Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

[SSH]

I've been hearing that some Americans are starting up a "Freedom Fries"-like campaign where they are going to boycott Scotland becuase of the release of the terminally ill convicted Lockerbie Pan-Am flight bomber al-Megrahi. So, I was wondering, particularly from US AGSers:

1. Do you feel anger towards Scotland and should it be punished for letting a convicted terrorist free?
2. Does the fact that many Scottish relatives of those who died think that al-Megrahi didn't actually do it make any difference?
3. Do you think anyone should ever be released on compassionate grounds?
4. If a US citizen is imprisoned abroad (e.g. the lady caught "en flagrante" on the beach in Dubai) , would you support the goverment trying to get them repartiated, perhaps to serve out their term in a US prison?
5. If something is the right thing to do, does a bunch of Libyans turning al-Megrahi in to a hero on his return change its rightness?

[Ali]

A "Freedom Fries"-like campaign? Bring on the Freedom Eggs & Freedom Pancakes. Wrapped up in Freedom Tape!

[Nacho]

Sounds quite silly to do another campaign like that for that... I think there might be a hidden "protectionism" campaign in spite a patriotic one. Might be that?

[TerranRich]

This is the first I'm hearing of it. The whole Freedom Fries thing was stupid, idiotic blind pseudo-patriotism... fear and paranoia shrouded in poor sportsmanship and pointless demands.

[Akatosh]

I think it was something along the lines of "USA SMASH PUNY DISAGREEING FRANCE!!!", coupled with a health dose of "... but we can't actually take them on, so let's go for something symbolic instead".

It's the same thing here. Good grief, guys, it's not like the guy is going to do any more terrorisin'. At least let him set his affairs in order, and let him die in dignity; no matter somebody's crimes, they're still human. No need to petition people to refer to Scotch as Terror Cocktail from now on, or some equally retarded crap.

[TerranRich]

Nice! Let's compose a list of renamed Scottish food and drinks!

Scotch -> Terror Cocktail
Haggis -> Evil-Stuffed Parts
Black Bun -> Compassion Cake
Crowdie -> Cheese of Mass Destruction
Hot Toddy -> Warm Traitor

Any more?

[Ponch]

SSH,

Boycott Scotland? And give up my precious Scotch whisky?* Madness! (You guys can keep the haggis though. Please.) Plus, one of my play testers is from Scotland -- any my game is already too far behind as it is!

But to answer your questions:

1. No. It's silly to feel anger towards a country. I'm not too happy with your government's decision, but it doesn't make me feel anger towards all the Scots. Besides, without you guys, the Highlander movie wouldn't exist. (Best! Documentary! Ever!)

2. Public opinion doesn't always hold much sway with me. Many of my fellow Americans think that 9/11 was an inside job; that we never landed on the moon; that JFK was killed by the FBI; and that we have an alien spaceship hidden in Nevada. To steal a line from Men in Black, "A person is smart. People are dumb..."

3. Only in the rarest circumstances. Do the crime, do the time. I don't care if your mother has run off to be a pirate or you've got boneitis. The crime you committed that landed you in prison affected people with their own share of problems too -- chief amongst those problems, they were victimized by you.

4.  Maybe. Depends on the crime. I've spent a substantial part of my life living abroad, where my rights as a US citizen don't add up to diddly poop. So, if I wanted to avoid local prisons, I tried my very best to obey the local laws. My girlfriend's favorite show is "Locked Up Abroad." Every third episode seems to be "How can they send me to prison? All I did was smuggle some opium through their airport. I wasn't even stopping in the country, just changing planes! It's not fair." No sympathy for those idiots at all.

5. Sorry, I reject the premise of the question. I don't think letting al-Megrahi go was the right thing to do. But it wasn't my call to make. The government of Scotland made its decision, and it was theirs to make. But nations, cities, and people make choices all the time I don't agree with. What am I going to do? Boycott the whole world? That would be very silly. Boycotts hardly ever work. Mostly, they're a great way get others to hold a grudge against you.

Besides, where do you stop once you've started? Scotland is part of the UK, which is part of the EU, which is part of the other side of planet Earth. Before you know it, I'm boycotting half the globe. And what does that leave me with? Just Texas, and possibly our neighbors to the north, the (rest of the) United States.

Boycotts are for silly people who have far too much time on their hands (and usually they also have audiences to keep lathered up with outrage).

Besides, why be outraged? I trust the Scots to manage their own affairs. They've given us golf, the decimal point, modern economics (sorry we screwed that up, by the way), Dolly the sheep, and that song we sing every year at New Years (but no one seems to know the lyrics).

Thanks, Scotland!

Now put some pants on, for God's sake.

- Ponch
--------------
* Why no "e" in "whisky." You guys over there stick extra vowels in everything, which we dutifully remove over here. But in this case, we're left in the rather uncomfortable position of "vowel-ing" that word up to size.

[TerranRich]

To steal a line from Men in Black, "A person is smart. People are dumb..."

I quote that line all the time! It's so true, these days more than ever.

[Ponch]

Haggis -> Evil-Stuffed Parts

Thanks to you, I shall always think of Haggis that way. Especially the haggis that comes in a can.

- Ponch

[Evil]

We're Americans. Even if we did decide to boycott Scotland, we're too dumb and lazy to remember in three weeks. All loathing of other countries is pushed out of our brains after each week of American Idol.

[Nacho]

Well, in mittens we saw a "We don't buy french! God bless America!" in an Irish pub...

[Ishmael]

* Why no "e" in "whisky." You guys over there stick extra vowels in everything, which we dutifully remove over here. But in this case, we're left in the rather uncomfortable position of "vowel-ing" that word up to size.

I've been told it actually is "whisky" if it comes from Scotland and "whiskey" if it comes from Ireland. Don't know how real that is around there though.

[Atelier]

UK: whisky
Canadian: whisky
Kentucky: bourbon whiskey
Irish: whiskey

My dictionary never lets me down. Although I'm not too sure what bourbon whisky is....

bourbon |ˈbərbən|
noun
a straight whiskey distilled from a mash having at least 51 percent corn in addition to malt and rye.

Ah, thanks dictionary!

[RickJ]

I don't trust Scottish politicians anymore than I trust ours (US).  It's very likely this was a payoff to Libya for access to petroleum and other trade deals and that it had nothing to do with prostrate cancer.   How much do you want to bet that the SOB in will not be dead in 3 months or even 3 years?   

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/070817/17prostate.htm

Prostate cancer is usually a slow-growing disease, which means that many men who have a tumor will nevertheless die from something else, before the tumor spreads and becomes dangerous. Selecting the right treatment, therefore, requires considering both how quickly a particular tumor might kill and how much longer the patient, if cancer free, could expect to live.

[Snarky]

Scotland, like many other civilized countries, routinely offers compassionate release to criminals who are dying and who offer no continued threat to society. According to the evidence and testimony presented, this applied to al-Megrahi. Therefore his release was the proper result of impartial, "quasi-judicial" process; the "right decision" according to Scottish law, policy and customs.

Protesting and threatening boycott is a foolish and, frankly, childish response. If anything, the outrage should be directed towards Libya for the way he was received there.

[Stee]

I don't trust Scottish politicians anymore than I trust ours (US). 

How do you think the English feel? We have one running our country!

[Mr Jake]

At least let him set his affairs in order, and let him die in dignity;

Like those at Lockerbie did?

I haven't really been following since the release but my feeling is that being released on compasionate grounds should  depend on the severity of the crime, the total sentence and the sentence remaining. Everyones got an opionion on Lockerbie and Briggs because they are the recent high profile ones.. I disagree with both really.

Also, the chance of hime being innocent is an unrelated matter, there are channels for dealing with that - releasing him on  the off chance isnt one.

[Dualnames]

To steal a line from Men in Black, "A person is smart. People are dumb..."

I quote that line all the time! It's so true, these days more than ever.

I quote the same line but I quote it from Discworld Noir

"An average person is smart, the mass is really stupid."

[Darth Mandarb]

1. Do you feel anger towards Scotland and should it be punished for letting a convicted terrorist free?

I feel no anger towards Scotland nor do I think Scotland should be punished.  It would be ignorant to form one's opinion(s) on an entire country based solely off the actions of the leaders/politicians of that country.  If he is guilty I do not think he should be released solely because he's terminally ill but, as Rick suggested above, there's [most likely] far more at play than a simple act of mercy to a dying man.

2. Does the fact that many Scottish relatives of those who died think that al-Megrahi didn't actually do it make any difference?

To me it does make a difference.  If the man was not involved, he shouldn't have been in jail in the first place.  However, if he had even the smallest involvement in the act, he was where he belonged (in prison).

3. Do you think anyone should ever be released on compassionate grounds?

I try to avoid absolutions ... but if you don't want to die in prison, don't commit a crime that sends you there.  There are always circumstances of course but I like to think that there are far more guilty people behind bars than there are innocent/wrongly convicted people.

4. If a US citizen is imprisoned abroad (e.g. the lady caught "en flagrante" on the beach in Dubai) , would you support the goverment trying to get them repartiated, perhaps to serve out their term in a US prison?

Again this depends on the circumstances.  If the person was on vacation and was trying to smuggle drugs back (or something like that) I say let 'em rot in the prison of the country that caught them.  As I said above; if you don't want to go to prison, don't commit the crime.  However ... if they walked on the grass where they weren't supposed to or are being convicted of something (that in the US) isn't a crime I suppose I might take objection to it.  Always circumstances though.

5. If something is the right thing to do, does a bunch of Libyans turning al-Megrahi in to a hero on his return change its rightness?

Depends on why they are turning him into a hero.  If they are turning him into a hero 'cause he killed all those people and they think he's a hero for it then, to my mind, it's a disgusting example of animal behavior.  If they are idolizing the guy 'cause they think he didn't do it (the terrorist act) and he's returning home after 20 years of false imprisonment then I don't see a problem with it.  Although I don't really see how being falsely imprisoned, dying of cancer, and then being sent home on compassionate grounds earns him 'hero' status. 

Might warrant a "welcome home" sign though ... maybe a party?

FREEDOM FRIES
Yes, this was ignorant.  However, this planet is shrouded by clouds of ignorance, they don't just float over the United States.

[Snake]

FREEDOM FRIES
Yes, this was ignorant.  However, this planet is shrouded by clouds of ignorance, they don't just float over the United States.

Hear-hear.