Lockerbie 20 years on

[Mark]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7586498.stm

That's an amazing story if you have time to read it.

My memory of that night in 1988 was of my Dad who was a photographer for the Journal in Newcastle at the time, rushing up there to get pictures of the scene. Remember there were no digital cameras and no trasmitting of pictures in those days. He drove the 80 miles from Newcastle to Lockerbie, got the pictures and did the 80 miles back to Newcastle to get them to press. He told me a while later that he'd never driven as fast in his life :s .

[Azumanga Davo]

Yes, a story to inspire. Amazing how luck is distributed at times.

20 years already, time feels very quick...

[BDunnell]

I am convinced there are very serious doubts over whether the right person was convicted.

[Tshbez]

20 years ago, who cares now, forget about it. People die everyday. You should be remembering people everyday that are dieing throughout the world. But you don't, you just dwell on people that died 20 years ago.

[Daniel]

20 years ago, who cares now, forget about it. People die everyday. You should be remembering people everyday that are dieing throughout the world. But you don't, you just dwell on people that died 20 years ago.
What a silly thing to say.......

This was a big event which had a big impact upon people. A lot of people just never felt safe on aircraft after this happened.

The death of 270 malnourished black children in Africa is just as sad but it's different. No one went out and murdered those people so it's very much different.

No one's dwelling on it anyway. I can count on one hand how many times I've heard the word Lockerbie in the last 10 years. I agree it's not right to dwell on things for too long but by the same token it's silly to go around forgetting the horrors that the world is filled with.

Just as the lucky man in this story was saved by pure luck your mum, dad, sister, brother, son, daughter or someone else very dear to you could have very nearly been on that flight and you'd be singing a very different song. No one's come out here showing Daily Mail Diana obsession. It's simply a news story about a very very lucky man and a horrible thing that happened.

[BDunnell]

20 years ago, who cares now, forget about it. People die everyday. You should be remembering people everyday that are dieing throughout the world. But you don't, you just dwell on people that died 20 years ago.

I'm afraid I think that's one of the most ridiculous posts I've ever read here.

For one thing, it is perfectly possible to think about people dying in the past AND people dying in the present. What makes you think this is so implausible? For another, there are very good reasons for 'dwelling' on cases like this, when it is possible a miscarriage of justice has occurred, and also when it is a significant historical event. Do you suggest we stop thinking about the Holocaust, then, because it happened a long time ago? Do you think we ought to stop being disgusted by what happened at Tiananmen Square?

[BDunnell]

I agree it's not right to dwell on things for too long but by the same token it's silly to go around forgetting the horrors that the world is filled with.

Just as the lucky man in this story was saved by pure luck your mum, dad, sister, brother, son, daughter or someone else very dear to you could have very nearly been on that flight and you'd be singing a very different song. No one's come out here showing Daily Mail Diana obsession. It's simply a news story about a very very lucky man and a horrible thing that happened.

Very well put. :up:

[Tshbez]

Do you suggest we stop thinking about the Holocaust, then, because it happened a long time ago? Do you think we ought to stop being disgusted by what happened at Tiananmen Square?

We should forget it all. The sooner people stop being bitter about history, the better. Move on, instead of reminding everyone everyday and tarnishing people's and country's histories with the mistakes of a few people.

If someone "dear" to me was on that plane, I'd be even angrier that it kept being "remembered" every 10/15/20/25 years and the pictures and footage kept being displayed for people to discuss.

[Daniel]

We should forget it all. The sooner people stop being bitter about history, the better. Move on, instead of reminding everyone everyday and tarnishing people's and country's histories with the mistakes of a few people.

If someone "dear" to me was on that plane, I'd be even angrier that it kept being "remembered" every 10/15/20/25 years and the pictures and footage kept being displayed for people to discuss.
What a silly thing to say.

No one is bitter. Perhaps some families are bitter but can you blame them? Some moron went and killed 270 people. I don't advocate people wasting 20 years of their life being bitter but you can't just say C'est la vie when you're talking about a human life that was taken deliberately in such fashion. It's not personally affected me but I would still like to see justice done as we all should.

[Tshbez]

Anyone that is prepared to kill on that scale is beyond justice.

[BDunnell]

We should forget it all. The sooner people stop being bitter about history, the better. Move on, instead of reminding everyone everyday and tarnishing people's and country's histories with the mistakes of a few people.

So how do you develop any concept of 'history'?

With respect, I think your view on this matter is utterly bizarre. So much of history involves death and destruction, as unpleasant as it is. These events can't just be blotted out. There are limits, of course — there is no need to constantly equate Germany with Nazism, for example, or Britain with colonialism and slavery — but you can't just remember the nice bits.



If someone "dear" to me was on that plane, I'd be even angrier that it kept being "remembered" every 10/15/20/25 years and the pictures and footage kept being displayed for people to discuss.

I agree that it doesn't do to wallow in these things, and I feel that too many people are far too mawkish about events involving a significant loss of life, but it is natural that these events are remembered and recalled, whether publicly or not.

[Daniel]

I am convinced there are very serious doubts over whether the right person was convicted.
I don't know if you're right but the way Libya is talking it doesn't look like they had anything to do with it. But who knows....

[BDunnell]

Anyone that is prepared to kill on that scale is beyond justice.

But, according to your opinion, their actions should just be forgotten about as soon as they pass into history. Are you advocating no punishment for such actions?

[Daniel]

Anyone that is prepared to kill on that scale is beyond justice.
Cool! I'm off to commit mass murder and when the police come around I'll tell them about your words. I'm sure that'll work.

[Drew]

Anyone that is prepared to kill on that scale is beyond justice.

Are you trolling or what?

[Daniel]

Are you trolling or what?
Leave it Drew. Anyone that is prepared to troll on that scale is beyond justice :p

[jim mcglinchey]

I am convinced there are very serious doubts over whether the right person was convicted.

As Paul Foot and Private Eye have always maintained, the bombing was more likely carried out by Syrians at the behest of Iran, but it was more politically opportune to blame Libya.

[BDunnell]

As Paul Foot and Private Eye have always maintained, the bombing was more likely carried out by Syrians at the behest of Iran, but it was more politically opportune to blame Libya.

Indeed. I suggest everybody with an interest in the case reads Paul Foot's special Private Eye supplement from a few years ago. Hopefully they will follow up on it, even though that great journalist is now dead.