That's compassion?

Scotland, it turns out, has “rules of compassion.”

But apparently the Scots not only pronounce “compassion” in a way that sounds foreign to our American ears, but they define the word quite differently as well.

Last week the Scottish government released Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi from prison. He is the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270.

Scottish officials justified their decision by pointing out that al-Megrahi has advanced prostate cancer and likely will die within months. Scottish “rules of compassion” compelled officials to release the terrorist.

But the truly appalling part of this story is what happened after al-Megrahi left the prison.

He didn’t go straight to a hospital.

He was flown home to Libya, where crowds cheered his arrival as though he were a hero rather than a mass murderer.

Compassion, of course, is an admirable quality.

But the only measure of compassion that al-Megrahi deserved was proper medical treatment to ensure that his final days were not unduly painful.

He certainly does not deserve to spend his final hours surrounded by family and friends who love him — the very gift which he stole from the 270 people aboard Flight 103.