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Feb. 8, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Lofty ideals must be followed with grounded applications

Clifford D. May: Letter from the West Bank
Steve Rothaus: Judge OKs plan for gay man, lesbian couple to be on girl's birth certificate
Gloria Goodale: States consider drone bans: Overreaction or crucial for privacy rights?
Environmental Nutrition Editors: Don't buy the aloe vera juice hype
Michael Craig Miller, M.D.: Harvard Experts: Regular exercise pumps up memory, too
Erik Lacitis: Vanity plates: Some take too much license
The Kosher Gourmet by Susie Middleton: Broccoflower, Carrot and Leek Ragout with Thyme, Orange and Tapenade is a delightful and satisfying melange of veggies, herbs and aromatics
Feb. 6, 2013

Nara Schoenberg: The other in-law problem

Frank J. Gaffney Jr. : A see-no-jihadist for the CIA
Kristen Chick: Ahmadinejad visits Cairo: How sect tempers Islamist ties between Egypt, Iran
Roger Simon: Ed Koch's lucky corner
Heron Marquez Estrada: Robot-building sports on a roll
Patrick G. Dean, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: How to restore body's ability to secrete insulin
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: 3 prostate-protecting diet tips
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen 7 principles for to help you make the best soup ever in a slow cooker
Feb. 4, 2013

Jonathan Tobin: Can Jewish Groups Speak Out on Hagel?

David Wren: Findings of government study, released 3 days before Newtown shooting, at odds with gun-control crusaders
Kristen Chick: Tahrir becomes terrifying, tainted
Curtis Tate and Greg Gordon: US keeps building new highways while letting old ones crumble
David G. Savage: Supreme Court to hear case on arrests, DNA
Harvard Health Letters: Neck and shoulder pain? Know what it means and what to do
Andrea N. Giancoli, M.P.H., R.D.: Eat your way to preventing age-related muscle loss
The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington Baked Pears in Red Wine and Port Wine Glaze: A festive winter dessert
Feb. 1, 2013

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb: Redemption

Clifford D. May Home, bloody, home
Christa Case Bryant andNicholas Blanford Why despite Syria's allies warning of retaliation for Israeli airstrikes, the threats are likely hollow
Rick Armon, Ed Meyer and Phil Trexler Ex-police captain cleared by DNA test is freed after nearly 15 years
Harvard Health Letters: Could it by your thyroid?
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: When 'healthy food' isn't
Sue Zeidler: Coke ad racist? Arab-American groups want to yank Super Bowl ad (INCLUDES VIDEO)
The Kosher Gourmet by Nealey Dozier The secret of this soup is the garnish
January 30, 2013

Allan Chernoff: Celebrating 'Back from the Dead Day'

America isn't a religious country? Don't tell Superbowl fans!
Mark Clayton Cybercrime takedown!
Germany remembers Hitler rise to power
Israel salutes U. N. --- with the one finger salute
Sharon Palmer, R.D.: Get cookin' with heart-healthy fats
Ballot riles Guinness World Records
The Kosher Gourmet by Elizabeth Passarella Potato, Squash and Goat Cheese Gratin
January 28, 2013

Nancy Youssef: And Democracy for all? Two years on, Egypt remains in state of chaos

Fred Weir: Putin: West is fomenting jihadi 'blowback'
Meredith Cohn: Implantable pain disk may help those with cancer
Michael Craig Miller, M.D. : Ask the Harvard Experts: Are there drugs to help control binge eating?
David Ovalle Use of controversial 'brain mapping' technology stymied
Jane Stancill: Professor's logic class has 180,000 friends
David Clark Scott Lego Racism?
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali The celebrated chef introduces us to PANZEROTTI PUGLIESI, cheese-stuffed pastry from Italy's south


Jewish World Review Nov 1, 2011 / 4 Mar-Cheshvan, 5772

Remember Lockerbie

By Paul Greenberg


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Moammar Gadhafi is dead. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi isn't. Despite his being convicted of planting the bomb that brought down Pan Am Flight 103 on the night of December 21, 1988, killing all 259 people aboard and 11 others on the ground when it crashed in the vicinity of Lockerbie, Scotland, scattering debris and bodies in its wake.

Mr. Megrahi was duly tried and convicted of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Anybody who thinks that was the end of the story doesn't understand power politics. For after his appeals were denied, the aforesaid Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released anyway -- in care of Moammar Gadhafi's regime, in whose intelligence service he had long served. He was freed on "compassionate" grounds.

The only clear compassion the British government showed at the time was for BP, formerly known as British Petroleum before it decided to be identified only by its initials. Initials that would become infamous, as in the BP Oil Spill.

It seems BP and the Libyan government had a big oil deal going a couple of years ago, and Mr. Megrahi's presence was urgently requested in Tripoli. He was released without further ceremony and whisked home by chartered jet.

Connections count. As for the survivors of those killed in the crash of Pan Am 103, their opinions didn't.

That's where things stood when History, aka the Arab Spring, caught up with the old established firm of M. Gadhafi and Sons. At that point, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi prudently disappeared from view for a while, but surfaced the other day. Long enough to be found by a reporter from the London Telegraph, whose attentions clearly were not welcomed by Mr. Megrahi.

The account in the Telegraph described the veteran intelligence agent as looking "frail and unshaven, with his breathing laboured." Maybe he's a sick man, or maybe it's just his conscience acting up. One condition doesn't rule out the other.

Mr. Megrahi told the Telegraph his role in the bombing had been "exaggerated," and in any case he had only "a few more days, weeks or months" to live. Which is what the world was told when he was released for officially compassionate reasons in August of 2009, two years ago. He claims he'll be exonerated one day, "hopefully in the near future," and wants to be left alone. Which may be the only thing he made clear.

The accused -- and convicted -- describes himself as just an innocent agent of Libyan intelligence, which is the first time I've ever heard that job description.

But in that case, surely he'll want to waive any objections to extradition and present himself to the nearest American consulate for the next flight to the States and an American court of law. His right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury would surely be be fully respected. The speedier the better. But somehow I doubt he'll jump at the chance.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Mr. Megrahi's interview with the Telegraph was his saying he worked for Col. Gadhafi's security agency, all right, but never hurt anybody. Of course. When visiting Europe years ago, all the Germans I met had opposed Hitler and, if they'd fought in the late unpleasantness of 1939-45, it was always on the Eastern front. It's a wonder our boys met any opposition at all in Normandy.

As for Mr. Megrahi, let justice be done in his case while there's still time. There's not much left, he claims, but the Angel of Death has been known to dawdle. We shouldn't.

The man ultimately responsible for what happened over Lockerbie that cold December night finally met his end on a road west of Sirte, Libya, the other day. But there's some unfinished business left. By the name of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

Paul Greenberg Archives

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