When have you shown compassion?
The Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, has been released by the Scottish Justice Secretary on compassionate grounds, and returned to Libya - despite Megrahi himself showing no compassion for his victims.
We want to know when you've shown compassion. Have you felt sorry for someone who's wronged you? A loved one, a criminal? Was it easy? Are we right to show compassion to those who display none themselves?
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During the phone in, Chris in Bristol urged everyone to listen again to the interview given by Gordon Wilson to the BBC shortly after his daughter, Marie, died in the Enniskillen bombing of November 1987, which killed 11 people.
Mr Wilson spoke movingly of the death of his daughter, and his feelings towards those who perpetrated it. Here is that interview:
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Comments
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i dont think this chap abdelbaset al-megrahi should be showing any sort of compassion or saying sorry to anybody if he is a innocent man and a injustice was done against him even the families of the victims have said they think the man did not do it looking at the evidence
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There no room for compassion with terrorists, where was al-Megrahi's and his associates compassion? you cannot mix politics with compassion, if al-Megrahi is innocent it should be tested in court.
Scotland has undermined the UK judicial system, the UK has now lost the respect of the free world.
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The US authorities may well appear incensed with the Scottish Justice authority for releasing Al_Megrahi but in fact it was just doing the US government'a dirty work!
His release had nothing to do with compassion but more to do with the fact that he was innocent. Remember there was no jury at his trial. His medical condition has been used as a facade to prevent hearing proper evidence at a renewed appeal which would clearly confirm his innocence.
Why other other terminally ill terrorists whose guilt was never contested ever been released on compassionate grounds?
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I am sure that the 200 + innocent people killed in the air and on the ground would like to have gone home to their families, something the wet contribitors (the usual ones here on the site)seem to ignore. If he is innocent then it should be proved in court. Terrorists have never shown compassion, particularly when they kill those that can't fight back.
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We and the rest of the Western world have been made to look complete fools over this
When will we learn that we have a different mentality to Arab and Muslim countries and a different attitude to the value of life.
both President Obama our Prime Minister asked that this convicted murderer (and that is how he was released even though people are trying to muddy the water by proclaiming his innocence even though his clothes were found in proximity to the bomb) should not be given a hero's welcome. And look how much notice they took of that!!!
Libya is laughing all the way to the TV screens!!!!
And we are asked to trust them, the Palestinians, Hamas , Hizbollah and Fatah and expect israel to commit suicide by dealing with them. If this doesn't show people how much trust we can put in them nothing will.
As for compassion, terrorists can;t even spell it let alone show it as the families of the Lockerbie victims, who must be feeling so let down, know all too well
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Liontwins and joyrol! Do you honestly think the authorities would release a terrorist whose actions had murdered so many people simply because he was terminally ill!
On the contrary it was because they didn't want an appeal where the new evidence would probably prove his innocence.
It's not a question of muddying the water! The only way to respect the relatives of those who lost their lives due to terrorism as indeed the relatives of our forces whov'e been killed in this alleged war against terrorism is to deal with the causes of terrorism which are political!
This won't be achieved by invading and occupying sovereign states which can't fight back as indeed locking innocent people up just to make it look good!
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George Edmonds:
I have shown compassion several times in my life....Name will be withheld....
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To answer the remarks in the beginning of this posting; He never shown any compassion towards the PanAm 103 Victims that were killed in 1989!!!!
=Dennis Junior=
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Nick - naive I'm afraid. and taken in by wet liberal media. Do you really think that all the terrorist activity over the last few years is as a result of our actions alone? You saw what they did to those caring people who went over to Iraq and tried to help the'oppressed' - cut their heads off. You have to understand that we are dealing with people who want us all dead. These people don't represent their religion as a whole they are just terrorists.
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Scotland has undermined the UK judicial system, the UK has now lost the respect of the free world.
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No, the original 'trial' undermined the UK judicial system, with unreliable witnesses, aggressive US influence, the police withholding evidence, and more.
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Liontwins - I being a 'naive' reader and listener of the 'wet liberal media' combined with the dominant right wing media which unfortunately the BBC currently belongs to I am quite confident that terrorism is a result of the foreign policy of neoliberal governments foreign policy over the last thirty odd years.
Yes there are examples of the most barbaric murders by minority groups which you describe. However conventonal military forces attacking and occupying countries like Iraq and Afghanistan knowing full well that they can't fight back is a far superior example of state terrorism.
I'll put it in another way! Do you honestly think that governments like ours, who attack and occupy other countries with the alleged intention of defeating terrorism are seriously going to release a convicted mass murderer in the eyes of their general public and right wing media simply because he's terminally ill! What about the others?
Al-Megrahi was obviously released to conceal his probable innocence at any subsequent appeal tempered of course with trade deals!
Also on a general point to claim that this decision by the Scottish justice system is somehow the result of a deranged aspect of Scottish culture is pure patronising nonsense with many xenophobic overtones! This is an example of how a separate Scottish state in its infancy is being manipulated by the likes of the UK and US governments to do their own dirty work in public!
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