...but in this case it has not yet been executed. You see: Mohammed Ali Hamadi was reportedly released from a German prison back in December 2005. You may not be familiar with the name, but chances are you will become familiar with it sometime in the future. It seems that when he does things they are noteworthy in a nasty infamous sort of a way. I gleaned all of the above information at FoxNews.com @ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,213521,00.html. Read it for yourself, or see y summary below.
You see, Mr. Hamadi was convicted, by German authorities, of having committed two different crimes. He was arrested in Frankfurt, Germany in 1987 for having explosives at Frankfurt's airport. I wonder what he was going to do with them, and I wonder how many Germans and others would have died had he not been arrested. When the Germans charged him they charged him with the explosives crimes, but they also charged him in the murder of an American citizen.
You see, back in 1985, a group of 4 terrorists took over a TWA passenger jet, and hijacked it to Beirut, Lebanon. Over the next 17 days they held passengers and crew hostage (at least part of the time for the passengers as I recall, they may have released some of them). It was a notable hijacking because they flew from city to city seeking to have their demands met.
It was also notable for another reason. On the second day of the hijacking, the terrorists discovered that a passenger, Mr. Robert D. Stethem was not just an ordinary passenger, he was a passenger of interest to them. The reason for this interest was that Mr. Stethem was a U.S. Navy Diver. When they discovered this fact, the terrorists beat Mr. Stethem into unconsciousness, they then shot him dead, then dumped his body onto the ground from the plane. I remember much of this from seeing it on the evening news back then, it was horrific.
When the Germans arrested and tried Hamadi, he was convicted of the explosives charges and the murder and he was sentenced to life in a German prison. Apparently Germany does not have, or did not have, the death penalty, otherwise I would think they may have done away with him. Now, after having released Hamadi in December, one can only hope they do not come to regret that decision. Mr. Hamadi's accomplices were never caught, but reportedly one is suspected of being responsible for the barracks bombing in Lebanon in which 241 U.S. marines were killed, and then later being responsible for killing a CIA station chief.
So if Hamadi was released back in December, why am I talking about it now. Well you see the FoxNews.com article to which I supplied the above link has this title: Terrorist Ali Hamadi Rejoins Hezbollah Following Release From Prison. It seems Hamadi recently rejoined Hezbollah. Isn't that wonderful (sarcasm alert for those of you who have not figured it out)! I wonder what his future plans are to be, maybe a school bombing, maybe blow up a military base, maybe kill a few hundred people in an airport in Frankfurt, Germany. The article points out that some hypothesize that Germany released Hamadi in order to secure the release of a German citizen who was being held hostage. If that proves true, who do you think got the better deal? My guess would be Germany got the stinky end of it.
Whatever the Germans hypothetically got for Hamadi, such as the release of a German hostage, or the promise of no further attacks on German soil or against German citizens, was it worth it? If Hamadi decides he has unfinished business back in the Frankfurt airport what is to stop him from carrying out whatever he was about to do when he was arrested with those explosives back in 1987. Do the Germans hypothetically believe that him crossing his heart and hoping to die will make his word as good as gold! He probably wants to die so he can get his 72 virgins.
My bet is that Germany may come to regret, what I see as, their horrendous decision to release him, though for the sake of innocent people I hope not. I have to say though, that it is enough to make me sick. When I now think about my favorite beers, which are German biers, I feel like puking.
Of course the U.S. government protested his release vehemently, but to no avail. Our allies in Germany saw another wisdom and chose to release him. The U.S. still wants him for prosecution, but I am hopeful he is never captured. That is only because my hope is that the Israelis know his whereabouts, and they have a missile all prepped and ready to launch. They know how to take care of guys like this. Then again, maybe our own military will pleasantly surprise me and hit him with a cruise missile. They seem to have a lot of practice over the past few years and they have become quite good at it. Either way, I don't care, it would rid the world of whom I believe to be another vile monster.
My thoughts go out to Mr. Stethem's family; hopefully they will see justice done in the not too distant future.
All the best,
Glenn B
