US should let Italy jail Abu Abbas

Boston Globe ^ | April 29, 2003 | Juliette Kayyem

[sarcasm]

AST WEEK in Baghdad, US special operation forces apprehended Abu Abbas, a convicted Palestinian terrorist who masterminded the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. During the hijacking, a wheelchair-bound US citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, was murdered. The status of Abbas's captivity is now in limbo. Because Abbas is no longer a significant terrorist player and because his presence in a US court could complicate the important role of the United States in the Palestinian crisis, we should release Abu Abbas to the Italians, where he faces a lifetime in jail.

[sarcasm]

The next few weeks could be very productive for the United States, the Israelis, and the Palestinians. Abbas's trial in an American court is simply not worthy of disrupting that process.

Yep, appeasement always works.

[MEG33]

We must not offend the terrorists..heaven forbid.

[Hugin]

Send him to Gitmo for a military tribunal. Show 'em we are serious about all terrorism.

[demkicker]

Gitmo ditto here too...

This is typical Boston Globe drivel... blah, blah, blah.

[Ronin]

Personally, this works for me. Abbas will be in prison the rest of his life. Five life terms. Prison is prison. Why not throw the Italians a bone here?

After all it was an Italian ship. The conviction is on record. We can hold out long enough to make sure it is stipulated by the Italians that the sentences will not run concurrently and the trial in the states WOULD open a major can of worms.

Let the Italian government feed him for the rest of his miserable life behind bars. We have plenty of other pasta on our plate.

[sarcasm]

The Italians let him go once, why give them another chance?

Abbas arrived on the scene as Arafat's "emissary," ostensibly to negotiate an end to the hijacking. In the end, Abbas and the other terrorists were given safe passage aboard an Egyptian plane bound for Tunis - then the site of Arafat's headquarters.

U.S. fighter planes dispatched by the Reagan White House intercepted the plane, forcing it to land in Sicily, where the hijackers were arrested - only to be allowed to "escape" by an Italian government terrified of PLO reprisals.

[MEG33]

They say the Italian government is diffferent now but the history makes me very uneasy.

[sarcasm]

Italian governments tend to change rather frequently.

[KeyWest]

Amen.

As long as we do not elect a Clinton Clone who will release terrorists when he/she leaves office.

[KC_Conspirator]

The other terrorists involved with Abbas on the Achille Lauro were already let go by the Italian government. I will admit that the Berlusconi will sentence this guy, but the next leftist who wins an election there will set him free.

[Junior]

Didn't Italy allow this guy to escape once before?

[Ippolita]

Most unfortunately the Italians cannot be trusted to keep him behind bars; Italian connivance with ME terrorism is a reknown factor.
Also Italins have a penchant for freeing terrorists: their own and those of other nationalities: to many judges in Italy belong to that undercover, corrupt, left which once used to be known as Communist and has since become the Democratic Left (sic!).
I urge all to remember Silvia Baraldini, sentenced to life in the USA for Terrorism against the USA, and finally transferred to Italy under Clinton: she is now free.

[Ippolita]

the problem in Italy is not the government (at least at the moment) but the magistrates: all lefties!

[Jim Noble]

Not every terrorist is of primary import to the United States, and Abbas is no bin Laden. This may sound disrespectful to the memory of Klinghoffer, but the United States must balance Abbas's conviction against other important national security matters.

Oh, I think punishing the killers of Americans is a pretty important national security matter...

[Ronin]

Good points. Still, if appropriate iron-clad guarantees could be worked out so that if he were released it would be solely to U.S. Custody...

I don't know. This guy is a has-been and I don't want to spend too much capital on him. Like I said, we have other fish to fry.

[DonQ]

The Italians already had him in their grasp and let him go ... reportedly because they were afraid of other acts of terrorism, such as hostage-taking, to get him free. So entrusting him again to the Italians means that he'll be in Italian custody only until the Arabs somewhere seize an Italian hostage.

Better to lock him up in the US for the entire duration of the sentence handed out in Italy (if not for putting him on trial for additional offenses, with a sentence to be additional to the one already issued by Italy).

[gridlock]

Doesn't punishment and retribution have a legitimate function in society? The Boston Globe seems to think that the only purpose of jailing somebody is to keep him from offending again.

BTW, if the Italians jail Abbas, he will be back on the street within five years. Guaranteed.

[driftless]

This has become many liberals main argument: don't ever do anything nasty to evil people when they do bad things to us. Understand their anger, apologize for making them murder people they've never met, and establish a dialogue.

The only dialogue I want to establish with terrorists is asking them whether they would like to be hung or shot. I love Bush because he wants to destroy our sworn enemies not coddle them.

[mewzilla]

The Italians released this guy, let another escape, and released another two after only a few years, which was permissable under Italian law.

[MEG33]

The author is from Hahhvud. I googled her name because I wanted to see where she developed this thinking.She is on a terror board..Kennedy School of Govt and is funded by you and me.Nice.