Comment posted Scotttish Government statement following death of Ali Al-Megrahi by Robert Wakeham.
The Skipper of the Vincennes (Captain Will Rogers III) reminded me of a character out of Apocalypse Now. After he’d decided that an Iran Air airbus climbing out of Bandar Abbas, on a regular scheduled flight to Dubai, was actually an F14 Tomcat fighter diving into attack his ship – and put two guided missiles into the airliner killing all 290 people on board – he wasn’t universally applauded. Either Time or Newsweek did a very effective expose of just how appalling the use of a highly sophisticated warship to annihilate a civilian airliner really was. Having said all that, the Lockerbie disaster might still have had a Libyan connection – like the French UTA DC10 airliner destroyed over the Sahara, and found to be the work of Libyans in the same way that Lockerbie was.
Robert Wakeham also commented
- I’m wondering if the anonymous blogger is from Islay, or just taking its name in vain.
- Ken – this website might be read in a far wider area of the world than I, for one, would have thought – and If I started on about the USS Vincennes, the death of everyone in the Iranian airliner it shot down while in Iranian territorial waters, and another such incident involving a different American ship and an Omani civilian aircraft that would have ended the same way but for a long chance, I might get the thumbs down.
- There’s a risk that all the political noise hides the clear opinion from Dr Jim Swire down the years that Megrahi did not murder his daughter and all the others.
Recent comments by Robert Wakeham
- Minutes of today’s meeting of ‘Concerned Councillors’ Group
Perhaps Argyll should be reclassified from a local authority area to a semi-wilderness zone not suited to self-government, of a similar standing to the Northwest Territories in Canada; if that doesn’t work, then how about the Tribal Areas of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier? – anarchic groups that continually disintegrate and morph into new allegiances, beyond rational control and inviting attack by pilotless rocket-firing drones controlled from outside the country’s borders. Attacks noisily condemned by a dis-functional central government, but secretly welcomed. - CalMac geared up to start Campbeltown-Ardrossan ferry service on Thursday night
If indeed Calmac were ‘thrown a curve ball’ by the Scottish government then it doesn’t bode well for the future, if indeed the government is into cynical manipulation of public finances to enhance their popularity.
The trouble is, this would fit with the apparent cynical manipulation, by this government, of Argyll & Bute Council politics – and if this really is all in character then it reinforces my cynicism about politicians in general.
You can find some decent ones, in most parties, if you try – but anyone listening to Alex Salmond jousting with James Naughtie on BBC R4 ‘Today’, this morning, will have heard him claim that Denis Healey (whom I respected for his ability in government) has said that the Treasury deliberately underplayed the value of Scottish oil in years gone by to make independence seem less attractive.
A plague on the lot of them. - Walsh to lead all but Lib Dems, Conservatives and George Freeman
I’m just wondering if this is a wild goose chase – barking up the wrong tree, so to speak – and it might be a creature of a different political colour altogether? - Walsh to lead all but Lib Dems, Conservatives and George Freeman
Talking of Conservatives, and bearing in mind the ornithological wonders of this part of the world, has anyone yet spotted a swivel-eyed loon? – or is it an imaginary creature? - First Minister’s choice not to condemn mob behaviour proves Farage point
Farage was in Edinburgh to raise the profile of UKIP – don’t underestimate wee Nige.
powered by SEO Super Comments
There’s a risk that all the political noise hides the clear opinion from Dr Jim Swire down the years that Megrahi did not murder his daughter and all the others.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Absolutely. And JIm Swire’s opinion has been umatchably influential because of the depth of his own integrity following the scale of the loss he suffered.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I shake my head in wonder that any of your readers can summon up a “dislike” thumbs down at such a life affirming and accurate remark.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Ken – this website might be read in a far wider area of the world than I, for one, would have thought – and If I started on about the USS Vincennes, the death of everyone in the Iranian airliner it shot down while in Iranian territorial waters, and another such incident involving a different American ship and an Omani civilian aircraft that would have ended the same way but for a long chance, I might get the thumbs down.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
You are right, of course; and you did.
Personally I could not care a hoot when my remarks get the “zero Neroes” but I wonder at the mentalilty of those who dislke simple and sincere statements of fact.
I was reading about the Vincennes incident only earlier today and contrasting the reaction of our American cousins to that particular disaster.Although the commanding officer of the Vincennes had mistaken a civilian aircraft for a military craft and was responsible for many civilian deaths he was feted as a hero and promoted when he got home.
There is a heavy body of informed opinion that the Lockerbie bomb was retaliation for that disaster and that the source had nothing to do with Libya but was probably from Iran.
David Cameron seems determined to block any enquiry. We may wonder whose back he is protecting?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The Skipper of the Vincennes (Captain Will Rogers III) reminded me of a character out of Apocalypse Now. After he’d decided that an Iran Air airbus climbing out of Bandar Abbas, on a regular scheduled flight to Dubai, was actually an F14 Tomcat fighter diving into attack his ship – and put two guided missiles into the airliner killing all 290 people on board – he wasn’t universally applauded. Either Time or Newsweek did a very effective expose of just how appalling the use of a highly sophisticated warship to annihilate a civilian airliner really was. Having said all that, the Lockerbie disaster might still have had a Libyan connection – like the French UTA DC10 airliner destroyed over the Sahara, and found to be the work of Libyans in the same way that Lockerbie was.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
We must hope that an appeal is made, following the death and the CCRC report.
While it may not establish the whole truth it may just deal with some of the questions that still remain.
So far, the only person who comes out of this whole case with reputation intact and enhanced is Dr Swire.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I’m glad Megrahi is at peace now and I’m pleased to be part of the nation that treated him with compassion. Vengeance only creates new monsters and should be no part of the law.
It’s interesting to note that this man, whose suffering so many relished, was reported to have spent his time in Greenock prison teaching younger Scottish prisoners the basics of reading. That, more than any of the raging debate, caused me to read up on the court proceedings. I came to share Dr Swire’s convictions and hope he succeeds in his campaign to find the real truth.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The “evidence” presented at Camp Zeist would not have passed muster at Dunoon Sheriff Court and when did a Scottish Court ever convene without a jury.
I know no intelligent person who has read up on this case who beleives Abdulbaset Ali al-Megrahi had anything to do with this bombing. I recommend the late Paul Foot’s examination of this affair and the latest publication by John Ashton, both of which can be sourced online to anybody who harbours doubt about this case.
As Anne Baird points out it is impossible to be well informed on the court case and conviction and believe he was anything other than an innocent scapegoat.
What concerns me deeply is the behaviour of much of our media.
There was time when we could look to our press to defend us from Government lies. No more
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The evidence was a joke, I too can’t believe any jury would have convicted on it. The central plank of the prosecution case was the Maltese shopkeeper who identified Mr Megrahi as the purchaser of a shirt after ten years had passed. I have been to Malta, including Sliema where the shop is located. The shops there are crowded with tourists buying postcards and sunglasses and T shirts and suchlike. I’d challenge any of the shopkeepers to identify a particular customer from the previous day, never mind one from ten years previously. And then it turns out that this particular shopkeeper was paid one million dollars by the FBI to testify! Give us a break.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Just passing this on….
http://wingsland.podgamer.com/johann-lamont-does-not-speak-for-us-here-are-42-people-who-do/
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Impressive list of signatures to that letter.
Seeing Teddy Taylor on it made me smile (and is he still alive!!). Anytime my mother would complain about something my dad would say “write to Teddy Taylor about it”. To those not familiar with Scottish politics, Teddy Taylor was (arguably) the last successful Tory in Scotland (in Glasgow certainly).
I didn’t always agree with TT in the past but he is spot on the money here: we need an open enquiry into this and i8t will only be credible if it is the Scottish Government that instigates it.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The list of signatories to the Megrahi letter is certainly wideranging……
Wait a minute though! If Teddy Taylor really has signed this letter I can just see our anonymous blogger from Islay demanding that he be stripped of his enoblement, deprived of his knighthood -if he has one- and drummed out of the ranks of the Conservative and Unionist Club in distant Southend never more to darken its portals.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
I’m wondering if the anonymous blogger is from Islay, or just taking its name in vain.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Thanks for the article Morag, fascinating stuff.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
The reaction from Joanne Lamont to the news of Megrahi’s death was predictably following the official Labour Party line but must have caused grave offence to many decent Labour supporters.We may wonder on what authority she feels able to speak on behalf of Scotland on this or any other issue. Could it be that the vision of A L Blair embracing the mad Colonel and the “dirty deal in the desert” influenced her judgement? When will the details of this particular deal come to light?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Everybody should read the article by Kenneth Roy in the Scottish review.
He says it all for me.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
Unfortunately the american public do not understand that an SNP administration in Edinburgh would not coerce with the british Labour party to achieve any outcome let alone jobs in part for the Lockerbie atrocity. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were far closer to the Libyan regime of Gaddafi than to the Scottish Government. Joanne Lamont should stop these cheap moves to try and gain political advantage. If any person should be ashamed it should be her in view of her party’s close association with a really brutal dictator. Come clean Labour and tell us what you know about this whole scenario
Like or Dislike:
0 
0