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1.  

   Mob Rule?

   

   dorpus, Feb 3rd, 2003 @ 5:04am

   
   

   But how effective is such a "democracy", if it causes the masses to become more emotional, irrational? I don't think anyone would have cared if a Korean truck driver ran over two girls, but because Americans did, the entire country went into a big riot.
   

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2.  

   Re: Mob Rule?

   

   lorenzo, Feb 3rd, 2003 @ 6:21am

   
   

   in Italy we are still narrowband, or we still were when an US pilot played to fly his plane below the cablecar and cut the cable, killing a few. Tried in the US due to international treaty, he walked away scot free, still flying as he was not discharged from the Army.
   On average people are sensitive to justice issues while US armed forces abroad are not (I also remember the case of a young girl raped in Okinawa which upset public opinion in Japan)
   Honestly don t know about what happened in Korea, but if it is the same that happened in Italy ... sometimes justice requires mob-ilitation

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3.  

   Re: Mob Rule?

   

   dorpus, Feb 3rd, 2003 @ 11:43am

   
   

   It works both ways. There are foreign diplomats in the USA who have diplomatic immunity. A few years ago, an employee of the embassy of Georgia, the nephew of George Shevardnadze, went on a drunken driving rampage in Washington DC and killed a 16-year-old girl. However, he was sent back to his own country and never charged with a crime. But it never became anything more than a medium-sized article in the local newspaper.
   
   The same week the girl in Okinawa was raped, another 12 year old in Okinawa was raped by a Japanese guy, but it never became big news.
   
   Despite what foreign media says, US servicemen are subject to the laws of foreign countries during off-duty activities. US servicemen do get arrested and sent to jail for things they do on weekends. Whenever bad incidents occur, there are widespread feelings of remorse on the base, but foreign media usually shows only unapologetic politicians.
   
   But yeah, there are also calls in the USA for removing troops from ungrateful countries and just let them suffer.
   

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