Lockerbie, Truth and Compassion

The Lockerbie Bomber and Compassion

The man convicted of being responsible for the downing of the Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie in December 1988 murdering 270 people has terminal cancer, and may be allowed go home to Libya, in order to die with his family around him. This is something neither the people slaughtered in the air nor those sleeping on the ground got to enjoy.

Abdelbaset al–Megrahi is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 27 years after being convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing, and has always denied his guilt. See Article here

Now it looks possible he may be released. Up to last week two possibilities for his release existed. One was straightforward release into Libyan custody, the other was that his second appeal, which his lawyers claim would bring important new evidence forward to clear him, and which might have embarrassed several governments, would succeed.
However, he would probably die before the appeal would finish, it seems.

Then last week he suddenly got a visit from the Scottish Justice Minister.
Then he withdrew his appeal, which seems odd. Why spend years trying to claim innocence, then withdraw the claim when dying, unless some pressure was applied.

The relatives left mourning their dead are divided about the prospect of any compassion being shown to this man, just as they are divided about his guilt.
They are also divided by the side of the Atlantic they happen to be on, with many of the British relatives seriously unhappy with the trial, and highly suspicious that a man was convicted for convenience.

The trial itself was a curious affair, held in odd circumstances, and which many people feel did not get to the truth of who was actually responsible.
Some suggest Syria, others Iran (which had a civilian aircraft shot down by an American warship, USS Vinciennes, with the loss of 290 innocent civilians. The ship was exonerated later, and the crew given medals, I understand).
This was at a time when tension was high and the Reagan government was involved in many dark deeds.
The verdict did not really seem to tie in with the evidence given, perhaps echoing convenient previous verdicts in cases such as the Birmingham Six, Guildford Four and so on. Now that a Court of Appeal has found that sufficient new evidence existed to allow a rare second appeal to go ahead, al Megrahi might have shown his innocence. And a light might have been shone on some things governments would rather prefer we never find out.

However, it does seem that the British relatives are largely willing to allow him die at home, whilst some high profile Americans are outraged at the very idea. What that tells us about the differences between Brits and the US  might be simply due to politicians following the loudest media-led or media-created furore.

Or it could simply show us how inhumane the US has become. Prominent Americans, as well as many ordinary citizens seem to have taken the Old Testament doctrine of an eye for an eye to heart, rather than the Christian one of ‘love your neighbour’.

Over here, we’re largely secular, or godless, whereas Americans tend to be believers. Odd, then, that we should seem to be more secular yet more in tune with Jesus.

Getting your Retaliation in First.

Getting your retaliation in first.

After many years of seeking out the truth of just how the licence for the second mobile phone company was handed out by the Minister of the time, Michael Lowry of the Fine Gael coalition, it seems that the Moriarty Tribunal is getting ready to publish its conclusions.

Like all good rugby types, the man who was awarded the most lucrative licence since Ray Burke gave away our oil and gas rights got his retaliation in first. He owns 29.9% of INM, and now has three directors on the board of the group which owns or controls The Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Evening Herald, Herald am, The Star and the Sunday World. It also has a controlling interest in the Sunday Tribune.

So it is hardly surprising that he used his own papers to attack a Tribunal report, a report which we have yet to see, in an effort to damage the credibility of the Tribunal.
What was surprising was his attack on some of his own journalists, such as Matt Cooper, one of the few main presenters with a solid grounding in business.

Getting your retaliation in first is a rugby saying, and comes from a Lions tour. So we see ads placed by Mr O’Brien, full page ads drawing attention to the alleged excessive and seemingly greedy expenses claimed by the barristers in the employ of the Tribunal, already on eye-watering daily rates.
These ads were placed anonymously, and only refused by the Irish Times which insisted on knowing who was running the campaign, to its credit.
Quite why he attempted to hide his identity is not clear. The tactics of diversion are however long familiar to us all:muddy the waters, smear your enemies, set up straw enemies, deliberately misquote and make false claims about opponents, attempt to undermine their credibility and so on.

We are, of course, used to hearing of corruption in the ranks of Fianna Fail, because we have been entertained/appalled by the Dunlop revelations, not to forget the amazing cast in the Planning Tribunal, including the man whose revelations kicked the whole thing off. I do realise that Moriarty is separate investigation but it was because of the revelations of one man that some of the larger flat stones in Irish society began to be overturned. Will we forget Jim Gogarty ever? To quote himself, albeit in a slightly different context: will we fuck.

But let us not forget that Fine Gael mysteriously managed to clear massive debts in only a few short years in power. Not only that, but just as Charvet Haughey had his debts forgiven by a bank hoping to recoup its investment, so did Garret Fitzgerald. Isn’t it odd how seldom we hear about that?
Just like the fiasco in insurance, when AIB bought an insurance company, screwed up, and we all spent 20+ years paying for it. Do see the Wikipedia article on AIB, particularly the section on Controversy, here The management and shareholders were mightily relieved when the ICI (Insurance Corportion of Ireland) millstone, which was entirely caused by their own incompetence, was transferred from their smooth necks, and swiftly attached to the necks of the great unwashed.

How many decision-makers at the bank got sacked? When it happened it cost the Irish taxpayer, in 1985 when the country was deep in the mire and emigration and despair stalked the land once again, some €400 Million, or five times the profit earned by AIB the previous year.
Let us not forget, either, that at the time the bank was engaged in fraudulent schemes to defraud the Revenue, helping ensure that PAYE payers bore the burden of income tax rates higher than the ones which would have obtained, had the wealthier sections of society paid their share. Meantime we got to pay a fortune via the bank levy to fund the debt, and the bank only finally cleared the debt after some prodding in the last few years.
So how many of these local mini-Masters of the Universe running the ban lost their jobs?
Errrr, none, actually, as far as I know but I am open to correction here.
And what did they learn?

That they could be careless with risk. Get it right, and become hugely wealthy. Get it wrong on a massive scale? Shrug your shoulders and get bailed out by the State, then carry on without a worry in the world. And that when they made money they deserved bonuses, but if they lost, then we would pay. Just as a couple of centuries back, the officers of  a defeated and captured garrison would be treated as gentlemen. The enlisted men might expect no such kindness.

We are being told that should the Tribunal find that corruption or other dodgy behaviour caused the licence to be unfairly awarded that then we are looking at the possibility of the State being sued for gazillions. No mention of the beneficiary being sued, and no likelihood of any of the suborned being made personally culpable or liable.

So O’Brien seeks to defuse the latest coming scandal,using expensive but effective PR methods. I look forward to this weekend’s installments.

Politics, Power and Media or Murdochgate.

Isn’t it interesting how Murdochgate has been pushed off the front pages by dead soldiers? All heroes, now they are dead.

I have always been amazed by the loyalty shown by former soldiers for the British Army. Especially given how badly they are treated when no longer of use. It says a lot for the re-programming ability of the military.

But could it be the case that the speed with which the police decided there is nothing worth further investigation might have something to do with information gleaned from having their own privacy invaded at the behest of News International.? Only a cynic would suggest that the media outlets it owns are influenced by the opinions of the owner, and even sometimes, by the political aims of the proprietor.

Because it is true that the greatness of the man is underestimated. He issues no guidelines, no diktats, no directions to his editors. Ordinary mortals all, the editors of all his papers somehow all always come to the same editorial conclusions as the astonishing Mr Murdoch at election times. Odd indeed, no, I should say rare indeed , are the occasions when a Murdoch paper editorial disagreed with the Boss. Of course this could just be an extraordinary outbreak of telepathy or simply brown-nosing with scuba gear.

This man has demeaned the level of public discourse and the fabric of the societies where his companies have media interests.It hardly comes as a surprise that the Sun denounces the licence fee whilst failing to mention that Sky costs a whole lot more. Or that his papers constantly attack Public service broadcasters, or limits on cross-media ownership. (This does not apply to Italy, where Berlusconi has TV pretty sewn-up, I imagine)

If the NoW was hiring private investigators to snoop on private citizens, regardless of whether they were famous or not, is very disturbing. Many still remember the behavior of the Sun after Hillsborough,when it disgraced itself by wild and untrue allegations of bad behaviouer by the victims of the police-made disaster, who are still waiting for justice. Others will remember the Sun for the miners strike, and the crude bragging that ‘It wos the Sun wot won it!’ after a Tory election victory. Some will recall the ‘Gotcha! headline celebrating the sinking of the Belgrano, an Argentinian ship which was the last surviving battleship from Pearl Harbour, and which was actually steaming away from the Malvinas/Falkland as demanded. Hundreds of conscript Argentinian sailors perished in the South Atlantic. The submarine made no effort to rescue them.

The Guardian broke this story and because of it, the former Editor of the News of the World and senior executives were forced to reappear before a House of Commons committee in order to explain apparent discrepancies in their evidence.  (see http://preview.tinyurl.com/n4zmz4 )

Why does this matter? Because the former Editor is now Cameron’s chief spin doctor.

Because all of the recalled strangely suffered total failure of their own recollection in front of the MPs.

Because we have no reason to suspect that the tactics of the Murdoch press here in Ireland would be any different. Certainly the Oirish Sunday Times and Oirish Sun are hostile to Europe.

Because his papers spend a lot of time rubbishing RTE, a competitor which costs us less than Sky.

Because they can’t be trusted.