Will Our Anglo-American Ties Be Broken

A friend gave me a report outlining the recent release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the convicted terrorist. He is the Libyan responsible for the bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 270 passengers, many of whom were college students returning to the United States for Christmas.

His release points up two things that apparently have changed with the inauguration of our new president. Al-Megrahi was released without the approval of the U. S. government and without regard of the possible diplomatic fallout with the United States.

It’s clear from the furor created by al-Megrahi’s release, his flight home to a hero’s welcome, and his personal welcome by Gadhafi, complete with his warm embrace, that this was beyond that expected by the Brits and outrage is being seen both there and in the U.S.

It is also clear that Britain has chosen to cozy up to Libya at the expense of its relations with the United States. While Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, continues to stress that the decision to release the terrorist was Scotland’s alone, there were numerous letters exchanged between Britain and Scotland, stressing the importance of the growing relationship between Britain and Libya. Britain imported 1.6 Billion (that a B) pounds in Oil and other goods last year. As relationships grow, the imports are also expected to grow.

At what point did the normally warm relationship between the leader of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain fall apart? Did the erosion start with the shabby treatment Gordon Brown received when he came to Washington to offer his personal congratulations and those of his people to Obama. Or, could it have been when Mr. Brown was given, as an important, ceremonial gift, 25 of the best movies made in the U.S. on DVD, in a format that could not be played in Britain. Of course Mr. Brown went home with more than the discs. He was given the bust of Winston Churchill that had been displayed in the Oval Office for many years after being told that there was no longer any space there for that item!

Somehow I don’t think that anything described above would have happened if Tony Blair and George W. Bush had remained in office.