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11/03/2005: Thought for the Day:
So why do we agree to a system in which we're dependent on a foreign country's whim before we can prosecute a criminal inside our own borders? The practical answer is: because we depend on other countries to honor our own diplomats' immunity just as scrupulously as we honor theirs.
The concept of diplomatic immunity--safe passage for diplomats in enemy territory--has existed in some form for centuries. Messengers between armies, approaching under a white flag, have long been understood to be safe from attack. Again, the principle involved was not law or treaty so much as self-interest: if we skewer their emissaries, they'll skewer ours.
--Guest contributer bricker [The Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, on the question "What is diplomatic immunity?"]
Len on 11.03.05 @ 05:39 AM CST
