When Abdel Baset al-Megrahi landed in Tripoli following his release from Scotland last week, the world saw a single event in two very different ways. Through the prism of the Western media, Americans saw a terrorist being given a hero's welcome by a country eager to celebrate mass murder. Libyans saw a dying man—believed to be innocent by his countrymen and many others world-wide—being embraced by his family.These words are penned by Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to Washington.
He explains,
Most of those on the tarmac were members of Mr. Megrahi's extended family and tribe who have followed his plight and know he has very little time to live. The Scottish flags they flew alongside Libyan flags were not an endorsement of the terrible deeds of which he was accused. They were a powerful sign of solidarity between two very different nations that nonetheless share the value of compassion.Interesting column. Read the full article, Why Libya Welcomed Megrahi, from the Wall Street Journal. Then, you make up your mind.
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2 comments:
The trouble with the West is that we tend to see the world as an entity that is there to serve our needs and ours alone.
For example, consider the statement that "Through the prism of the Western media, Americans saw a terrorist being given a hero's welcome by a country eager to celebrate mass murder"
How easily one could turn this around and say that the Iran, or Cuba, saw a terrorist being given a hero's welcome by a country eager to celebrate mass murder?
Most Westerners have already forgotten that shortly before the Lockerbie attack, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 on board while it was in Iranian air space.
The captain of the Vincennes was later awarded with a Medal from Ronald Reagan.
What about the sanctuary the US have given to Jose Posada Carriles? In the end, we reserve the label of terrorist to those we don't like.
Western hypocrisy is nauseating.
You might also consider the point that William Calley, a man who led American troops on a rampage through My Lai, got only a minimal sentence. His troops' actions included rape, and can in no way be justified by the circumstance of war.
This seems to be the logic: if it's one of us, he's a hero. If one of them, a villain.
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