Compassion Or Contracts?

On August 20th, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmen Al-Megrahi was released from his Scottish prison and flown home to his native Libya to die. Al-Megrahi had been sentenced to a life for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21st, 1988. He was released on compassionate grounds by Scotland, a normal practice, due to his terminal prostate cancer. His release was met with great controversy, which has only increased in the following days.

Libya, which took responsibility for the bombing in 2003, has a long history of anti-Western beliefs. Muammar Al-Gaddafi, the de facto head of state, took power in a military coup in 1969. Hoping to become the "African Che Guevara," Al-Gaddafi installed what he called a "Islamic Socialist" government. He funneled weapons and money to terrorist groups, or anybody claiming to battle "imperialism." He has recently, however, become more diplomatic with the West. In 2006, the US normalized relations with Libya after they acknowledge their WMD program and cooperated with inspectors.

The UK, however, still has a vested interest in Libya. British Petroleum and the Lybian National Oil Company have a $900 million contract to harvest Lybian oil reserves. Al-Gaddafi's son, Seif Al-Islam Gaddafi, told Al-Megrahi, "In fact, in all the trade, oil and gas deals which I have supervised, you were there on the table. When British interest came to Libya, I used to put you on the table." When Al-Megrahi's plane arrived in Libya, hundreds gave him a hero's welcome.

Al-Megrahi is a terrorist, a criminal. There was no compassion when he exploded Flight 103. There was no compassion when passengers fell thousands of feet to their deaths. Yet, only by showing compassion to this criminal can the people of Scotland show that they are better than this dispicable tactic and this bankrupt ideology. What the people of Libya did, treating him to such a homecoming, set relations with the West back decades and showed why they deserve to be treated like the backwater of modern humanitarianism, which they are. Indeed, if the British released Al-Megrahi not for humanitarian concerns, but simply to secure an oil contract, then they have used the deaths of those 270 people to increase the coffers of an multi-national oil company, and they deserve scorn as well.

Now, Al-Gaddafi is set to visit the United Nations in New York on September 23rd. With a backlash growing in the US, against both Libya and the UK, his welcome is expected to be much colder than the one Al-Megrahi received upon his return. Can the UK navigate this controversy or will this lead to a rough patch in US-UK relations? Britain has a critical role in US national security, both in Afghanistan and concerning issues like global warming, and differing views on compassion and humanitarianism are sure to complicate ideas about Islamic extremist in the future.