GOD-BLESS-AMERICA! NEWS

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A U.S. military jury acquitted an American soldier of negligent homicide charges Friday, five months after the vehicle he was driving on a training mission struck and killed two South Korean girls.

The acquittal of Sgt. Mark Walker was expected to prompt further outcry from South Korean activists already angered by Wednesday's acquittal of the vehicle's commander, Sgt. Fernando Nino, on the same charges.

While the jury deliberated for 4 1/2 hours Friday, dozens of activists hurled eggs and paint bottles into Camp Casey, the U.S. military base north of Seoul, where the trial took place.

The demonstrators called the trial a sham.

Lt. Gen. Charles C. Campbell, commander of the Eighth U.S. Army, appealed to South Koreans to trust the judgment of the jury panels. (full story)

This is not exactly the right way to get on other countries' good sides. This feeds the negative perception of America that exists in so many places, that we're hellishly arrogant, smug and happy to fuck with the rest of the world. And this lends more credence to Chalmers Johnson's thesis. Oh and the Iraq war won't help. In the end, this goes in the file next to Okinawa and the gondola in Italy.