In article .com,
says...


Americans always get ****ed off when the U.S. deports U.S. citizens to
stand trail in foreign countries. Why do you think this will be
different?


With all due respect, you're being a bit hard-headed about it.
You keep responding with generalities about extradition and US marshals
and all that jazz, when what people here are trying to say to you is that
it is, in fact, the specifics of this case that make it appear likely they
will not be going back there. Who knows, we may be wrong - but that's what
it looks like.

I believe had the Brazilian authorities felt they really had evidence of
criminal wrongdoing or negligence, they would not have released the
Americans. The fact that they did so, would seem to indicate that their
implication in the criminal investigation is more of a formality -
"because that's the way the system works". Others could be named as well -
the air traffic controllers on duty, even the equipment manufacturers.
Many of the issues that would be addressed through lawsuits in civil
courts in the US are often addressed in the criminal process in other
countries. Any or all of those named could be found not responsible, or
assigned different levels of responsibility, only the most direct of which
would lead to criminal sanctions.

I believe it's most likely the pilots will be tried in absentia, and we'll
see how much, if any responsibilty is assigned to their actions. By giving
them back their passports, the Brazilians are aware they face a comlicated
extradition process of they want to see them back there, and that's a
diplomatic issue thy would probably prefer to avoid. We'll see how it goes
- but in my opinion they would not have put themselves in that position
if they had a strong presumption of direct responsibility on behalf of the
American pilots.

GF