OTHER OPINIONS : Jail is right place for a terrorist

By The New York Post

Posted: August 27, 2009 at 11:09 a.m.

• Print item
• E-mail
• Share
• Tweet

NEW YORK — Scottish officials cited reasons of "compassion" in freeing the Libyan bomber of Pan Am Flight 103, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, last week.

But what families of the 270 victims - including 189 Americans, many just college kids - who perished that day in 1988 want to know is: Where was the "compassion" for their loved ones? :

In fact, Megrahi's release is outrageous. On its face, it makes little sense: He was given a life sentence - meaning he was to remain in jail until the day he dies.

But Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said Megrahi had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and given only months to live - and thus was now eligible for release. Huh?

Even President Obama,hardly known for backing stiff sentencing, called Megrahi's release a mistake.

Nor, as the judge himself admitted, does it matter that a Scottish review panel in 2007 raised questions about Megrahi's conviction. After all, his guilty verdict stands - to this day. :

Yes, we know Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy gave up on nukes after he saw what happened to Saddam Hussein - and that freeing his agent can be seen as his reward for that. We know firms, especially in Britain, have sought to ratchet up business with Libya.

But post-9/11, leniency for terrorists is as misguided as it is dangerous.

Megrahi should die in jail.

It's that simple.

- The New York Post

Opinion, Pages 4 on 08/27/2009

Comments

To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.