Comment Re:Pity (Score 1) 125
What the heck is the security justification for heads of state, or their families to be exempt?
Two words: Diplomatic Passport. Followed by another two words: Diplomatic Incident.
We know that the US doesn't have much regard for the rights of plebes but, since the generally-accepted retaliation for mistreating foreigners with diplomatic status is other countries mistreating your persons of diplomatic status, they're going to try and avoid messing with heads-of-state if possible. It just gets ugly.
Also, the family members exemption (and yes, I have read the document) is pretty specific. It's not a blanket exception, but applies only when they're accompanied by the head-of-state in question.