Bragging Rights: The Lockerbie Bomber Goes Free

By Steve McGregor

In 2008 a man named Moalim Aden Hashi Ayro, was living in Somalia. Moalim was a top Al Qaeda commander in Africa. The US response? As the Agence France Presse reported, "A war plane dropped three large bombs on the house at about 2:00 am" one morning. Maolim and another Al Qaeda leader were confirmed dead.

Fast-forward one year to a new Presidential administration, a man named Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi is living in Libiya. Megrahi is convicted of killing 270 people, including 180 Americans, in an event known as the Lockerbie Bombing. The US response? President Obama said "we're now in contact with the Libyan government that if, in fact, this transfer has taken place, that he's not welcomed back in some way but instead should be under house arrest." Well, President Obama must have left a voice mail on Khadafi's answer machine because a cheering crowd of thousands greeted Megrahi at the airport. One has to wonder, will Megrahi receive the same justice as Moalim?

Certainly, the shame of releasing Megrahi lies with Scotland. But what does this say of American influence and, more specifically, of the Obama Administration? In condemning Megrahi's release, Obama used the royal 'we.' But it is Obama alone who is the Commander in Chief of a military actively fighting extremists in Afghanistan.

Maybe the Scottish and American governments could learn something from Corporal Christopher Reynolds, a sniper of 3 Scots, The Black Watch. As reported in the Daily Express this month, Reynolds slept on a shop rooftop in Afghanistan for three days, waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill an Afghan drug lord. After hitting his target from 1,500 meters away, Reynolds said, "I am going to use that fact as a chat-up line in the pub when i get back home." With seven months in office, what does President Obama have worth bragging about?