The Conservative View: A Little Compassion

This week's Conservative View, by Adair County Commissioner Russell Turner.

The Conservative View
by Russell Turner

A Little Compassion

There is an old saying that time cures all pains; while some may believe that statement, I have some reservations. Anyone that engages in terrorism is very low on my scale on what it takes to be human being. When I watched the Twin Towers fall on that day in September not that long ago, I could not feel any compassion for the people or the nations that would condone such an act. Whenever you could watch on live TV your fellow Americans jumping to their deaths to avoid being roasted alive, why should anyone have any compassion for anyone involved in these kinds of acts? Earlier this week the government of Scotland released a terrorist from Libya that was responsible for the deaths of 270 people on December 21, 1988.

I realize that 1988 was a long time ago, but I am sure that the families that lost loved ones in the bombing of the Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland feel as if it happened only yesterday. The Libyan citizen that was convicted for this crime had been in prison since he was found guilty of the crime. The Scottish government cited compassionate grounds in their decision to let Abdel Baset al-Megrahi return to Libya because he has prostate cancer and was given only months to live by British doctors. In my opinion anyone that is guilty of such a barbaric act deserves very little compassion. I was also appalled by the welcome that the people of Libya gave this individual when he returned home. We need to remember that the families of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing will never be able to give their loved ones a homecoming.

I realize that the country of Scotland had jurisdiction on this case, but they need to decide if they are going to tolerate terrorism in the world. In the world we live in today, borders mean very little. Acts of terrorism can affect people from across the world; the bombing in 1988 killed 270 people, most of them Americans. Acts of terrorism are directed at civilians and the terrorists are not concerned about nationalities, they simply want a huge body count. In many countries individuals guilty of these crimes would not have lived for the past 21 years. The act of compassion that allowed him to live for 21 years was more than he deserved. His actions showed little compassion for his 270 victims in 1988.

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