Charlie Stross wrote:
>
> On Tue, Apr 18, 2000 at 12:12:40PM -0400, Michael S. Lorrey wrote:
> > > That Omar -- such a naughty boy! Omar Quadaffi? Oh well, whoever he
> > > is, he probably has a good block kicking coming, right? Or else why
> > > would the U.S. be kicking his blocks? Must be his fault.
> >
> > Anyone who orders the bombing of a plane carrying hundreds of innocent people
> > deserves to get his own house targeted by laser guided bombs...
>
> Question: did he?
>
> I don't believe we have enough evidence to draw that conclusion.
>
> We can be reasonably certain that the Libyan government made lots of loud
> declarations in the early seventies about hosting liberation movements,
> some of them of an extremely dodgy nature (and some of them rather
> less so). And we _know_ that members of some of those organisations
> did atrocious things.
>
> We are a little less certain that the Libyan government's own agencies
> planted bombs/committed acts of terrorism abroad. Note also that a number
> of US proxy states -- notably Israel and the UK -- have gone in for
> this sort of action, too, up to and including assassination of foreign
> nationals on foreign territory.
>
> But confirmation that Ghadaffi personally ordered foreign planes to be
> blown up in flight would be something of a bombshell. It's a bit like
> blaming Ronald Reagan, personally, for the shooting down of that Iranian
> Airlines DC-10 with nearly 300 passengers on board round about 1986.
>
> And, if you're thinking about Lockerbie, it's worth bearing the alternative
> theories in mind. (You know exactly who was _supposed_ to be on board
> Pan Am 109, but cancelled his party's reservation an hour before takeoff
> and caught the next flight?)
>
> Clue: here in Scotland, 90% of the informed opinion is that the Lockerbie
> trial will deliver one of two verdicts -- "not guilty" or "not proven".
>
I haddn't heard who was supposed to be on the flight, but I had heard
that the defense had a supposed witness that claims a big US drug
operation at the airport in question, who is most likely an IRA stalking
horse (considering how much the IRA owes Gadaffi, I don't doubt it). I
can't imagine that actual taped conversations of Gadaffi congradulating
the team would not make it an open and shut case.
Mike Lorrey
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