Patterico's Pontifications

8/22/2009

Gordon Brown’s Friend, Libya’s Col. Gaddafi (Updated: Obama’s Tepid Response)

Filed under: International,Obama — DRJ @ 1:58 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

After Lockerbie bomber Mohmed Al Megrahi was welcomed home to Libya by cheering crowds, Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi thanked UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his help in securing al-Megrahi’s release:

“The growing sense of unease in Downing Street intensified today after Col Gaddafi praised ‘my friend’ Gordon Brown and the British Government for their part in securing Megrahi’s freedom.

‘To my friends in Scotland, the Scottish National Party, and Scottish prime minister, and the foreign secretary, I praise their courage for having proved their independence in decision making despite the unacceptable and unreasonable measures that they faced. Nevertheless they took this courageously right and humanitarian decision,’ he said.

‘And I say to my friend Brown, the Prime Minister of Britain, his Government, the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, and Prince Andrew, who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to take this historic and courageous decision, despite the obstacles.
***
Speaking on Libyan television, Colonel Gaddafi’s son said Mr Blair raised the Megrahi case repeatedly to smooth the way for British firms to tap into Libya’s energy reserves.

He told the Al Mutawassit channel: ‘In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table.'”

Inquiring minds want to know exactly what the British government did to secure al-Megrahi’s release.

UPDATE: David Frum says Obama’s mild response to al-Megrahi’s release is another example of his Administration’s weak attitude on terrorism:

“Perhaps the most astonishing thing about the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi has been the tepid reaction of President Obama and his administration. My new National Post column speculates on two reasons that might explain the president’s mildness: (1) some kind of secret deal with the Libyans; (2) that Obama has accepted the theory advanced by some intelligence experts that the attack was the work of Iran, not Libya.

Of course, there’s a more likely explanation for the lack of outcry: this administration’s lack of moral center on terrorism. Whether it is his gentle reproofs of Ahmadinejad or his readiness to shake hands with Hugo Chavez, Barack Obama just does not get all that excited about international bad actors. Not that the president never gets angry. He can get plenty angry over the arrest of Henry Louis Gates or Israeli settlements. Lockerbie: not so much.”

Frum’s article on the subject is here.

— DRJ

41 Responses to “Gordon Brown’s Friend, Libya’s Col. Gaddafi (Updated: Obama’s Tepid Response)”

  1. The Queen denies, fwiw.

    I’ve been spamming this thought all over the place– I wonder how free to ignore our calls for help Britain felt after we ignored them in our decision to send the Uighers to Bermuda. I’ll bet pretty free.

    MayBee (c0e046)

  2. Inquiring minds want to know exactly what the British government did to secure al-Megrahi’s release. Inquiring minds could start with questioning top officials of the Bush Administration who pushed for years to ‘normalize’ the climate for interaction with Libya based on economics, not ethics, or morality, or justice. Begin with former Vice President and former Halliburton CEO, Dick Cheney. Then follow the money path along the oil trail. After all, as Michael Corleone mused in ‘The Godfather’, “It’s not personal. It’s business.”

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  3. Comment by DCSCA — 8/22/2009 @ 2:24 pm

    Say it with me, troll:

    “Bush is not the President, you can stop running a campaign against him.”

    Seriously, Gen Honore was right.

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  4. The International Man of Parody forgets that the Bush administration negotiated an end to Libya’s nuclear program. A non-proliferation success that is literally unmatched in recent decades.

    But that is no surprise given the International Man of Parody’s utter ignorance of foreign policy and his willingness to distort or outright history in service to his obsessions.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  5. Per my posting on another thread-

    An influential energy task force headed by Vice President Cheney has broached the possibility of lifting some economic sanctions against Iran, Libya and Iraq as part of a plan to increase America’s oil supply. Washington Post 4/19/01

    Libyan dictator and suspected anti-U.S. terrorist Moammar Gadhafi engaged a foreign subsidiary of Halliburton company Brown & Root to perform millions of dollars worth of work. According to the Baltimore Sun, Brown & Root was fined $3.8 million for violating Libyan sanctions. (Although Cheney wasn’t leading Halliburton when these sales started, subsidiaries’ sales to Libya continued throughout his tenure.) MoveOn.org 7/11/02

    -Cheney’s 2000 income from Halliburton: $36,086,635
    -Increase in government contracts while Cheney led Halliburton: 91%
    -Minimum size of “accounting irregularity” that occurred while Cheney was CEO: $100,000,000 (One hundred MILLION dollars)
    -Number of the seven official US “State Sponsors of Terror” that Halliburton contracted with: 2 out of 7
    -Pages of Energy Plan documents Cheney refused to give congressional investigators: 13,500
    Amount energy companies gave the Bush/Cheney [2000] presidential campaign: $1,800,000- source, MoveOn.org 7/11/02

    The [Bush] Administration … moved to normalize relations with Libya – a move long pushed for by Halliburton. As CEO of Halliburton, Cheney lobbied to lift sanctions on Libya. In May of 1997, Oil and Gas Journal reported, “Cheney said oil and gas companies must explore where the reserves are, and that means doing business in countries that may have policies that the U.S. does not like.” Cheney said, “The long-term horizon of the oil industry is at odds with the short term nature of politics.” The next year, Cheney ratcheted up his campaign, once again criticizing the U.S. security policy on foreign soil. According the Malaysian News Agency reported, “Cheney hit out as his government for imposing economic sanctions like the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act.” He told the state news agency on a visit there that U.S. sanctions on Libya are “ineffective, did not provide the desire results and are a bad policy.” – source. CFAP

    No doubt the families of fallen aboard PanAm Fight 103, the citizens of Lockerbee who lost loved ones and the former stockholders of PanAm would love to hear from Gordon… and Dick.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  6. DCSCA : Very interesting. However, while Cheney was doing all these “dirty deeds” for Halliburton and taking the BIG paychecks, William Jefferson Clinton was president. Are you pointing out a possible link between Clinton, Gadhafi and Cheney?

    Longwalker (4e0dda)

  7. I did not read International Man of Parody’s comments, but I really wish it would STFU and check himself back into the asylum.

    JD (aef39c)

  8. See how the International Man of Parody continues to ignore the fact that the Bush administration got Libya to end its nuclear program?

    The dishonesty of IMP is intentional and coincident with its obsessive compulsive nuttiness.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  9. Gordon Brown has bought himself a boatload of grief. He now claims he told Gadaffi the homecoming should be a “private” affair, not some national celebration. The PM needs to release official records of conversations about the release.

    Brown has more than two million politically-engaged Muslims as constituents. Today, he wished them all a happy Ramadan.

    Parliament will likely take some half-hearted steps to assure irate trading partners that #10’s decision didn’t reflect the will of the British people.

    steve (0b26d0)

  10. These brits have assumed responsibility for the terrorist attack with this action.

    For starters, none of the actors should be able to set foot on US soil again. The families of the victims should sue the queen right into the poorhouse.

    j curts (baef6f)

  11. I thought Dggcrpp was put into permanent moderation – has something changed to alter this decision? Because it’s behavior surely hasn’t warranted this generosity, IMHO.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  12. If you were a nut job tin pot dictator like Gaddafi, wouldn’t you at least make yourself a General? Seriously, Colonel…that’s it?

    Gazzer (6d46a4)

  13. I thought Dggcrpp was put into permanent moderation – has something changed to alter this decision? Because it’s behavior surely hasn’t warranted this generosity, IMHO.
    Comment by Dmac — 8/22/2009 @ 4:15 pm

    Not permanent. He was temporarily placed in moderation by DRJ a couple of months ago, then given an amnesty after a few hours.

    Stashiu3 (ed6467)

  14. He’s just a loon, folks. Remember all the bizarre stories about his Famous Youth? Keep in mind that he lies like a Turkish rug about his own background, and then expects people to take him seriously about his endless talking points without consistency nor accuracy.

    What is the offspring of a troll and a loon? I would normally suggest watching “Monsterquest,” but we have the answer in these threads.

    Eric Blair (0b61b2)

  15. What is the offspring of a troll and a loon?

    A “loll”, which is awesomely fitting…

    Scott Jacobs (d027b8)

  16. Britain apparently talked to the Obama Administration about this prisoner release back in February. Given the Messiah’s benevolent attitude toward the jihadists and attempts to mend fences in the Arab world at Israel’s expense, predictably, no uproar ensued. Now, only lame ass objections are uttered. Pathetic.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  17. daleyrocks, hey, don’t forget that Eric Holder arranged the Marc Rich pardon.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  18. I can’t figure if …

    1) Brits are doing exactly as Obama wishes.

    2) Brits are saying FU to Obama for his disrespecting the UK since coming to office

    HeavenSent (01a566)

  19. SPQR – And the FALN pardons even though they weren’t asking for them. Hillary needed the votes.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  20. Great, more comment spam.

    [thanks, missed it earlier]

    SPQR (26be8b)

  21. DCSCA:

    I’ve been keeping a close eye on Chimpy McHitlerburton for you. He’s just a few miles down the road in Dallas.

    So far, all he’s done is walk that damned devil dog Barney with his hell-bitch wife, Laura.

    Some of the neighbors were upset about the sight-seeing traffic, so he put up a super-strong, fortress-of-evil, wrought-iron fence to keep the paragons of virtue from spying on his nefarious plans. And the scheming spawn of Lucifer paid for it himself with the blood dollars he earned waging war on the sainted Saddam and his angels of mercy.

    Dick “Beezlebub” Cheney hasn’t show his tortured soul, but I’m keeping an eye out for the black helicopters he’s hired from the former Blackwater soul-stealing front for the Zionist conspiracy. But, I do hear they are on the outs.

    He did displace some SMU co-eds from their apartments so that he could build his sacrificial altar to Satan and Hitler, better known as the George W. Bush Presidential Library. But I, as well as some righteous Methodist clergy and lay people, know it’s a shelter for unspeakable acts against the right-thinking saviors of global peace, harmony and cooling.

    So far, we, as faithful watchdogs for the Obama-Reid-Pelosi triumvirate of all that is good and sane, have been able to prevent his strategy of installing a Christo-fascist regime to subjugate the anti-violence, reproductive rights champions of the poor and disenfranchised.

    We remain ever-vigilant, though, and nothing will deter us from our mission to establish a just, collective, workers’ paradise dedicated to the memory of Stal — uh, I mean the President.

    Please keep reading Patterico for further updates.

    Everyone else:

    For those keeping score at home, there’s a special hell reserved for people such as Brown and his terrorist-forgiving ilk.

    Ag80 (248b73)

  22. “Not that the president never gets angry.”

    DRJ – He also gets angry over people exposing his lies about health care reform and making fun of his ears. Today he said he was offended by people telling the truth about his health care agenda.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  23. Leez Jouise, DSCSA, stop transforming Occam’s Razor into a Rube Goldberg contraption just to absolve anyone with a “D” from blame.

    L.N. Smithee (00c1ad)

  24. Muamar is just playing with them now, like a cat with a captured bug.

    Patricia (29a01d)

  25. Not that the president never gets angry. He can get plenty angry over the arrest of Henry Louis Gates or Israeli settlements.

    Again, it’s that ass-backwards liberal instinct, in which the good guy becomes the bad, the bad guy becomes the good (or not quite as bad), and reality (along with morality and ethics) is one big gray area. All so very twisted and distorted because in the mind of the holder of that belief system, his correctness is firmly embedded in lovely, beautiful, magnificent compassion and do-gooderism.

    Mark (411533)

  26. Comment by Ag80 — 8/22/2009 @ 6:54 pm

    LOL.

    Dana (0f0b2e)

  27. #6- A White House Fact Sheet (08/06/96) says the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 imposes new sanctions on foreign companies that engage in specified economic transactions with Iran or Libya.

    Purpose: The Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 imposes new
    sanctions on foreign companies that engage in specified economic
    transactions with Iran or Libya. It is intended to:

    — Help deny Iran and Libya revenues that could be used to finance
    international terrorism;

    — Limit the flow of resources necessary to obtain weapons of mass
    destruction; and,

    — Put pressure on Libya to comply with U.N. resolutions that, among
    other things, call for Libya to extradite for trial the accused
    perpetrators of the Pan Am 103 bombing.

    The Sanctions: The bill sanctions foreign companies that provide new
    investments over $40 million for the development of petroleum
    resources in Iran or Libya. The bill also sanctions foreign companies
    that violate existing U.N. prohibitions against trade with Libya in
    certain goods and services such as arms, certain oil equipment, and
    civil aviation services. If a violation occurs, President Clinton is
    to impose two out of seven possible sanctions against the violating
    company. These sanctions include:

    — denial of Export-Import Bank assistance;

    — denial of export licenses for exports to the violating company;

    — prohibition on loans or credits from U.S. financial institutions of
    over $10 million in any 12-month period;

    — prohibition on designation as a primary dealer for U.S. government
    debt instruments;

    — prohibition on serving as an agent of the United States or as a
    repository for U.S. government funds;

    — denial of U.S. government procurement opportunities (consistent
    with WTO obligations); and

    — a ban on all or some imports of the violating company.

    This Bill is Another Step in U.S. Efforts to Enforce Compliance:

    — prohibition on serving as an agent of the United States or as a
    repository for U.S. government funds;

    — denial of U.S. government procurement opportunities (consistent
    with WTO obligations); and

    — a ban on all or some imports of the violating company.

    This Bill is Another Step in U.S. Efforts to Enforce Compliance from
    Iran and Libya:

    — In 1984, Iran was placed on the list of states that support
    international terrorism, triggering statutory sanctions that prohibit
    weapons sales, oppose all loans to Iran from international financial
    institutions, and prohibit all assistance to Iran.

    — In 1987, the U.S. further prohibited the importation of any goods
    or services from Iran and U.S. naval and air forces struck Iranian
    naval units on several occasions in response to Iranian efforts to
    disrupt the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf with naval mines and
    missile attacks.

    — In 1995, President Clinton imposed comprehensive sanctions on Iran,
    prohibiting all commercial and financial transactions with Iran.

    — In January 1986, the United States imposed comprehensive sanctions
    against Libya that froze Libyan assets, and banned all trade and
    financial dealings with Libya. Two months later, U.S. Air Force and
    Navy jets bombed Libyan targets in retaliation for Libyan terrorist
    attacks on Americans in Europe.

    — In March 1992, the U.S. supported the imposition of sanction
    against Libya which prohibited the export of petroleum, military or
    aviation equipment to Libya; prohibited commercial flights to or from
    Libya; limited Libyan diplomatic representation abroad; and restricted
    Libyan financial activities.

    — In addition, the United States has worked with our allies to
    further isolate Libya both internationally and within the Middle East
    and to develop new methods to pressure Qadhafi to comply with the U.N. Security Council Resolutions directed at Libya.

    The Iran and Libya Sanctions Act was passed in 1996 during the Clinton Administration.

    Dick Cheney opposed it.

    “After he became chief executive of Halliburton, Mr. Cheney joined members of the United States Chamber of Commerce and pro-trade groups under the rubric of USA-Engage. The lobby led a failing effort to block the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, which bars American investment in those oil-rich countries. Halliburton is also a member of the board of the National Foreign Trade Council, a lobbying group that recently won a victory in the Supreme Court, which struck down a Massachusetts state law imposing state-level sanctions on companies doing business in Myanmar, formerly Burma.

    Mr. Cheney’s company has already done business in countries still facing American sanctions, including Libya and Iraq, the enemy Mr. Cheney helped vanquish in the gulf war.” NYT 7/27/00

    “Before Cheney’s arrival, Halliburton was deeply involved in Libya, earning $44.7 million there in 1993. After sanctions on Libya were imposed, earnings dropped to $12.4 million in 1994. Halliburton continued doing business in Libya throughout Cheney’s tenure. One Member of Congress accused the company ‘of undermining American foreign policy to the full extent allowed by law.'” Scoop, 4/16/03

    Seems ‘Gordon Brown’s Friend, Libya’s Col. Gaddafi’ had another champion in high places to lay the ground work for some lucrative commerce with libya– Dick Cheney. But then, business is business. Little comfort, no doubt, to the families of the loved one who were blown out of the sky aboard PanAm 103, the families of those lost in Lockerbee, and those associated with now defunct PanAm.

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  28. DCSCA – Pan Am 103 was bombed in 1988. Cheney became CEO of Halliburton in 1995. As a private citizen are you saying he retroactively arranged for the bombing of the plane? That’s nuts! Are you saying he pursued profits for his company? The horror!

    Do you actually have a point? Could you make it please?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  29. Get help, DSCSA.

    JD (68664a)

  30. #24- Muamar is just playing with them now, like a cat with a captured bug.

    This cheshire cat will soon be addressing the world from the catbird seat. See if he grins should he be permitted to prowl around Ground Zero.

    “Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi will visit the UN in New York next month, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power.- source, UN”

    DCSCA (9d1bb3)

  31. C’mon, JD. This is just more PWI. Don’t you think?

    Eric Blair (a88004)

  32. “This cheshire cat will soon be addressing the world from the catbird seat. See if he grins should he be permitted to prowl around Ground Zero.”

    DCSCA – Obama’s mentor Rev. Wright already made a pilgimage to Libya to meet Gaddafi. Why wouldn’t Barack welcome him to the U.S. with open arms? Peas in a pod, BAYBEE!

    daleyrocks (718861)

  33. DCSCA:

    You’ve succeeded in breaking the code. Please join with us in the Illuminati and Trilateral Commission.

    Your wisdom in all things will help us bring the world into a new order of compliance or something or the other.

    Ag80 (248b73)

  34. Britain apparently talked to the Obama Administration about this prisoner release back in February.

    Say what?

    Anxious to learn details.

    steve (0b26d0)

  35. Speaking on Libyan television, Colonel Gaddafi’s son said Mr Blair raised the Megrahi case repeatedly to smooth the way for British firms to tap into Libya’s energy reserves.

    He told the Al Mutawassit channel: ‘In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table.’”

    DCSCA: Find a quote from Gaddafi/Gadhafi/Khadafy/Khaddaffi/Whatever fils about how Cheney helped free al-Megrahi, and you’ll have a point besides the one atop your pin head.

    L.N. Smithee (00c1ad)

  36. you think they might have um, for want of a better word, “doctored” up a terminal illness to facilitate the miscreant’s humanitarian release?

    Has a third party actually put an eyeball on Megrahi’s supposedly ailing keyster?

    Would my conspiracy theory make the government doctor, (which I hear is all of them in the UK) who signed off on Magrahi’s prostate, an ass bandit?

    papertiger (14ed7d)

  37. The Brits will deserve the next attack on their homeland, and Frum still trying to be relevant. Nothing changes.

    Peg C. (48175e)

  38. The sad irony (clearly lost on Brits) is that Kaddafi was the IRA. Kaddafi financed, supported, trained and armed the IRA for decades.

    Up to 6,000 innocents were killed or injured with Libyan supplied guns and explosives. And many IRA bombs employed the same Libyan Semtex that destroyed Clipper Maid of the Seas.

    IRA victims still seek to hold Kaddafi accountable for those countless bloody atrocities.
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/29/northernireland-libya

    Kaddafi’s IRA proxies might still be in business, if not for the heroic efforts of Lockerbie victims’ families to sanction and isolate Libya.

    /and no good deed goes unpunished

    Kaddafi delenda est (b0ead9)

  39. Down the memory hole: Lockerbie bomber received exquisite care inside “The Kaddafi cafe.”
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1147904.stm

    Kaddafi even bought Megrahi’s wife and children a large estate in Glasgow.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2487091.stm

    /“compassionate release” is a rancid lie

    The Kaddafi Cafe' (b0ead9)

  40. The International Man of Parody still hasn’t acknowledged that the Bush administration obtained the cessation of Libya’s nuclear program.

    That’s pretty clear confirmation of the mendacity of his comments.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  41. Gordon met with the welcome home President prior to releasing the terrorist. There is a lot of money.
    Can you find it, if Gordon did get bribed to release the terrorist.
    What other logical explaination is there?

    op no more (d52ea7)


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