ONE can understand the anger of relatives of those killed in the Pan Am 103 atrocity when the man found guilty of the incident is allowed to go free, although there does now seem some doubt about whether Megrahi was the actual culprit.

Amid all the reports of anger and potential harm to the special relationship between the UK and the US, little or nothing is said about a similar atrocity which was perpetrated six months earlier.

On July 3, 1988, an Iran Air Airbus 300 took off from Bandar Abbas on a scheduled flight to Dubai and was flying along a recognised air corridor (Amber 59) within Iranian airspace.

Its transponder (a modernised version of the Second World War ‘Identification Friend’ or Foe) was displaying its unique number, and communications with Iranian air traffic control were in English.

Traversing the Straits of Hormuz, inside Iranian territorial waters, the US Navy ship USS Vincennes picked up the Airbus on its state-of-the art radar, yet mistakenly decided it was descending towards the ship although it was still actually climbing within the airway.

Assuming it was an Iranian Air Force F-14 about to attack the Vincennes, Captain William C Rogers ordered two misssiles to be fired at the Airbus, and, as a result, all 290 passengers and crew – including 66 children, were killed.

Captain Rogers was later decorated with the US Legion of Merit for outstanding service, and Commander Lustig, the air-warfare co-ordinator, given the US Navy’s Commendation Medal for heroic achievement.

The crew of the Vincennes all received combat action ribbons.

Shortly after the incident, George H Bush, then vice-president to Ronald Reagan was reported as saying: “I’ll never apologise for the United States of America – ever. I don’t care what the facts are.”

The contrast in the reaction to these two incidents is unbelievable but perhaps not surprising.

Gordon Clack, Witney Road, Ducklington, Witney