About being soft on terrorists, we couldn't help notice...

Lockerbie Bomber Gets Hero's Welcome In Libya By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press...the cheering crowd at a Tripoli airport... considered canceling a royal visit to Libya as a sign of displeasure****By Prince ANDREW! Big f...ing deal**** unlikely to damage steadily warming relations between the West and Libya...Thousands of young men greeted al-Megrahi's plane at a Tripoli airport after he was released from a Scottish prison Thursday on compassionate grounds. Some threw flower petals as the 57-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent stepped from the jet (he was hugged by Gaddaffi's son at the airport and by Gaddaffi himself later.). British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the scenes as "deeply distressing," ...Gibbs said the White House had been in contact with Libyan authorities. "We've registered our outrage. We have discussed with the Libyans about what we think is appropriate....****One can only wonder what the WH thinks "appropriate" short of locking the guy up in Libyan prison.****...Announcing it Thursday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ...stressed that he had made the decision only on narrow legal grounds. Cancer specialists have given al-Megrahi less than three months to live,...****Either he or Kenny MacAskill damn well better die within three months.****Al-Megrahi also was released just in time to arrive home for the start of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.****Compassion or appeasement?****
...British officials also refuted claims the release was made to improve relations and bolster commercial ties...****They can hardly "refute" them although they denied them.****
Miliband said any suggestion that the release was spurred by commercial interests was "a slur both on myself and on the government."****A truthful slur, to be sure.**** While Britain does have oil interests in Libya — notably a $900 million exploration deal between BP PLC and Libya's National Oil Co. — they are small compared to investments by Italy's Eni SpA.****What does this have to do with anything? It just means the Brits can be bought off with a smaller bribe or threat.The fact has been reported that BPs and another Brit firm have been having troubles negotiating with Libyan authorities; it will be interesting to see if these troubles abate.****...The Libyan's lawyers have argued the attack was the result of an Iranian-financed Palestinian plot, and a 2007 Scottish judicial review of al-Megrahi's case found grounds for an appeal of his conviction.... They had hoped new details about the bombing would come out at a future trial...Al-Megrahi is free after serving just eight years....Over the next few years, Gadhafi renounced terrorism, dismantled Libya's secret nuclear program, accepted his government's responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid compensation to the victims' families. Western energy companies — including Britain's BP — then moved into Libya in an effort to tap the country's vast oil and gas wealth.