Sometimes mob violence is symbolic (as well as cathartic):

“I think this reflects the frustration and anger some Afghans feel, and they were looking for symbols of foreign presence,” [Paul Barker, CARE’s country director] said. “The tolerance for U.S. military mistakes has become strained to the breaking point in a lot of people.”

Kind of casts the recent blogosphere lynching of O’Reilly in a new light. Why were people so ready to pile on?