution of his responsibility for the death of 270 innocent people on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

A year ago, the world was incensed by the actions of the Scottish government as the release was seen as a slap in the face to the families of those who died that day in 1988.
A year ago, President Obama stated that the freeing of Megrahi made Americans “surprised, disappointed and angry”. And he was not lying. At least not technically because it was true that the American people were all that and more, but he was definitely not speaking on a personal base.

In July of this year, 2010, new revelations have surfaced about the release of al-Megrahi.
At the time of the release of the terrorist, authorities in Scotland based their decision on compassion, as the man was supposed to be so riddled with cancer that his life expectancy was of about three months. So the Scottish authorities got a doctor to state the prognosis and released al-Megrahi, who was promptly flown to Tripoli to received a hero’s welcome.

Megrahi, who was not supposed to last more than three months, appeared to make a miraculous turn around which prompted me to write a piece in February 2010 calling it “Do You Believe In Miracles?” pointing out that six months after the release, the good old terrorist was enjoying a peaceful and luxurious life in a villa that the regime of Libya had provided for him, entertaining guests and surrounded by family.

The new revelations that surfaced this July were warranted by some rumours that the oil company British Petroleum had been somewhat involved in lobbying the Scottish government for the release of Megrahi in exchange for lucrative Libyan oil contracts.
The giant oil company denied any wrong doing, but with the oil spill ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico, public opinion was not willing to be tolerant of any other bad publicity about the corporation. Many, even in Congress called for transparency on the subject, once again pointing the accusatory finger to the Scottish government.
That was the time when a report surfaced about a communication that the deputy head of the US Embassy in London, Richard LeBaron, had sent a note to the Scottish authorities outlining the opposition of the US Government to the release of Megrahi, but added:

"Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the US position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose."

The embarrassing significance of the note is that it appears the US government was lobbying for a release of Megrahi as opposed to a prisoner transfer. Basically, if the Scottish authorities wanted to spring the man on compassionate grounds, it would be much more acceptable for the US to have the guy free instead of in prison in Libya, as if that would have happened.

Today, August 20 2010, is the first anniversary of the release of Megrahi, recipient of a miracle from Allah as he is still alive, he is still enjoying life in his comfortable villa in Tripoli and still entertaining family and friends.
But in a strong statement, the United Kingdom is warning Libya that any celebration of the anniversary of the release of Megrahi would be offensive and tasteless. Surely Gheddafi is shaking in his sandals.

One more interesting aspect of this story is the connections between Obama and BP.
The oil company had been coerced into providing a $20 billion fund to pay for the clean up and loss of business in the Gulf of Mexico spill caused by the explosion and sinking of the oil platform. The slush fund, because is what that really was, was a small price for BP to pay for keeping the White House on a friendly keel, as $20 billions for BP is truly a drop in the proverbial bucket.
Maybe one day, if some journalist will see clear to look into it, will find out how much of the slush fund was actually used for its true purpose and how much found its way in the coffers of Democrats candidates and unions.

So while the White House used the oil spill in the Gulf to advance its energy policy, including the establishment of a moratorium on all offshore oil drilling, while the White House was using the oil spill to advance its war against private business and the oil industry, on its march to the nationalization of the industry itself, reports of millions of gallons of crude spilling into the waters of the Gulf in what was described as the largest environmental disaster in history.
Meanwhile, reporters were banned from filming some of the clean up efforts and as soon as some of the dots connecting Megrahi’s release, BP and the White House started to appear, the efforts to plug the oil leak was successful.
Suddenly, from one day to the next, the worst environmental disaster in history was completely gone from the news and the oil had all but disappeared (some scientist, though, just came out and said that the oil spill is “invisible”).

Megrahi is still the recipient of Allah’s miracle, and we can all be grateful for it.

Just my thoughts!