I've been very critival of the Catholic Church over issues such as shielding child abusers from arrest and standing in the way of equal opportunities, but it is nice to heap praise in them for the words spoken today by the Roman Catholic leader in Scotland.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien has spoken out against the USA for their line of attack over the Al Megrahi release and accused the Americans of keeping bad company in their liove of the death penalty (keeping them more in line with Saidi Arabia and Iran then with free democratic states), but the bit I liked was the quote
"We shouldn't be crawling out to America, or having them come here and questioning us on our own territory."
Indeed yes.
Let's not remember that the USA refused to release information that would have given a clear understanding to a proper inquest result in to "friendly fire" deaths in Iraq. The USA also refuses to give any evidence to the Iraq enquiry, yet the USA expects us to send our elected representatives to speak to their Senators regarding decisions made in the UK. This is quite ridiculous, irresepective of the rights and wrongs of the decision.
Of course the biggest factor that is being ignored about the who Al Megrahi case is that by releasing him it prevented an appeal which would almsot certainly ahve shown him to be not gulty and highlighted much of the flawed evidence the US provided and undermined the USA contention that Libya was behing the attack when everyone knows the bombing was directed from Syria.
1 comment:
Cardinal O'Brien is as idiotic as Secretary MacAskill.
Scottish compassion is humanitarian cruelty
Dudley Sharp, 8/21/09
The Scottish Justice Secretary Kenneth MacAskill gave a long speech as to why compassionate release was appropriate for the cancer stricken Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the unrepentant mass murderer of 270 innocents in the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing.
al-Megrahi has been imprisoned for the crime since 2001. He served about 12 days in prison for each of the 270 he murdered.
MacAskill's speech was an insult to compassion.
What he should have said.
"Scots desire justice and want justice to be tempered by compassion and mercy. Therefore, we will continue to do what we always have, that is support justice by honoring the deserved sentence of the court, while providing the compassion and mercy so exemplified by the caring physicians, counselors and religious advisors that are part of our criminal justice system.
When a justice system considers the important role of compassion and mercy it can never be in the sole context of the guilty criminal.
It is an insult to justice, compassion and mercy to ever minimize the gravity of the victims suffering - in this case, the 270 innocents murdered and the thousands who so loved them and suffer so much from the tragic, cruel taking of their cherished.
Just because God has chosen to serve a cancerous death sentence upon this murderer, that gives us no foundation for early release based upon compassion. We all die. And, accordingly, I will not be the judge as to why God has chosen that route for this murderous, unrepentant man.
I decline to insult the 270 innocents murdered and the thousands of innocents so hurt by those deaths by releasing this criminal. Compassion and mercy must be upheld. And Scotland will do so.
Only a cruel cynic would give more weight to compassion and mercy for an unrepentant mass murderer than to the justice for the innocents murdered and the mercy and compassion due the loved ones left behind.
Justice, compassion and mercy are all best served by this mass murderer remaining in prison. And so he will remain. May he repent.
Blessings to the innocent murdered and their bereaved loved ones. I wish I could do more for them."
Since MacAskill has no concept of compassion, he releaed the unrepentant terrorist, instead.
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