Lockerbie bomber should still be in British jail

Editor:

Most of us over 30 recall where we were when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the Scottish skies and crashed into the village of Lockerbie shortly before Christmas 1988. Before Sept. 11, it was the worst single attack involving a U.S. airliner.

The only man ever convicted of planting the bomb is Ali Megrahi. It took 13 years for the British government to bring him to justice, but only a few minutes to let him go.

Yes, this past August, a Scottish judge, with the blessings of British Prime Minister Brown, released Ali Megrahi because he had cancer. He went to live in Libya and received a hero's welcome. According to an AP News report in October, he is still alive and his condition has improved. There was no reason to release this man. He could have been treated at a local hospital in the United Kingdom. This was a slap in the face of the families of the 270 victims, many of them U.S. college students coming home for Christmas.

While I do not advocate a return to bullying other countries, I believe that the British should pay for this action. The best way to do it is to close all American military bases in Britain. This would hit the British right in the pocketbook and also bring home thousands of Americans needlessly stationed in a major world power that can protect itself.

Ali Meghari committed an atrocious act against America and the world when the plane fell from the skies and landed on the homes of Scottish villagers eating their dinner. He is not a hero and he does not deserve to be free.

David Shipp

Nevada