Pan Am 103 families thrilled with Gadhafi's death

Moammar Gadhafi

NEW YORK – Just two months short of the 23rd anniversary of the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, the man who many believed ordered the mass executions, was himself killed outside his hometown in Libya today.

Moammar Gadhafi was reported to have been killed outside his birthplace of Sirte by rebels who overran one of the last cities not controlled by the new transitional government.

For the families of Pan Am 103, the death of the mercurial Libyan strongman meant some closure can finally begin on one of the worst terrorist attacks of the 20th century. The bombing left a total of 270 killed, 259 on board the Pan Am flight and 11 on the ground.

The Libyan "colonel" Ronald Reagan once branded a "mad dog" had been the target of several U.S. attempts to eliminate him, the most famous being the 1986 bombing of Libya's capital city, Tripoli.

That bombing missed Gadhafi in his infamous tent, but was best remembered for the U.S. Air Force hitting and destroying the swimming pool of the nearby French embassy.

In the years since, Gadhafi not only survived, but actually thrived. The U.S. officially recognized the Libyan regime in 2004, and he was an honored guest during his September 2009 visit to the United Nations in New York. The Libyan tyrant also doubled as the rotating president of the African Union. Both Barack Obama and Gadhafi were VIP guests at a luncheon hosted by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

However, it all began to fall apart as the so-called "Arab Spring" swept across the region earlier this year.

The once all-powerful leader saw himself hunted down in a manner similar to the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003.

Susan Cohen lost her daughter Theodora, 20, on Pan Am 103.

"I did not want him (Gadhafi) to go to trial," she said. "When you have monster like him,
we're all better off with him dead."

Gadhafi's slaying came none to soon for Bert Ammerman, who lost his brother, Tom , 36, on the downed plane.

"I had extreme satisfaction," he said. "I could not believe nearly 23 years after the bombing of Pan Am 103 that we were actually going to see justice served. I honestly thought he was going to outlive me in power. I never thought he would he be removed from power, let alone be killed."

Ammerman added, "What took place today is justice for my brother and 269 other people. It is extremely satisfying."

He contrasted today's events with Gahdafi's VIP visit to the U.N. just two years ago:

"I never thought he would be dead. Period. Two years ago, my disgust and protest was, when we stopped it (Gadhafi's house hunting), he thought he could set up (temporary) residence wherever he wanted to. It was one thing going to the U.N., which we couldn't stop, but as a country we could say you just can't live wherever you want. I never thought he would be removed from power after 40 years. I felt his military was so strong that he would kill thousands before he would be killed.

"I vilified Obama two years ago when (Abdelbaset) al Megrahi (Pan Am 103 bomber) was released by Scotland, but I praise the Obama administration for how it dealt with Libya."

Ammerman said he is disappointed by how little the international community did to remove Gadhafi sooner.

"When Bush 43 and (U.K. Prime Minister) Tony Blair welcomed Libya back into the international community, I said then and still say now, that was an national and international disgrace. Sanctions never worked. So we have gone through this odyssey with Bush 41, Clinton, with Bush 43 and now the Obama administration in dealing with mad dogs like this and it has been abysmal. But you have got to give President Obama credit (for today's events)."

Nonetheless, the New Jersey native said the slaying of the Libyan tyrant cannot ease the pain of that fateful night in December 1988.

"I have been saying for the last four months that if Gadhafi were ever removed from power, or eliminated or brought to trial, that would be the last chapter regarding Pan Am 103," he said. "This makes it the last chapter and makes it satisfying."

However, Ammerman added, "The one thing that will never end is that you can never get your hands around the fact that your brother was blown out of the air at 31,000 feet to his grave. I cannot attempt to visualize that. That will never go away. That will never go away for parents who lost children on the flight. My mother, who is now 94, has never, ever been the same."