Senators Menendez and Lautenberg of New Jersey took to the
microphone this week to
express disappointment that witnesses from the British
government and BP — including outgoing CEO Tony Hayword — were
unavailable to appear before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee
hearing convened last week. The purpose of the hearing was to
explore BP’s alleged role in the release last year by the
Scottish government of the only person convicted of the 1988
bombing of a Pan-Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270
people lost their lives.
The slights from these witnesses are highly troubling
because, technically, in calling for an investigation of BP’s
role in last year’s decision by the British government to allow
Scotland to release the convicted terrorist, the Senators
representing New Jersey and New York are doing the right
thing.
But a more troubling picture emerges when one considers
whether these Senators are applying their outrage to other
instances where foreign governments have released terrorists who
have targeted — and continue to target — Americans. Indeed,
when one looks at who is attacking Marines in Afghanistan and
elsewhere today, it is hard not to characterize these Senators’
efforts on Lockerbie as an example of doing the right thing for
the wrong reason.
Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, along with Senators
Schumer and Gillibrand of New York, had recently
asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to investigate the
U.K.’s release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi last year, and the role
that BP may have played in pushing the arrangement through.
Al-Megrahi – convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of a Pan-Am
flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, was released last year from
Scottish custody on “compassionate” grounds. Scottish authorities
at the time cited their impression that al-Megrahi, diagnosed
with terminal cancer, had only three months or so to live. A year
later, al-Megrahi is still alive in Libya — reports
indicate that one of the doctors who previously diagnosed him
as terminal now says he could live another decade.
These Senators are right to want to take a serious look at
the extent to which BP’s interest in securing oil deals in Libya
may have contributed to the outrageous decision to release
al-Megrahi. But if there is any doubt as to whether Menendez and
his colleagues are primarily motivated by seeking justice for
victims of terrorism — as opposed to, say, further sticking it
to a serious offender in one of the country’s most hated
industries at a time when millions of gallons of oil have been
spewed into the Gulf of Mexico — that doubt is validated when
looking at other situations where foreign governments have
released terrorists who have targeted Americans, and continue to
do so.
Take our friends, the Saudis. Tom Joscelyn
reports at the Long War Journal:
On Saturday, June 19 [2010], Saudi officials told
reporters that about 25 former Guantanamo detainees, or
approximately 20 percent of the 120 detainees who have been
repatriated to Saudi Arabia, have returned to terrorism since
being transferred. All of the recidivists had been enrolled in
a rehabilitation program established by the Saudi
government.
And as the Associated Press reported
with respect to Afghanistan in March, 2009:
Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, formerly Guantanamo prisoner No.
008, was among 13 Afghan prisoners released to the Afghan
government in December 2007. Rasoul is now known as Mullah
Abdullah Zakir, a nom de guerre that Pentagon and intelligence
officials say is used by a Taliban leader who is in charge of
operations against U.S. and Afghan forces in southern
Afghanistan.
J.D. Gordon, former Pentagon Spokesman for the Western
Hemisphere, stated in a recent interview:
At last count earlier this year, the U.S. intelligence
community estimated that roughly 20% of all detainees released
from Guantanamo, all of which have been transferred to foreign
governments, have been confirmed or are suspected of having
returned to terrorism. This includes Taliban leadership
fighting against U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, a suicide
bomber who struck in Iraq, and coincidentally a “terminally
ill” man who became one of Afghanistan’s most prolific IED
makers when he left Guantanamo on humanitarian grounds.
So where have Senators Schumer, Gillibrand, Lautenberg and
Menendez been while these foreign governments have released
terrorists who continue to target Americans? Where are their
calls for investigations and hearings into these
incidents?
The fact that there was no high-profile, deeply unpopular
oil company implicated in the release of these terrorists from
Gitmo may go a long way in explaining the silence. Perhaps the
Senators are also reluctant to point out the short-sightedness of
one of President Obama’s first acts in office: issuing the
Executive Order to close Gitmo.
Reports indicate that the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee will attempt to convene a hearing on Lockerbie again in
September. If these four Senators want to send a clear,
consistent signal between now and then about seeking justice and
closure for terrorism victims, they hopefully will take their
call for an al-Megrahi investigation as an opportunity to rise
above partisanship and get to the bottom of all
incidents in which foreign governments have released known
terrorists.
