Megrahi's Release: Another Shoe Drops

A story in the Independent on Sunday suggests that while the Obama administration was opposed to the release of the convicted mass murderer, it made clear that it was open to compromise - such as house arrest in Scotland - rather than implacably opposed, period.

US officials had "very reluctantly" backed a proposal to move Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi from Greenock Prison into some kind of high-security accommodation elsewhere in Scotland, senior government sources on both sides of the Atlantic confirmed.

Meanwhile, the U.K. government's story that the release was a solo adventure of crazed lefties in Edinburgh continues to unravel. The Times reports leaked ministerial letters showing that U.K. Justice Secretary Jack Straw wrote to his Scottish counterpart two years ago to urge Megrahi's release on national interest grounds, i.e. to accelerate an oil deal with Libya.

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and B.P. over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests.

Most of the disgrace in this matter should fall on Britain. Still, the yielding attitude of the Obama administration seems to have contributed to persuading the U.K. and Scottish governments that they had wiggle room to proceed as they wished, without too many consequences to themselves. If so, they look to have been absolutely right about that. London and Edinburgh have sent home a man guilty of the murder of 180 Americans, with so far as anybody can tell, zero negative consequences to U.S.-U.K. relations and only a few faint murmurs of "mistake" from the president and "disappointment" from the Secretary of State.

I think it's time to stop complaining that the president no longer uses the phrase "war on terror." Truly: the war is over as far as the U.S. and U.K. governments are concerned. Why pretend otherwise?