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Robert Gibbs Takes On Inaccurate Report That White House Backed Lockerbie Bomber Release

by Tommy Christopher | 8:53 pm, July 26th, 2010

» 43 comments

At today’s White House briefing, Robert Gibbs was asked about a letter that a US diplomat sent to the Scottish government regarding the release of convicted Pan-Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi on “compassionate grounds.” The letter was reported by some on the right as showing that the Obama administration supported al-Megrahi’s release – including by Fox News. As we’ve learned this past week, context matters. Gibbs responded to the lies that were spread by Dana Perino and others (h/t Media Matters).

Here’s Perino on Fox & Friends, asserting that “The White House supported the release of the terrorist into Scotland on compassionate grounds, they just didn’t want him to go to Libya” and that “it’s hard to say” if the White House believed that al-Megrahi’s three month prognosis was accurate. Remember that last one. (The video includes reports from FNC and MSNBC.)

Of course, it’s only “hard to say” if you didn’t read the letter, or the story that Perino references. What the letter actually said was that the US opposed releasing al-Megrahi at all, but if Scotland did insist on releasing him, the letter demanded that an independent medical exam be done, and that al-Megrahi remained in Scotland under house arrest, rather than being sent home to Libya to a hero’s welcome.

The Senate holds hearings this week to investigate the circumstances of al-Megrahi’s release, and possible connections to an oil deal between BP and Libya.

Here’s Gibbs’ response, followed by the full text of the letter to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, from US Chargé d’Affaires Richard LeBaron. (Yes, that’s a real thing. Robin Williams didn’t just make it up.)

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LONDON

August 12, 2009

RtHon Alex Salmond, MSP
First Minister for Scotland
The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1 SP

Dear First Minister:

I have enclosed a copy of a communication from my government that was passed to the Scottish Ministry of Justice on August 9. I am aware that competence for the decision on the matter discussed lies with the Scottish Minister of Justice, but given the gravity of this matter, I thought it important that you receive directly and be aware of the views of my government as your authorities approach a decision.

I am at your disposal to discuss this matter further.

Sincerely,

Richard LeBaron
Chargé d’Affaires

Enclosure: as stated

BEGIN TEXT OF ENCLOSURE:

– We greatly appreciate the Scottish Government’s continued willingness to solicit the views of the United States and the families of its victims with respect to a decision on Megrahi’s transfer. This issue is of great importance to the United States.

– We understand that Scottish law permits the Scottish Government to release individuals in Scottish custody on license if there are compassionate grounds justifying the release, and that as a matter of practice such release is not granted unless the prisoner has a life expectancy of less than three months. We also understand that the Scottish judiciary has the ability to grant bail, and in the case of Megrahi the judiciary has indicated that it is prepared to entertain a renewed bail application on compassionate grounds if Megrahi’s prognosis worsens and becomes more certain.

– The United States respects that decisions concerning compassionate release and bail are reserved to Scottish authorities and are to be made in accordance with Scottish law and policy.

– The United States is not prepared to support Megrahi’s release on compassionate release or bail. We understand that Scottish authorities are ensuring that Megrahi receives quality medical treatment, including palliative care, while incarcerated. The United States maintains its view that in light of the scope of Megrahi’s crime, its heinous nature, and its continued and devastating impact on the victims and their families, it would be most appropriate for Megrahi to remain imprisoned for the entirety of his sentence. This was the understanding and expectation at the time arrangements were made for his trial in Scottish Court in the Netherlands, were he or his confederate to be convicted and their appeals upheld.

– Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the U.S. position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose.

– If a decision were made by Scotland to grant conditional release, two conditions would be very important to the United States and would partially mitigate the concerns of the American victims’ families. First, any such release should only come after the results of independent and comprehensive medical exams clearly establishing that Megrahi’s life expectancy is less than three months. The results of these exams should be made available to the United States and the families of the victims of Pan Am 103. The justification of releasing Megrahi on compassionate grounds would be more severely undercut the longer he is free before his actual death.

– Second, the United States would strongly oppose any release that would permit Megrahi to travel outside of Scotland. We believe that the welcoming reception that Megrahi might receive if he is permitted to travel abroad would be extremely inappropriate given Megrahi’s conviction for a heinous crime that continues to have a deep and profound impact on so many. As such, compassionate release or bail should be conditioned on Megrahi remaining in Scotland.

– Again, while we are not able to endorse the early release of Megrahi under any scenario, we believe that granting compassionate release or bail under the conditions described (i.e. release with a life expectancy or less than three months and with Megrahi remaining in Scotland under supervision) would mitigate a number of the strong concerns that we have expressed with respect to Megrahi’s release.

– We appreciate the manner in which the Scottish Government has handled this difficult situation. We recognize that the prisoner transfer decision is one that the Scottish Government did not invite, but now must take. We hope that the Scottish Government would consider every available alternative before considering the granting of Megrahi’s prisoner transfer application.

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, Alex Salmond, Dana Perino, fox news, Pan-Am Flight 103, Richard LeBaron, Robert Gibbs

TfT

I love how all of a sudden context matters….let’s see if this trend continues when discussing republican/conservatives (somehow I doubt it).
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Dana Perino -the last good press secretary .
Some_Dude

“– The United States is not prepared to support Megrahi’s release on compassionate release or bail. ”

That’s the start of a bullet point within the letter. This letter is actually strongly worded, and certainly is not forgiving of the person it’s discussing at all.

But this is what happens when a pretend news organization broadcasts the words of politically interested entities (a former White House press secretary, no less, in this case) instead of the reports actual journalists. Then again, if they were an actual source for journalism, this would have been a non-story.
chucken

The HOTAIR rightwing blog which is tries to be accurate unlike the crazed wackjobs like freerepublic,Drudge,and worldnetdaily did the same thing Fox always does ask a loaded question to get the impression that Obama likes and defends terrorists.Maybe for once somebody on the right will say this kind of attack is completely unfair and unwarranted.But I would be stupid to think thats gonna happen.
michiganruth

I just heard Hannity basically say the same thing as Perino.

I’m a Fox-watcher, but I can’t support them on this one.

but I interpret the letter the same way Tommy does. (oh NO! I’m agreeing with Tommy?) sure didn’t sound like the US had reacted like Dana said. and I remember thinking at the time that there wasn’t much Obama could have done about it anyway. believe me…I don’t like Obama. but I find him pretty blameless on this one.

btw: you had to tell the mediaite audience that “charge d’affaires” is not a made-up job? eek.
shootfromthehip

Facts are like kryptonite to Fox “news” producers.

They are lazy and don’t care what is true or not.

They only look for any angle to slam Obama.
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Where is the story on Al Franken (the William Jennings Bryan of the 21st century ) and his keynote speech ?
Newsjunky

Republicans = LIARS.
Big_F-ing_Deal

TfT said:
I love how all of a sudden context matters…

Translation = “Why won’t anyone let us lie anymore?”
Iris

Since the fox burnt themselves with the Shirley Sherrod story they are finding out that they are now irrelevant, the yucker daily journo story went nowhere and this one never got off the ground..HA, HA
faux news = EPIC FAIL!
Big_F-ing_Deal

Apostrophe jones said:
Dana Perino -the last hot press secretary .

fixed
shootfromthehip

BFD FTW!

Nice comment, chief.
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Black-hearted Iris . The illiterate harpy from hell .
Iris

Asshat Jones, HA, HA , told ya so, GEEZER CHANNEL = EPIC FAIL!
murf

Reading the comments from the progs on Mediaite you’d think they were in a coma during the 8 years of the Bush Adminstration

The media slandered and tried to dig up dirt
religiously on them .. Cue the NEW YORK TIMES
the real john t

TfT said:
I love how all of a sudden context matters….

I see what you mean, it never did and still doesn’t with Fox.
the real john t

murf said:
The media slandered and tried to dig up dirt

They didn’t have to, Bush and Cheney were running the backhoes. They were suppling the dirt.
Munch

When asked if he favored a Congressional investigation into whether BP tried to influence the release of the bomber, Obama said, “Hummana hummana hummana
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Iris , daughter of Satan . Black – hearted shrew . Repent . Repent . Before it’s too late . Repent . … Oops . too late .

I
Iris

Asshat jones, you sugar tounged devil, I bet you say that to all the kids in the neighborhood
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Satan’s spawn Iris – Stay Away From the Children ! Reject the inbred evil in your black , black heart . Spawn of Alan Grayson and Zsa Zsa Huffington : Run from the darkness !
Iris

IF ONLY! I love Alan Grayson and Arianna.
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

Go home to your lair . Drink not from the chalice . Your soul will be lost for all time .
the real john t

Apostrophe jones said:
Go home to your lair .

OH, you forgot to use “black hearted” in your comment like you usually do, IDIOT.
Iris

Father Asshat , I bet you say THAT to all your altar boys. EEWWWW! creepy old guy alert!
http://apostrophejones.com Apostrophe jones

john t – human blackhead . …Feathers has no interest in this dermatology problem .
the real john t

Asspot jones, what cult do you belong to? Are you a wicam?
MediaWhore

Where’s king dipshit notsofast? He swallowed the Drudge/Fox bullshit whole and tried to convince everyone this was going to be a HUGE story.

Poor tard can’t read.
roxsteady

Do the wingnuts and teabaggers ever tire of being wrong? That was a rhetorical question!
http://SailRabbits.com Magister

Is Perino a regular contributor to Fox & Friends? Does she do a regular “Monday’s with Dana” segment or is she sort of like their Dr. Bob Arnot of political matters?

I only ask because I don’t understand why they would have specifically asked her about the issue. She admits to not realizing that it’s been a year, so I assume that she hasn’t been obsessed with the story and I don’t know that she has any diplomatic knowledge and she’s obviously not an expert on the subject.

At least the MSNBC panel was a discussion among equals and they basically said, “here’s what we know and here’s what we need”, but the F&F hosts all directed their comments in the form of pseudo-questions toward Ms. Perino implying that she knows more than them and has some kind of answer.
Iris

hey grampy nutso you cowardly lurker, HA, HA
the real john t

Iris said:
hey grampy nutso you cowardly lurker, HA, HA

He just showed up under one of his many sockpuppets. Look at the comment right below yours.
Averreauxii

What do you expect from the SLUDGE REPORT and the miscreants on Faux & Fiends?
shootfromthehip

When will the MSM learn you CANNOT trust Drudge report headlines?
sarainitaly

Dana Perino said she was surprised when it was reported that the US supported the release to Scotland. She wasn’t saying she read the letter, but going off the report by The Australian.

Mika also said they were trying to get the letter, and hadn’t read it yet. Mika also said that it appears the US supported the release to Scotland.

Funny no one bothers to comment on MSNBC for saying the same things FOX did.

How do you reconcile this comment by Obama: ‘I think all of us here were surprised, disappointed and angry about the release of the Lockerbie bomber.’ ?

He clearly was not surprised, as proved by the memo.

Do you honestly believe that memo isn’t any thing more than an CYA? If they absolutely categorically opposed the release the memo would have said, “We absolutely, categorically oppose his release. He is a murderer. Signed, USA”

That’s not what it said, it said. “We have to say we oppose the release so we cover our butts, but when you release him, we prefer you send him to Scotland, not Libya. His arrival in Libya, complete with a ticker tape parade, would look bad for us.”

Obama’s comments ring completely false:

“I think all of us here were surprised, disappointed and angry about the release of the Lockerbie bomber,’ he said.

‘We should have all the facts, they should be laid out there. I have confidence Prime Minister Cameron’s government will be co-operative.

‘The decision ran contrary to how we should be treating terrorists.”

That right there shows that they are lying liars.

The memo is now being used for exactly the reason it was created: “look, we opposed the release!”
Big_F-ing_Deal

sarainitaly said:
The memo is now being used for exactly the reason it was created: “look, we opposed the release!”

Yes, them opposing the release was a clever ruse to trick people into thinking they opposed the release.

Those wily bastards!!!
sarainitaly

The memo is the equivalent of telling your teen, “I don’t want you taking the car. But when you do, the keys are on the desk. The gas card is in my purse, and I left $50 in the ashtray.” And then when they dent the car you claim, “I told them not to take the car! I’m surprised, disappointed and angry they took the car!”

If you don’t want them to take the car you tell them they are absolutely forbidden to take the car.

And yes, BFD, they are incredibly wily.
Bootleghaircut

Well most sane people know this whole story was jusy another trumped up bit of propaganda
from the far right perpetual outrage machine and many right wing nuts were serial posting
this crap all weekend.

What this proves is that right wing smears are taken as truth by the myopic mopey conservatives.
Pablo

Big_F-ing_Deal said:
Apostrophe jones said:
Dana Perino -the last hot press secretary .

fixed

Oh, stop it. You know you’ve got a thing for Gibbsy.
Pablo

sarainitaly said:
Funny no one bothers to comment on MSNBC for saying the same things FOX did.

THAT NEVER HAPPENED AND IF YOU HAVE TAPE OF IT YOU HIGHLY EDITED IT!!!!

/
ChiliPeppersFan

more fine reporting from your right-wing smear machine…
i thought that idiot perino was going back to school…didn’t she think that the bay of pigs is what happens at her backyard bbq? haha
ChiliPeppersFan

oh…and let me quote keith olbermann…
that woman is an idiot
haha
The_Reasonable_Lib

Notsofast won’t show up any more after this, but I’ll bet you John Simpson and me1ranger will make appearances again.