(With at hat tip to a David Kurtz blog entry at Talking Points Memo.)
I found myself watching Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill explain why he was allowing Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi -- convicted for taking part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and terminally ill with cancer -- free to die in his native Libya.
Take four minutes out of your day to watch the video and join me after the jump if you're so inclined.
So many thoughts came to mind as I watched the video. They included:
-- An appreciation of Mr. MacAskill's eloquence. His well-written, well thought out statement reflected a man who loved the law, was not about being a populist, and embraced the articulated values of the Scottish justice system.
-- How Mr. Ali al-Megrahi should thank his stars that he was convicted in Scotland, not the United States where he would have either dies via the death penalty or would soon die from cancer at the Super Max prison, alone.
-- That the law is best applied dispassionately. Mr. MacAskill didn't let the terrorists win.
You see, terrorists win when they make you act like them. All hatred works that way. As a small parallel -- if you're driving down the road and a stupid aggressive driver cuts you off, you can ignore them and continue driving. But if you get emotional, you speed up and swerve around the road to cut them off to teach them a lesson. Then who, now, is the bad aggressive driver? You are. The original aggressive driver has won by making you act like them.
Terrorists are the same way. They win when they make us lose our sense of justice and compassion. When they turn our values darker, harder more like the world they live in. The terrorists didn't win in Scotland.
Mr. Ali al-Megrahi will die in short order. Those who believe in an afterlife, karma or similar will take solace in a belief that he will get his just due soon. I respect that if that's your belief.
However, I see it this way: Mr. Ali al-Megrahi will die in short order. His medical condition and impending death presented the Scottish government a choice to either show no mercy (as Ali al-Megrahi did) or remain true to their own value system of justice and compassion. They chose to be Scots. Good on them.