CONVICTED PAN AM FLIGHT 103 BOMBER SET FREE...
Pan Am Flight 103
Sherwood Crescent, Scotland
Dryfesdale Cemetery Memorial near Lockerbie, Scotland
Names of 270 Victims of Pan Am Flight 103
A beautiful young life lost: Theodora Cohen, 20 was among 35 students
from Syracuse University on board Pan Am Flight 103
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Last Thursday, Scottish authorities released the man who was convicted in the December 21, 1988 Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi was released "on humanitarian grounds" after being diagnosed last year with advanced prostate cancer and given three months to live. For the record, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned Scotland's Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill urging him not to release al Megrahi. President Barack Obama said the Scottish decision to free terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was a mistake and said he should be held under house arrest. Obama warned Libya not to give him a hero's welcome. Despite that warning, at the military airport in Tripoli where al-Megrahi's plane touched down, thousands of youths on hand cheered his return waving Libyan and Scottish flags as al-Megrahi left the plane wearing a dark suit and a tie and accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi.
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"I think it's appalling, disgusting and so sickening I can hardly find words to describe it," said Susan Cohen, of Cape May Court House, N.J., whose 20-year-old daughter, Theodora, died in the attack. Theodora was a 20 year-old drama student at Syracuse University. Last week, Susan Cohen told the Associated Press she wanted the bomber to die in prison. "The basic issue is he is a mass murderer and he should not be released.This isn't about compassionate release. This is part of give-Gadhafi-what-he-wants-so-we-can-have-the-oil." Cohen said. "Have we totally lost our moral compass? If you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for me."
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For those of you who are too young to remember, at 7:02 PM on Wednesday, December 21, 1988 a Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) Boeing 747 jumbo jet departed London's Heathrow Airport for JFK Airport in New York. At 31,000 feet and just 38 minutes into the flight, a terrorist bomb made of the plastic explosive Semtex weighing less than a pound, exploded inside a large metal luggage container in front of the wing--in fact--just 25 inches from the left side of the aircraft's fuselage. The blast cut off the electrical power supply and blew an initial seven-inch hole through the aircraft fuselage. Within less than a second, the force caused by a secondary shock wave caused by the chemical conversion of the Semtex plastic explosive caused the 747's outer skin to rupture and peel back in three directions. One fracture tore back to the wing, while another ripped forward for 43 feet. The third fracture peeled open the aircraft in a circumferential manner under the belly of the plane and up the other side as both rivets and the jet's aluminum skin burst open. Within three seconds, the entire nose of the aircraft and First Class passenger section sheared off, and slanted back 180 degrees. It then struck the right wing and severed the number three engine before slamming into the tailplane. In a horrifying fashion, it is clear to investigators of this terrorist attack that both the cockpit crew, First Class cabin passengers and approximately 147 Coach Class passengers were likely alive, as they were ejected into the freezing atmosphere strapped to their seats for the 46 second plunge to earth at 200 miles per hour. Meanwhile, the remaining portion of the airplane cabin descended to 19,000 feet and then entered a vertical dive shedding debris and passengers. The separation of the Boeing 747 wings laden with 200,000 pounds of jet fuel impacted the ground in Sherwood Crescent, Lockerbie vaporizing at least four houses and killing families in the homes, with the ensuing fireball visible 6 miles away. The crater from this impact was approximately 180 feet long, 100 feet wide and 60 feet deep. There was no sign of the wings--only remnants of jack bolt screws. The blast from this impact registered 1.6 on the Richter Scale, according to the British Geological Survey. Bodies were found dismembered, while others were horribly compressed from the impact of falling 31,000 feet.
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People around the world viewed the photo I have posted atop this Blog. It was published on the covers of both TIME and Newsweek magazines. Investigators determined that Libyan agents shipped the bomb concealed in a Samsonite suitcase containing a Toshiba radio cassette player, similar to one used to conceal a Semtex bomb seized by West German police from the Palestinian militant group The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command just two months earlier. Items of clothing, which were subsequently proven to have been made in Malta, were also thought to have come from the same suitcase. The clothes were traced to a Maltese merchant, Tony Gauci, who became a key prosecution witness, testifying that he sold the clothes to a man of Libyan appearance, whom he later identified as Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.
Libyan agents placed the baggage containing the bomb on a Boeing 737 Air Malta flight from Malta to Frankfurt. From there, the baggage was placed onto a Pan Am Boeing 727 feeder flight to London where it was eventually placed aboard the Pan Am 747 bound for New York. The plane was delayed on takeoff, due to dense traffic. In fact, had the blast occurred just 90 seconds later, the Boeing 747 would have exploded over water and we would have had few, if any, clues. Local authorities teamed up with British, German and Israeli intelligence along with the CIA, FBI, NSA and other American agencies to painstakingly reconstruct the conspiracy.
Libyan agents placed the baggage containing the bomb on a Boeing 737 Air Malta flight from Malta to Frankfurt. From there, the baggage was placed onto a Pan Am Boeing 727 feeder flight to London where it was eventually placed aboard the Pan Am 747 bound for New York. The plane was delayed on takeoff, due to dense traffic. In fact, had the blast occurred just 90 seconds later, the Boeing 747 would have exploded over water and we would have had few, if any, clues. Local authorities teamed up with British, German and Israeli intelligence along with the CIA, FBI, NSA and other American agencies to painstakingly reconstruct the conspiracy.
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For Dan and Susan Cohen, who lost their daughter Susan, age 20, their lives will never be the same again. In all, 243 passengers, 16 Pan Am crew members and 11 people on the ground died. The investigation and subsequent murder trial took years. However, it is the pain and grief from this senseless act of murder that goes beyond the ken of human imagining. Justice was initially delayed. Now it appears to be denied. What are your thoughts?
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Authors Note: I waited almost one-week before deciding to write about this tragic situation. Outrage from people around the world who value life and embrace justice convinced me that writing about it was the right thing to do. To the victims' families, we can only offer our sincere thoughts and prayers. Like Susan Cohen, I ask you. "Have we totally lost our moral compass?" What are your thoughts?
posted by Michael Manning @ 12:00 AM
16 comments
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16 Comments:
i cannot imagine the terror of watching your plane disintegrate and falling 31,000 feet.
and even more awful, imagine the horror the families and loved ones of the victims must feel as they relive those events emotionally and in their thoughts and nightmares.
i don't know the answer michael. at some point, you want to let go of anger and hate or it consumes you. you want to be the "better" person.
but letting al-megrahi go home a "hero" is entirely wrong.
i wonder if he has nightmares too?
I've really been out of the news loop as of late, but reading this had just made me ill. I cannot imagine what part of "humanitarian" they were thinking of with his release given that he committed such a reprehensible act causing the loss of so many lives.
Seraphine: I hear you, but I am not consumed with hate. Like others, I desire justice and there were others along with this terrorist who were involved. There is a lot of hue and cry now in the Scottish assembly and Gordon Brown returned home today in England and immediately confronted this unbelievable news. This tragedy took place on a Pan Am airliner because the carrier personified the American Flag. As such, it was a target. And it came at a sad time with the holidays. I'll never forget it.
Seamus: Indeed. The loss of innocent life was just staggering, and the lives it damaged forever is tragic as well. All of it senseless. What is to be done? I haven't been able to answer that yet.
Thank you for the detailed account of what happened. The newspapers have left most of this information out. I'm going to be using this in my U.S. History classes today and tomorrow as a part of our problem based learning. My classes are going to decide what President Obama's response to Scotland and Libya shall be for not heeding his warnings.
Very touching post. I fully understand why you needed time to digest the news.
In fact, when I read about all this a week ago on the news channels, I made a search about the whole incident online. The articles I found kept me up half of the night and made the rest of the night sleepless...
On another note, thank you so much for stopping by my place and leaving a very kind comment.
Please come back again.;)
You have a lovely blog too.;))
This really was an obscenity. Many have said that Gordon Brown has done this as part of a trade deal and is letting the Scottish government be the fall guys.
Good reminder of that tragedy. Some people, because of their crimes, should be locked away and never released. He belonged to that group. Receiving medical care is all the humanitarian consideration needed.
A great memorial to those lost Michael.
I think there is more to this release then we are being told.
PM: I don't any sense of what, if anything he will do. I have a clearer idea today than I did then for possible motives. Nevertheless, lives have been lost and nothing can ever bring back loved ones to the families. This was a horrifying event.
Protege: Such kindness in your note! Thank you! Yes, this attack must never be forgotten. My heart is with each of the family members who continue to suffer beyond description.
Jean-Luc Picard: And former Prime Minister Tony Blair has made it abundantly clear, he never negotiated with such an unthinkable strategy.I am not close enough to the current events in England to comment on Prime Minister Brown.
Green tea: Indeed! I find it disgusting to all people who cherish justice and this is a blemish--to say the least--against the victims who cannot speak from the grave. What has to happen is that nations must come together in close-knit fashion to put into place measures that discourage this unthinkable act. But then, the political world has changed significantly with a multitude of complex considerations since 1988.
Sage: Unfortunately, what's done is done. I feel disgusted at this action to release the convicted bomber.
I learned more about this crash from your post than any story I've read about this. I can't imagine what that was like for them to have had to go through the atmosphere like that on their way to their deaths. Horrific. I'm appalled that they let this guy out.
Becky: I regret that I was as graphic as I was with this post. However, this was an instance where context was required for others to gain a sense of how betrayed the victim's families must now feel after the release of this terrorist.
I share your outrage and feel there were others who were involved with this madman directly and behind the scenes. In retrospect, when one looks back at Karachi, the TWA hijacking in Rome, the Twin Towers garage bombing and 9/11, this escalation of terror is being committed by the same people with the same agenda and warped mind set. It is clear to me that nations must band together and agree on policies and ensure the close-knit cooperation among their intelligence agencies with the USA to avert this atrocity from repeating itself. What's done is done now regarding this man's release and I am disgusted.
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