Diplomats who commit crimes shouldn’t get a free pass

[Juice]

While that might be technically true, US tried the level best to make him avoid facing the law. They played all the trick in the book to help him avoid the law. So morally US does not have right to preach.

I agree...we should not preach. Just do what we gotta do.

 

[Solomon2]

Come get him....just like we got OBL....c'mon....we're waiting....

Can't go in the Mission unless the Secretary-General says so. If he removes Khobragade's immunity as a result of talks with the State Dept. and the Indians don't kick her out, he may send in the U.N.'s own police force, backed by New York's Finest if necessary.

 

[Supply&Demand]

Americans love to be all righteous when a dark skinned person is on trial but if the crime was committed by an American..lo behold they chuck all the laws out of the nearest window...

Good for u...now US has added another country to the list of nations that dont like americans...good job!!!

 

[Juice]

Americans love to be all righteous when a dark skinned person is on trial but if the crime was committed by an American..lo behold they chuck all the laws out of the nearest window...

Good for u...now US has added another country to the list of nations that dont like americans...good job!!!

Yeah....lose tons of sleep over that. I notice a whole bunch of foreigners in this town....I have noticed they are in no hurry to leave...

 

[Solomon2]

Americans love to be all righteous when a dark skinned person is on trial but if the crime was committed by an American..lo behold they chuck all the laws out of the nearest window...

You're just repeating the myth that I keep destroying so why should you take your own mouthings seriously?

 

[Supply&Demand]

For ppl who are under the delusions of gr8 American law and order and justice system..

check it out...

Krittika Biswas: The Story You Did Not Know

You're just repeating the myth that I keep destroying so why should you take your own mouthings seriously?

u destroyed shit...u r just harping the same crap again and again...When American 'diplomats' murder innocents in other countries..i dont see Washington post posting such type of articles...

Just because..now u have another dark skinned person who allegedly committed a crime, we have americans playing holier than thou

Yeah....lose tons of sleep over that. I notice a whole bunch of foreigners in this town....I have noticed they are in hurry to leave...

why the f*ck would u care anyways?? for ppl like u the world starts and stops in America...lets wait for few days...ur americans diplomats will be spending nights in Indian prison..and trust me they are not going to forget the experience...

Atleast some Americans are sane..unlike above...

Solving The Simmering India-US Diplomat Disagreement
The dispute between India and the United States over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York is still on a low boil:

India’s diplomatic corps, still seething over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York, continued its tit-for-tat campaign against American diplomats this week, revoking privileges, beginning tax investigations and issuing new consular identity cards that say the card holder can be arrested for serious offenses.

Although top Indian politicians are no longer denouncing the United States daily for the arrest and strip search of the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, 39, foreign service officials are not letting the matter drop. The continued hard feelings suggest that the dispute could have a long-term impact on a relationship both sides say is crucial.

The tiny Indian Foreign Service (just 1,750 people) is an elite body of carefully selected, extremely well-trained and very intelligent career civil servants. The IFS faces some problems, though. First, it is so small that it has a hard time managing India’s growing international portfolio. Second, as Indian politics becomes more populist, life gets harder for the elite bureaucracies, including the foreign ministry, who ruled the roost in India’s post-independence era. In an age of assertive state and regional identity politics, it is much harder for New Delhi bureaucracies to manage India by administrative fiat. Bureaucrats, including those in the foreign ministry, are operating in a much more challenging political environment.

A case like this one, which gives the foreign ministry street cred among nationalists, is welcome under the circumstances. By fighting with the US, the foreign ministry is reaping huge rewards in Indian public opinion and gaining legitimacy for its role as a vigilant defender of India’s interests worldwide—even as it acts to protect one of its own. It would be unrealistic to expect the foreign ministry not to want to milk this issue for what it can get, both at home and vis-a-vis the US, so US diplomats may find it hard to bring the incident to a rapid close with a few face-saving remarks.

Meanwhile, the whole question of India’s ever-closer relationship with the United States still raises some hackles on the subcontinent. There are many people in India—often linked to the old powerful bureaucracies built back in the day when a hegemonic Congress Party, steeped in left wing anti-colonialist thinking, ruled the roost. For them, this is a heaven-sent issue—a way to cool relations with the US while waving the flag of Indian patriotism. Again, these people have no interest in letting this issue fade away.

Fortunately, there are plenty of people in India who understand the strategic importance of US-India relations, and they will be working to minimize the long term damage of this incident. For American diplomats and others who want to help them, the key is to recognize the legitimate concerns that drive a lot of the emotion on the Indian side of this issue. India wants recognition of its status as a first rank power in the world. It fears that it doesn’t yet get this and it sees cases like this one as examples of Indians being treated with contempt.

That’s not how it looks to many Americans in this case, where from the American view it is all about the defense of the rights of an Indian citizen (the maid), but many in India perceive the treatment of the diplomat as an expression of contempt for the Indian state.

Coming to some kind of mutually face-saving compromise on the current case would be a good idea, and if nothing else it is useful to remember that President Obama has the power to pardon any offenses under US law. More important, the US needs to sit down with the Indian government and work out a mutually acceptable understanding that will govern the status of diplomats and consular officials in both countries on the basis of reciprocity.

America’s goal here is not to win an argument about the merits of this case. It is to deepen our relationship with India without doing violence to our own principles and laws.

 

[Juice]

Starts and stops in America? Another myth. I have travelled the world (as have MANY Americans). And I don't mean packaged tours (Born in Germany....altogether 9 years in Europe). We are very well travelled people. Yes....we are more concerned with our nation than others...but everyone is like that. I'll bet you don't follow Albanian politics for example....(ps...in the post you quoted I meant to say "no hurry")

 

[AhsanAmin]

R. Davis didn't get off scot-free but in accordance with Pakistan-endorsed sharia law paid "blood money" - essentially a conviction of manslaughter payable by a fine.

In a country where Army has a great tendency of threatening and forcing people to toe its own line and gets billions of dollars of aid from America in addition to large bribes to favorite generals, and where Mr. Zardari continued to cling to power for five years despite huge corruption solely due to American support, this action was actually expected, since in a society with very limited resources everybody(army, politicians and court judges) want to mint quick money. Here is a quote from wikipedia.

It was also reported that top Pakistani Foreign Office officials alleged Pakistan's President, Asif Ali Zardari instructed the Foreign Office in categorical terms that Davis be given diplomatic immunity and for this purpose the Foreign Office should immediately issue a backdated letter notifying Davis as ‘member of staff member of the US embassy, in Islamabad.[85] Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi refused, saying: “on the basis of the official record and the advice given to me by the technocrats and experts of the Foreign Office, I could not certify him (Raymond Davis) as a diplomat. The kind of by blanket immunity Washington is pressing for Davis, is not endorsed by the official record of the Foreign Ministry."[86] Qureshi reiterated this stance after a meeting with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry on February 16. Qureshi said he kept quiet on the Davis case earlier upon instructions from the leadership of thePakistan People's Party (PPP), but implied that his stance on the matter had cost him his job. As of February 16 a new foreign minister has not yet been appointed.[87]

Here is something to remove the semblance of Justice Americans here want to maintain.

The Government of Pakistan was under extreme pressure from the United States to release Davis.[79][80][81][82] News reports indicate that the Pakistani Embassy in Washington was cut off from all communications with the United States Department of State over this issue. Diplomatic notes were sent by the U.S. Government to Pakistan's Foreign Office urging it to grant diplomatic immunity to Davis. A delegation of the United States House Committee on Armed Services conveyed a veiled threat that Pakistan-US defense cooperation could be under cloud if the standoff persisted on the issue of immunity for Davis.[60][83]

In another incident, ABC News reported that two Pakistani officials claimed that the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Husain Haqqani, received threats from the U.S. National Security AdvisorTom Donilon of being removed if action was not taken on the Davis case. Haqqani however categorically denied the allegation. According to the same report, Donilon also warned of U.S. consulates closing down in Pakistan and an upcoming visit by Zardari to Washington being rejected.[84]

The Guardian reported that a number of U.S. media outlets learned about Davis's CIA role but "kept it under wraps at the request of the Obama administration."[3] Colorado television station KUSA(9NEWS) learned that Davis worked for the CIA speaking to Davis's wife, who referred inquiries to a Washington, D.C. number for the CIA. The station then "removed the CIA reference from its website at the request of the U.S. government."[3]

I always wondered why no action was taken regarding the guy who was run over. The most likely explanation is that the officers who attempted to retrieve Davis had full and uncontested diplomatic immunity. (Yeah, this car accident s--t happens in the U.S. too, and - with one exception, a drunken Ukrainian who ran over a little girl - ends without a criminal prosecution. The rest of the time the dip gets expelled, I think.)

Our friend Solomon2 is probably one of those gullible people who continue to believe what their media likes to feed them.

 

[anonymus]

The difference is the crime committed by Raymond Davis is in the official line of business. He felt a threat and he shot those two guys. Devyani's is her personal business and nothing to do with anything official. So there is a whole lot of difference and moral standing on both the issues.

This is not a stand alone case. Two more instances have been mentioned in this thread only

You're just repeating the myth that I keep destroying so why should you take your own mouthings seriously?

What about this then-

US embassy cables: US-Romania relations threatened by musician's death | World news | theguardian.com

 

[indushek]

No point in sermons, u got to do what u got to do. The moral anguish of the west is comical to say the least.

 

[AhsanAmin]

I do not know whether this would be the right place to talk about this. But one of the great things about American constitution is American president's right to pardon the criminals. This right gets exercised especially at the end of the second term of a conservative president and hundreds of convicted criminals who somehow happen to know/like him, pray for the president forever after that. I do not know what to call it, may be show of magnanimity that comes with being president of the richest country in the world.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Except that it has, and continues to be, applied to American diplomats - what you display is simply proud ignorance.
.

Maybe it's my anti-Americanism kicking in. Wait.. I'm an Indian, suppose to be a pro-American. Then again.. what the heck! America has this wonderful knack of turning public opinion against them within no time due to their stupid arrogance!

 

[GoodBoy]

Lock the GAY US Diplomats in India who are doing GAY orgies in parties.

I hope it appears in "Banged Up Abroad" series on tv.

 

[Jzaib]

look who is talking ... US diplomats have abused diplomatic immunity more then anyone else in the world

 

[asad71]

If such an international law were introduced,American diplomats would lead in breaking such law.