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The Price Of Terror
have disappeared had the crash
occurred over an ocean, most of
he adage that timing
them were recovered from the fall
is everything certainly
on
land — although in
rings true for Book
deplorable condition.
1.:..a.s . s.o5 tocka,..ate kr.
Fair's opening-night
4.W.
The book's unique cover jacket
speaker, Allan Gerson, who co-
is chilling in itself, listing all of
authored a just-published book
the passengers according to the
with the word "terror" in its title.
plane's
seating chart, accompa-
The bombing of Pam
Allan. Gerson:
nied
by
many of their pictures.
American Airlines Flight 103
"We never intended
The
American
victims were
over Lockerbie, Scotland, on
that our story should mostly young, even the business
Dec. 21, 1988, killed 270 peo-
serve as an object
executives in first class. They
ple, mostly Americans. At that
lesson in the face of
included families on holiday,
time, it was the largest-ever mass I Allan Gerson
another national
soldiers stationed overseas and
terrorist attack on American
and Jar,
tragedy, but surely it
Syracuse University students
civilians.
Adler
has something to
returning from a semester
Two years ago, Gerson of
teach us."
abroad.
Washington, D.C., and Jerry
The book relates how, during
Adler, of New York City, began
12
years
of international detective
inside
a
Toshiba
cassette
player
in
an
writing their book with an eye to pub-
work, the bombing was traced to Libya.
inconspicuous suitcase checked aboard
lication in early 2002.
the flight in Malta. The timer went off It was seen, most probably, as a retalia-
But after the Sept. 11 terrorist
after stops in Frankfurt and London, a tion for the U.S. bombing of Tripoli in
attacks and the resulting anthrax
1986, when Col. Muammar Qaddafi's
scares, the book — The Price of Terror: half-hour after takeoff on the plane's
adopted
daughter was killed —
way
to
New
York.
One Bomb. One Plane. 270 Lives. The
although
the U.S. raid may have been
The
explosion
tore
open
the
fuselage
History-Making Struggle for Justice After
in
retaliation
for the 1983 suicide-truck
and
spilled
many
of
the
243
passengers
Pan Am 103 (HarperCollins; $25.95)
bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks
and a crew of 16 into the 50-degree-
— was rushed into print.
in Lebanon, killing 241.
below-zero cold from 31,000 feet in
Meanwhile, Gerson embarked on a
A former chief counsel to the U.S.
the air. Those left in the plane fell and
whirlwind publicity tour of 20
Mission to the United Nations and a
crashed in a span of two minutes, hit-
American cities, including an upcom-
former senior Justice Department
ting the ground at 400 miles an hour.
ing visit to this year's Book Fair, where
lawyer, Gerson is now research profes-
Despite
hundreds
of
square
miles
of
he replaces attorney Robert Shapiro on
sor
of International Relations at George
uninhabited
fields,
the
wreckage
landed
Saturday, Nov. 10.
Washington
University. He has been
on
houses
in
Lockerbie,
killing
11
more.
Gerson, an attorney who is an expert
Whereas the bodies most likely would working on a civil lawsuit against Libya
on terrorism and international law,
linked up with Adler, a senior editor at
Newsweek magazine, and co-wrote the
story of the quest for justice by families
of the victims of Pan Am 103.
The authors detail years of investiga-
these stories, you see that there are
tions and legal maneuvering, and tell
effrey Toobin, legal analyst for
both large, important facts that most
how the Pan Am families combined
ABC News, has no doubt that
people never knew and relationships
with relatives of victims in the 1995
George Bush won the 2000
between people and events that are
Oklahoma City Federal Building
presidential election because
never clear until you look back," says
bombing to produce legislation that
Jewish voters in Palm Beach mistaken-
Toobin, also a staff writer at the New
helps give accountability to private cit-
ly voted for Patrick Buchanan, the
Yorker.
izens.
third-party candidate widely regarded
An important part of the book has to
Readers may find it emotionally dif-
as anti-Semitic.
do with the author's appraisal of basic
ficult getting through the first few
The layout of the Palm Beach ballot
differences between the Republican
chapters, which provide a gripping,
was part of the general controversy
and Democratic parties, and he asserts
vivid account of the explosion and its
surrounding Florida election practices,
they become very apparent with a close
aftermath — and the heartbreaking
which are probed in Toobin's latest
look at the recount controversies.
notification of the families, who had
book, Too Close to Call (Random
"Republicans are tougher, smarter in
to cope with lawyers invading their
House: $25.95). The new release takes
many respects, more ruthless and will-
driveways with business cards and law-
up the issues and the people closely
ing to do more to win, while the
suit rate sheets.
tied to the 36-day battle to decide the
Democrats care a great deal about pub-
A 12-ounce Czech-made plastic
presidential race.
lic opinion and what they call `biparti-
explosive known as Semtex was hidden
"When you go back and look at
On.e borrth.t3:Ita p ane, 2.70 byes.
History-Making Struggfx
Atta'r Pan Alit 1(i3
for eight years on behalf of 20 families;
it will finally go to trial in January. (In
previous legal action, various families
sued Pan Am, which went out of busi-
ness a few years after the bombing.)
"Justice requires accountability,"
Gerson declared in an interview. "The
families of these victims can't rest until
they achieve justice for their relatives,
no matter how long it takes.
"It's similar to what survivors of the
Holocaust went through. When peo-
ple die like this, it's up to the relatives
to do what they can. They want some
kind of closure."
The U.S. and its allies imposed eco-
nomic sanctions against Libya for Pan
Am 103, but there was no military
retaliation. Libya was forced to turn
over two men for a criminal trial, which
recently resulted in the conviction of
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, sentenced by a
Netherlands court to life in prison.
Al Amin Khalifa Fhima, a Libyan
Arab Airways employee, was freed
because "it was difficult to get hard
evidence against him.
"It was too circumstantial," said
Gerson.
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a
Harvard Law School professor, is
preparing Megrahi's appeal. "That's
Dershowitz's right; he feels the
American justice system should work
this way," Gerson said.
Gerson can't determine exactly how
many Jews were aboard Pan Am Flight
103, but the relatives of some of them
have been strong activists in the result-
ing legal battles.
Suse Lowenstein of Long Island is a
native of Germany, a sculptor and the
wife of a Jew, Peter Lowenstein. Their
son, Alexander, was a Syracuse
`Too Close To Call'
IT
•
d
11/2
2001
94
TOO C LOS E
10 CA L L
-
Jeffrey Toobin:
"Law and politics
have increasingly
merged in our
•
,
society.
sanship,' which often winds up as one-
sided surrender," says the author.
His three earlier books address other
high-interest news events.
Toobin also wrote A Vast Conspiracy:
The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That
Nearly Brought Down a President, The
Run of His Life: The People v. O.J.