Hypocrisy makes the diplomatic and political worlds go 'round, I know. But on the subject of diplomatic immunity and fatal road traffic accidents, I submit for your approval the case of a highly successful British diplomat who not only killed a local citizen when he hit a cyclist with his car, but then scarpered off without even so much as expressing the regret that we may presume he feels.
And the UK government likewise remained silent. Nothing about the incident in any way hindered this diplomat's long and highly successful career, both in government and on corporate boards.
Forgive me for being cynical, but when I view the endless moralizing from UK politicians over the use of diplomatic immunity in the Harry Dunn case, I am unmoved.
It's hard to find anything about the old incident in an internet search, but here are the bare bones of the story as recalled by the diplomat himself in a British diplomatic oral history program interview (here) in 2016:
CM: You were in Moscow from ‘78 to ’79. Was your posting for just one year? NS: No, it should have been two years, but I had a car accident that the Russians held me responsible for, so I didn’t go back after my summer holiday. It was thought better for me not to go back. It happened in Moscow. I think it was a genuine accident, but it appeared that the person whom I hit ran into the road and was probably drunk at the time. I don’t think to this day that it was my fault, but that was their conclusion and of course it was done at a time when the overall relationship was under some pressure and there were lots of extraneous noises off, so it fell into a pattern of difficulty of that kind. The atmospherics in the relationship had been difficult in any event. There had been visa problems and everything else. It wasn’t entirely surprising that they would take advantage of that to cause a bit of minor dislocation on our side. So I stayed in London and as a result of that, because I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise, I got involved in the Lancaster House negotiations on Rhodesia, which were starting in the autumn of ’79.
"It was thought better for me not to go back."
Simple as that. Official indifference on the UK's part, and on Russia's part no criminal charges, extradition request, appeal for waiver of immunity, lawsuit, insurance settlement, media circus, or years of political grandstanding.
17 comments:
TSB: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ethiopians-told-defend-capital-tigray-rebels-encroach-us-embassy-evacuating-staff-amid
Looks like "nobel Peace Prize Winner" and celebrated leader is about to bite the dust after 3 yrs battle with the Tigray Rebels? gwb Still no word on whether the "walkout speech ever took plac?
Maybe the lesson there is that you don't want a Peace Prize winner in charge of your war.
SB: So, looks like the US is behind this coup: The signing ceremony of the formation of the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Con-federalist Forces at the Washington DC National Press Club. TPLF and OLF are some of the nine political and armed forces of Ethiopia. @SecBlinken @JosepBorrellF @SenatorMenendez @USAmbUN: So if you are a US State Dept worker who is lwaving the country this week wih your family do you go wherever you can? until you get further instructions? Do you get reimbursed for your exra expenses? How unexpected was this? Thanks! gwb
TSB; Navy Fires Commander Of Nuclear Sub That Hit Underwater Mountain In South China Sea: (Cina did it.)https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/navy-fires-commander-nuclear-sub-hit-underwater-mountain-south-china-sea
gwb
GWB: I wouldn't say the U.S. was behind anything there. As for evacuees, it varies case by case; they may go to the U.S. or to a safe nearby country if they can be supported there. If they are ordered to depart, then the costs are on the government. If dependants are merely authorized - not ordered - to depart, then it may be on their dime. Private citizens who take the embassy's advice to depart are on their own (same as they were when they traveled there in the first place) but can sign a promissory note and get the G to advance the departure cost.
TSB: Thanks .. Biden Admin Silent As EU, Iran, & China Freely Violate US Sanctions: In 2021, though, right after the Biden administration took office, China ramped up its oil imports from by Iran increasing them from 200,000 a day to nearly one million barrels a day.Germany remained the top trading partner of Iran during the seven months under review, as the two countries exchanged €1.01 billion worth of goods."
Iran's commodities exports to the EU in the first six month of 2021 was worth nearly half a billion: In summary: Whatev China or the EU wants, they gets! Another headline today: Poland To Double The Size Of Its Army, Citing "Russia's Imperial Ambitions"... to protect it's border from Belarus immigrants? Does it seem like this is all based on energy? Run by Nuland? gwb
TSB: I spent the past 2 hrs reading the House Foreign Affairs Rep. Subcommitttee investigation into Covid released in April 2021: it is very comprehensive and essentially focuses on one man: Peter Dazak, who has dodged answering the 20 or so questions they would li ke answers to re: Cov 2 which is at least 20 times more infective than Cov-19.https://bit.ly/2YmWub9
This is very relevant to me before I move to a place where I will be much more exposed to this virus. (I'm hearing daily first hand reports indicating that many people my daughter is talking to are sick and dying from it near where sh lives_ The Dems are stonewalling this! Daszac is the key. gwb
GSB: Nuland running things? Naw, reality is running things these days. China does what it will, and the EU accepts what it must.
I just hope we'll let Germany suffer the consequences of its actions.
TSB; "No Extra Gas Booked" - European Gas Prices Surge After Putin Punks Freezing Continent:So, the one pipeling supplying Germany wih gas today supplied none, but instead sent it all to Poland!
Also, It looks like Brexit is in peril as BoJo fails to provide checks on goods like eggs and milk between Ireland and Britain as promised. Everybody is mad but Putin has all the cards. gwb (and Biden shuts down anoher pipeline.)
TSB; Rittenhouse Witness Blows Case For Prosecution, Admits He Pointed Gun, Advanced First: Nobody mentions it but other big "heroes" of this case were the two lawyers "The Pillow Guy" and the other guy who tried to make the case that the election was rigged. They raised money and represented Rittenhouse when nobody else would. Not a proud day for "Biden Justice" Kamala or the FBI who withheld the deciding evidence. gwb *Michael LInn? All supporters of another victim of all this BS: Sydney Powell.
GWB: I've been following the Rittenhouse trial at nights, and yes, it's a disaster for the prosecution. When the prosecutor makes points for the defense, he ought to have the good sense to stop asking questions. But he lacks the good sense to stop asking questions.
The big media seem to be skipping over all the good parts, like today. Defense question to Gaige 'Lefty' Grosskreutz: "it wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him ... that he fired, right?" Lefty: "Correct." The defense then presented a photo of Grosskreutz with his pistol pointed at the defendant, so that testimony checks out. That's dramatic stuff, but NPR and others I just checked omitted the entire exchange.
The not guilty verdict will come as a stunning surprise.
TSB: I didn't realize the Kenosha cops and prosecutor were all one big happy family of related criminals..But closer to home: US widow horrified as husband’s body donated to science is dissected publicly: WWI veteran issected before a public audience paying $500 each in POrtland, Oregon yesterday.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-widow-horrified-as-husband-s-body-donated-to-science-is-dissected-publicly/ar-AAQvogc?ocid=msedgntp She, of course was never informed of this until somebody read it in the paper. Ethics in Medicine
does not exist in the US'government funded system. The "death shot" is it's crowning achievement! gwb
GWB: That misuse of donated bodies is shocking. Medical ethics-wise, how do you weigh in it the scales against the possible benefits of research on, for instance, blast-caused brain injuries, or other traumas? It's not the Nazi's and their experiments in freezing prisoners to death to learn how to design cold water survival suits - data which we used post-war, I believe - but still bad enough.
I don't know TSB about a " not guilty" verdict. I understand there has been quite a bit of jury intimidation and harassment by the left in this case.
TSB; The new driver's license in Utah will incorporate your vaccination visa and your ID that allows you to work, eat or shop at inside locations. Suddenly pediatric ICU's are being filled with newborns of vaccinated mothers with heart defects and other reare abnormalities. from the vaccines. The various vaccines have been causing myocarditis in many professional athletes as well.bwb.My new
"Shabin" gets delivered on site tomorrow!!t's already snowing over there. gwb
TSB: Cargill Meatpacking of Canada with 10,400 workers ant 44% of the business is going on strike December 10th for higher wages and better benefits. Food inflation in N.America is at a 40 yr high and this is going to hit Canadian farmers hard as there will be no market for their animals. On the bright side this may lower hay prices for Jenny, my new pet goat? gwb
TSB: NEW YORK — The holidays are about to get heated — and politics aren’t even the main issue this time. Nearly two-thirds of vaccinated Americans are banning unvaccinated family members from their holiday gatherings this year.
I like the advice of Epicitus: "Go where you are celebrated, not where you are merely tolerated." My "Shabin" arrives this afternoon and will be elevated on adjustable blocks to allow it to settle. Scott's friend from Seattle is visiting and brought a diessel mechanic with him to help with my daughter's fuel flow problem. 3/4 of my family hasn't been speaking to me since Since I took up the bible and warned them all about the Wuhan flu and vaccines.Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Week! gwb
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