San Francisco (Obama.net)- “We can never say it enough. The United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a truly special relationship. We celebrate a common heritage. We cherish common values,” and “our alliance thrives because it advances our common interests.” Those were the words spoken by the President of the United States of America Barack Obama on Tuesday after his first meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The two men discussed numerous issues, including the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which Cameron and Obama were on the same page on throughout. Cameron said of the situation, “It is BP’s role to cap the leak, clean up the mess, and to pay appropriate compensation. I’m in regular touch with senior management at BP, and the president (Obama) is too, to make sure that happens.
The talk also covered the war in Afghanistan, the 2015 deadline to return British troops to their homes from Afghanistan, the economic situations of both states as well as the overall global economy, and Iranian sanctions by both the United Nations and the United States.
But another issue that the American President and the British Prime Minister discussed was the release from prison of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, who is also known as the Lockerbie bomber.
Al Megrahi was responsible for “the biggest mass murder in British history,” according to Cameron. Al Megrahi bombed Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, which led to the death of 270 innocent people.
Cameron claimed that the choice to release Al Megrahi was a poor decision by the Scottish, which involved absolutely no input by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was released from prison by Scottish authorities in August of 2009 due to his doctors saying he only had three months left to live due to terminal prostate cancer. One year later, al Megrahi is still alive and questions have risen over whether he was ever sick to begin with. Rumors are circulating that he was only released in order to please Libyan officials in order to protect oil agreements. Al Megrahi is currently living in his home country of Libya, reportedly very healthy.
Claims have been made that BP, the same company that is responsible for the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, played a big role in having al Megrahi released despite their adamant claims that their hands are clean of any wrong doing in this situation.
The Secretary of State of the United States of America Hilary Clinton, along with a group of Senators, has spoken up for the United Kingdom to reopen the case, even though al Megrahi is no longer in the area.
President Obama blasted the release of al Megrahi in the first place. Obama said that the final call to release the bomber just because of an illness and without much other investigation “ran contrary to how we should be treating terrorists.”
While there is no evidence of wrong doing on the part of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi in the time since his release, there is no question that the principle of the matter is of great importance as a terrorist was released from prison on what now looks to be false grounds.
With the combined efforts of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron, there is no question that another situation like the one surrounding Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi will ever occur as neither man will ever allow it.
After their first of what is expected to be many talks, there is no question that the two men are on the same page on most matters and will work together to keep terrorists in prison as well as rebuild the global economy and pay back the people of the Gulf region.
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