Monday 29 August 2011

'Let Megrahi die in peace' says Lockerbie victim's father

[This is the headline over a report published this afternoon on the website of The Independent. It reads in part:]

The father of one of the victims of the Lockerbie bombing today called for the man convicted of the atrocity to be left in peace to die.

Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora, 23, said that he would treat Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi himself, if he could, to allow him a dignified death. (...)

Today American news channel CNN aired images of the convicted bomber, apparently comatose and near death, in his villa in the Libyan capital. (...)

Speaking about the CNN footage, Dr Swire, who has always maintained Megrahi's innocence, said: "It is obvious he is sufficiently ill and in need of pain relief and medical care. His medical treatment has been withdrawn due to the circumstances in Tripoli, and his family are saying his drugs have been stolen.

"I feel in view of all he's been through that he should have been accorded a peaceful end in Tripoli with his family. The idea of extraditing him is a monstrous one.

"I would be happy to go and try to look after him if that could be arranged, but I don't know how that could be. He will need pain relief and medication to allow him a dignified end.

"This is a man who withdrew his appeal so that he could be allowed to die close to his family and he deserves to be left in peace for his last days." (...)

Dr Swire dismissed the idea of extradition, saying: "Mr al-Megrahi has never wavered in his claim he was innocent and the evidence led against him was so polluted by political influence that it should never have led to his conviction.

"It's a great shame the overturning of the verdict will not happen while he is still alive to see it." (...)

Martin Cadman, whose son Bill, 32, died in the Lockerbie bombing, said British relatives still had questions as to the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Speaking from his home in Norfolk, Mr Cadman said he believed the Americans knew more than had already emerged.

He said: "Megrahi was not the only person, if he was any person, in this thing. At some time we've got to have the truth about it and the Americans have got to come clean about it."

Mr Cadman said he did not believe "any evidence" had been shown that Megrahi was involved in the bombing, adding: "I do hope that somehow this event now, Megrahi on the point of death, is going to make someone own up."

[Similar views about allowing Megrahi to die in peace have been expressed by First Minister Alex Salmond.]

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Folks:

    I believe Nic Robertson was the victim of a staged story.

    I have gained some insights from my own mom’s now 3rd recurrence of breast cancer. She is 81 years old and has been hospitalized multiple times. This “scene” strikes me as a set-up piece, as EVERY anniversary (release or bombing) he is alleged in a coma and “near death”. (Megrahi's health has turned more corners than a $5 hooker.)

    Here’s what I found interesting in the Nic Robertson piece:

    • Where’s the catheter? It’s nowhere to be seen in the shot? Where's the collection bag? (Nowhere to be seen in this "impromptu" scene.) Aren’t most unconscious patients catheterized? If he didn’t smell of urine and feces (which was NOT noted in the report) how is his waste being dealt with?
    o How tough is it going to be to change someone in a coma soiling themselves in pajamas (and a t-shirt)…and they look REMARKABLY well-pressed. Did YOU see any wrinkles/creases like you would expect in the PJ’s, the bed linen and the pillow case?
    • There is no doctor, but there appears to be access to IV nutrition (per the piece), saline drips and (fast-flowing) oxygen bottles. (Especially, if they have NO PHONE LINE.) Last I heard, Libya (and Tripoli) was a war zone.
    o I believe the nutrition is mixed JUST prior to administration. If so, who’s mixing it? BECAUSE of the immune suppressed state of the patient, this is closely monitored because of the risk of secondary infections (like e.coli, and other opportunistic infections) that erupt near the PICC (arm) line or chemo port (in the upper chest). The fluids appeared to be administered to the hand which may or may not be relevant. (I believe Taxotere - which he was alleged to be on after leaving Libya - is administered via PICC or chemo port.)
    o That oxygen is flowing pretty damn fast…how long would that bottle last without replacement? And that is a smaller bottle. Even the larger ones run out in 1 to 1.5 days…and that one was SO loud it sounded like an airplane overhead vent throughout the piece.
    • And let me ask the most pressing question: WHERE IS THE VISIBLE TUMOR ON HIS NECK? Remember, the one that was causing him to be near death?
    • I would remark on the presence of hair, but if he is on hormone therapy now, hair loss may not be affected. When he was previously reported to be on Taxotere, that would cause hair loss. With this new treatment, I don’t think it does.

    In short, I’ll bet that this was a set up piece… and Megrahi lives the year…at least.

    To be direct, Salmond and MacAskill better PRAY Megrahi lives. As I understand it from this blog, upon Megrahi's death, his family can re-initiate the appeal -- which would appear to be on the horizon from the SCCRC report. That is the worst of all world's for them.

    Michael

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  3. FYI:

    My contact at FoxNews, Jonathan Hunt, is doing a story on Studio B (3PM EDT) with Shepherd Smith and The Fox Report (7 PM EDT) on FoxNews Channel. Those are 8 PM BST and 12 Midnight BST today on FoxNews Channel.

    There is skepticism about the CNN piece.

    Michael

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  4. This is as imbecile as it gets. May I suggest that you apply for a position as one of these 'Lord Advocates'. It takes a certain talent to interpret something so trivial as something so suspicious.

    Before we start, I assume we are talking about:

    http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/08/28/robertson.lockerbie.mastermind.cnn?iref=allsearch

    even though I find it hard to believe.

    "Where’s the catheter? It’s nowhere to be seen in the shot? "

    No, neither is his anus. The photographer did not realize that he was to disprove something.

    "Where's the collection bag? (Nowhere to be seen in this "impromptu" scene.)"

    Maybe you just can't see it. Maybe there isn't one.

    "Aren’t most unconscious patients catheterized? "

    Did you yourself say "most"? Can we then conclude that maybe he wasn't catheterized or maybe it was just not visible?

    "If he didn’t smell of urine and feces (which was NOT noted in the report)"

    Maybe he didn't smell at all. Maybe he was washed. Maybe he did smell, but Robertson didn't mention this, out of respect (look it up) for people. Maybe he did smell, but not where Robertson was standing.

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  5. If a smell was reported you could have said 'Isn't it strange that he smells? They should be able to clean him. Surely they threw urine over him before Robertson was invited in'.

    "...how is his waste being dealt with?"

    Yes, how is waste of patients in bed being dealt with?

    "How tough is it going to be to change someone in a coma soiling themselves in pajamas (and a t-shirt)…"

    Yes, how tough is it?

    "...and they look REMARKABLY well-pressed. Did YOU see any wrinkles/creases like you would expect in the PJ’s, the bed linen and the pillow case?"

    No, I only see a man desperate to make a case out of nothing, clutching for straws.

    "There is no doctor, but there appears to be access to IV nutrition (per the piece), saline drips and (fast-flowing) oxygen bottles. (Especially, if they have NO PHONE LINE.) Last I heard, Libya (and Tripoli) was a war zone."

    Stocking up urgent things you may need in times where supplies can be expected to go low is an ability being found even in primitive animals.

    "I believe the nutrition is mixed JUST prior to administration. If so, who’s mixing it?"

    And if not? Anyway, could a nurse or a family member learn to do it, or do you need a university degree?

    "BECAUSE of the immune suppressed state of the patient, this is closely monitored"

    Interesting, indeed.

    "...because of the risk of secondary infections (like e.coli, and other opportunistic infections) that erupt near the PICC (arm) line or chemo port (in the upper chest)."

    Hopefully the nurse knows all that.

    "The fluids appeared to be administered to the hand which may or may not be relevant."

    Finally something we agree upon. The last part of that sentence.

    "(I believe Taxotere - which he was alleged to be on after leaving Libya - is administered via PICC or chemo port.)"

    It is all very interesting.

    "That oxygen is flowing pretty damn fast…how long would that bottle last without replacement? And that is a smaller bottle. Even the larger ones run out in 1 to 1.5 days…and that one was SO loud it sounded like an airplane overhead vent throughout the piece."

    And if you had not been able to hear it you'd have found it suspicious too.

    We must tell Megrahi's family that next time they want to fake a coma, they must find exactly the right sound level. Also have them asking the TV station not to turn up the sound for the dramatic effect, which they tend to do, if the signal/noise ratio allows.


    "And let me ask the most pressing question: WHERE IS THE VISIBLE TUMOR ON HIS NECK? Remember, the one that was causing him to be near death?"

    If you have clear info about where this tumor was supposed to be, then bother to bring it. What I have seen is shots of Megrahi lying on his back, with his neck against a pillow.

    "I would remark on the presence of hair, but if he is on hormone therapy now, hair loss may not be affected."

    But it might, and so this is clearly a suspicious element too.

    "When he was previously reported to be on Taxotere, that would cause hair loss."

    No, Doc. 'In one clinical study, hair loss was reported in up to 75.8 percent of people who took Taxotere'

    "With this new treatment, I don’t think it does."

    No?

    ---

    "In short, I’ll bet that this was a set up piece… and Megrahi lives the year…at least."

    Incredible. I will take your bet, anytime.

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  6. SM,

    You are absolutely breathless in your advocacy.

    I remind you what has happened with incredible prescience: reports of Al-Megrahi's "in a coma and near death" recur like clockwork within 2 weeks of either the anniversary of the bombing and/or release -- usually as criticism starts to crest.

    In fact, I wrote Jonathan Hunt just prior to Mr. Al-Megrahi's appearance and noted to him: Watch, I bet he's not near death, but you will see stories about the "in a coma and near death" proximate to the release... and then he's at the Qaddafi rally and, just like clockwork, another story. My email presciently preceded this latest round by about 4 1/2 weeks... and prior emails similarly in the past.

    Interestingly, there is more, like a drip that didn't appear to be "dripping" (at least I didn't see anything - albeit briefly - in the reservoir of the drip at 2:50 of piece along with a "full bag"), which indicates it wasn't active. Also, I note the "fluid drip" keeping him alive had its line draped over the top of the bag. Now, I am NOT a doctor, but I think you have to actually attach a drip to get the fluids INTO the body.

    As for catheterizing, it is done in all but the most radical situations.

    SM, I'll take a £100 bet with you that Megrahi lives to the end of the year, 12/31/2011 11:59:59 PM, Libya time. I don't think you will deliver when you lose, but if you agree by Sunday 12M, September 4, 2011, then it's a bet. The bet is that he will die naturally. It's void if he dies of unnatural causes, as this relates to disbelief in the stage of his cancer.

    However, if that type of interpersonal bet is permissible in Scotland, I will take that bet with you. The loser donates that amount to a licensed charity (called a 501(c)3 in the US or its UK equivalent) of the winner's choice. If it is not permissible legally, then we'll make it a gentleman's bet.

    Also, don't you find it strange that Megrahi's family asked Scotland for the very drugs that it doesn't dispense in the UK?

    In the end, we'll see. Again, I don't hope for his death, but I disbelieve he's as near death as is represented.

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  7. "You are absolutely breathless in your advocacy."

    Advocacy for what? Please keep in mind that I would strongly prefer that Megrahi was guilty as sin, that my government was was not a lier, and that what the press reported were relevant and balanced facts. I was the little Christian boy at Sunday School, believing in our noble and just democracy, and regarded our US liberators and inspirators as heroes.

    Seeing overwhelming evidence of something else is very painful and frustrating. This case is a cardinal example.

    I am not interested in "coma and near death" statements, because they are typical preferred headlines of the press, something I give a second consideration.

    In this case: Unless some acute terminal condition exists, it is impossible to say how near people are to death, something doctors have told our family so many times, when a member was due to go because of cancer.

    At times general stupidity, sorry for the expression, can interest me. How it is possible? I hope and prey that somebody will not be able to document any similar short-circuits in my statements.

    I get annoyed when I see statements like "We have already accepted that the date of purchase of the clothing was 7 December 1988".

    When I see the CNN clip and then have a grown up man - even a child - asking for "where is the lump in the neck" I get annoyed. Sorry.

    When I see a statement about a missing collection bag I also get annoyed.

    Maybe it is my ignorance. If you can provide a doctor's statement that collection bags would usually be visible on a short like the ones we had of Megrahi, I'd bow.

    Finally, regarding your missing drip. I have looked through the footage I linked to again, and again I wonder if we are speaking ahout the same, or you have a higher resolution available. At no point I'd expect to see a drip anywhere.

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  8. SM:

    I would respectfully remind you the "in coma and near death" was the purpose of the CNN story...and "his initial 'near death prognosis' was delivered through the 'healing words' of Kenny MacAskill."

    I quote: "However, Mr Al Megrahi now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. It is one that no court, in any jurisdiction, in any land, could revoke or overrule. It is terminal, final and irrevocable. He is going to die."

    "...For these reasons – and these reasons alone – it is my decision that Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted in 2001 for the Lockerbie bombing, now terminally ill with prostate cancer, be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die."

    The subsequent stories have been promulgated by the Megrahi circle and promoted in the press... So, yes, I question this.

    As for the drip: go to 2:49 in the piece. Freeze frame it. You will note the following:
    1) the bag is prominently displayed in the center.
    2) the bag is full
    3) the reservoir at the bottom of the bag - which would be about 3/4 full when in use has NOTHING in it, all that is seen is the concave "bowl" at the bottom of that reservoir
    4) the fluid line (to the patient) is seen immediately to the left of the reservoir (the white plastic attachment)
    5) follow that line over the top of the bag to about the 2 o'clock position on the bag, where you will see a light green plastic object and the silhouette of the rest of the insert into a picc line. It is UNATTACHED to the patient. (It's a bit tough because of the busy wallpaper behind it. But it's clearly unattached.)

    SM, I get you're too timid to take up the bet...because you know you will lose.

    I agree governments lie, though less often than you believe they do -- though the Scottish appear to have a much worse record than most. That is why they should be smaller and have less centralized control over the population over which they rule.

    However, that is a distraction to the point that this is about Megrahi's health.

    I get you won't take the bet. Don't sweat it. However, you seem to get annoyed -- a lot. Sounds like you have anger management issues -- you should seek help. I would start with an optometrist so you can see the things I noted above.

    Michael

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  9. Hi Mike,

    thanks for your enjoyable posting!

    "I would respectfully remind you the "in coma and near death" was the purpose of the CNN story..."

    CNN knows nothing about how near Megrahi is to death. He is clearly thin and looks weak. Then again, people like this have fooled death for quite some time before.

    [Askill:]"...For these reasons ... Megrahi ... be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die."

    Sounded much better than saying "Listen guys, the SCCRC has a problem with the 'inferences' made by the Lordies, and so has most others that bothers to read and discuss the material.
    Then, the crown witness has been caught in receiving 2 million USDs under the table. The timer thing, hmm, no explosives residue. Maybe it now even appears that we lied when we said we forgot to test it. We did - negative. As it was not plenty enough, some of our witnesses have been totally discredited in other trials with overturned convictions. The Luqa-Frankfurt-Heathrow story was always a bit far-fetched, now this guy have stated to dig up old statements that somehow that didn't make it to court either. Frankly, we don't have sh*t..."

    As for the drip: go to 2:49 in the piece. Freeze frame it. You will note the following:
    1) the bag is prominently displayed in the center.
    2) the bag is full
    3) the reservoir at the bottom of the bag - which would be about 3/4 full when in use has NOTHING in it, all that is seen is the concave "bowl" at the bottom of that reservoir
    4) the fluid line (to the patient) is seen immediately to the left of the reservoir (the white plastic attachment)
    5) follow that line over the top of the bag to about the 2 o'clock position on the bag, where you will see a light green plastic object and the silhouette of the rest of the insert into a picc line. It is UNATTACHED to the patient. (It's a bit tough because of the busy wallpaper behind it. But it's clearly unattached.)


    Oh, Michael! You point out highly suspect matters with an iv dispensing unit - to end it all with the fact that it is unattached, voiding the entire rest.
    Right. Can I ask you again how much dripping you expected from a detached bottle with the tube laid up over the holder? How full the reservoir (aka. drop chamber) should be?

    Your need to find something suspicious makes you headless, Michael.

    Look at the frames around 0:40. Yes, it is indeed unattached.
    How stupid this family is. They remember to fake the oxygen supply. They even remember to put tubes under Megrahi, which you can also see on the mentioned frames. They have managed to make him look thin as well.
    But they forget to pull a tube from the iv dispensing unit to Megrahi's body!

    "Hah! Fake! FAKE!"

    SM, I get you're too timid to take up the bet...because you know you will lose.

    Does that mean, that anyone who does not bother to take one of your bets, probably don't believe in what he himself is saying?

    I agree governments lie, though less often than you believe they do

    You knowledge about how much governments lie, and how much I believe they do, is impressive!

    "...though the Scottish appear to have a much worse record than most. "

    Again, impressed.

    I get you won't take the bet.

    I find it a bit crude in betting over whether mistreated people will die a premature death. Can't we bet about something else?

    However, you seem to get annoyed -- a lot.

    Compared to who?

    Sounds like you have anger management issues -- you should seek help.

    Cute! :-)

    I would start with an optometrist so you can see the things I noted above.

    Seeing them is not the problem.

    Understanding how a person can see a bed-scene like Megrahi's and find 10 deeply suspicious things probably takes more treatment than I can hope to get.

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  10. @SM - Before I respond, permit me to share an observation: I find it interesting that so many on this blog hide behind pseudonyms, while figuratively lobbing bombs and casting aspersions of the cover ups of others. I have always found the psychology of that interesting and illustrative.

    I appreciate you FINALLY addressing the bet. However, you're wrong (again). The bet is not about death, but about LIFE. Megrahi has NEVER been as sick as conveyed. It is a fraud that has been perpetrated on the victims of PA103.

    I also appreciate that you lack a sufficient man-sack to step up to anything more than your continual, anonymous, ill-informed and logically discontinuous blathering. That's alright. As we say in the West, "I called you out and ya' turned yellow." You didn't even take the gentleman's bet. Speaks volumes about you...

    You insufficiently believe in Megrahi's illness that you won't take a bet. However, you unabashedly defend the Nic Robertson report despite the near dozen issues I identified and the near 100% correlation to "reports of imminent death" and the anniversary of either the release or the bombing (since the release).

    In the end, it doesn't matter. Megrahi will either die soon from the diagnosed cancer, or live a "natural life". I bet it will be the latter. And I believe we're not too long from finding out that the Scottish Executive was complicit in the release due to its being on the hook for $2.7bn in compensation reimbursement when the SCCRC was formally approved.

    Now, a case can proceed on appeal though the conviction was the right one. (And I presume that is the case in Scotland too.) I think you all are dreaming thinking that the Iranians were behind this. However, we'll find out soon enough. The end of the Qaddafi regime, I regret will embarrass you all.

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