It would not be unheard of for people who's lively hoods or culture are threatened by someone from another culture to behave irrational.
I think the whole marksman theory is flawed. It all assumes the person was actually aiming where it impacted. If it was a bullet, it could have hit anywhere. Who knows where the shooter was aiming.
Maybe because they were so shocked it hit Watson and not the zodiac 50 yards to the left that they dropped the gun in terror.
Sure, but it also goes both ways. Look at the Taiji fishermen using oars to repel the protesters, a pretty violent reaction to protect their livelihood. I can almost see if the acid attacks caused one of the JCG to draw his weapon in anger and fire. However, assuming they are not merely rent-a-cops but trained guys, your scenario is also flawed. Obviously this is all conjecture. That's why I say let SS go forward with criminal charges if they have proof. I'll admit my own experiences in the SS organization tells me to doubt the veracity of such a claim. PR machines are amazing in the amount of BS they spew. Many NGOs like to exaggerate numbers to make a point etc. It's the only way to get the attention of the general public.
I personally think Watson is doing a great job because he is doing everything in his power short of sending in a torpedo to stop the whalers in their tracks. He's risking life and limb for the cause he believes in. A cause most of us believe in. Maybe we don't like his methods, but he's getting results. It doesnt matter who or if a gun was fired. He's the underdog and has already won that battle. Little guy was shot by giant whale butchering monsters. He's milking it for all its worth, as he should. Im seeing worse things every day in the presidential campaigns.
I admire his passion as well. But no less passionate are the Green Peace group who do not engage in this sort of violent behavior. That is something that is very much debateable. The extent of which his campaign is working vs passive methods of actual diplomacy of governments working through the IWC and GreenPeace and other NGOs. The only effect I can see is the sensationalized publicity in the western world and disrupting one boat from hunting (which endangering lives on both sides) and breaking(not bending) the law by boarding other vessels, acid bottle throwing, prop fouling etc). The publicity is great for his money raising ability and ego, but the backlash to that is it serves the nationalists in Japan who use it to garner support for the whaling industry in Japan, the reverse of what is needed. I use to think his methods were effective because I wanted them to be. However, pulling my emotions aside and looking at the track record, it's not. How effective were these tactics in Norway in the 90s? Have the Norwegians stopped whaling? No, instead they have a warrant for his arrest(one of the big reasons he's no longer in the EU much) and still take over 500 minkes a year..
Nor are the Japanese really the victims they claim to be. They use a sham loophole to continue to support an industry that is failed. Nobody likes the guy who gets away on a technicality, like O.J. for instance
. That's why the IWC meeting in London over the weekend went again to resolve this issue. In fact several conflicting reports on how the meeting went have surfaced.
One from the Independent states that there was consensus to allow limited whaling and shelf the phony JARPA permits. Of course Australia is also touting that
they won support for whale conservation.I believe Hogarth and others are doing their best to control the whaling situation. It's not easy when big money and national pride is involved.
