On Mon, 1 Jan 1996, David Lesher wrote:

...

the concept is interesting... diplomatic immunity is not automatic in that it implies diplomatic recognition. does a rogue state enjoy the privilege of obviously bogus diplomatic passports? the diplomatic passport is a "gentleman's agreement" to facilitate trading intelligence officers --sarcastic maybe, truthful? been there, done that.

A Dip Passport does nothing of the kind.

come on, David. stated and "real" use are often quite different. I meant what I said, literally: "...been there, done that." it's nice to believe that governments are above board --they never have been, and never will be --and Bubba is a prime example. I would buy a used car from Tricky Dick long before I would from Bubba! power is not only corruption, it is _deceit_! BTW, I do not disagree with your "protocol" in the slightest. PNG, and the trading of PNGs has been around ever since the French seemed to their language dominate foreign affairs --however, persona non gratis is rather explicit. and, I still wonder how the host country will treat "bogus" DPs from rogue states if they have more DPs than real citizens. uncle has been getting less suble these days....

You are awarded stutus by your placement by the host country, on their Diplomatic List. If you are there, fine; otherwise... Now, you'll never get on that list without a Dip. Passport & recipricol agreement but it's not enough...

Your name can be removed by the host at any time (PNG'ed) but some kind of warning is necessary so you can leave the host country prior to expiration of the status. (Not much, however! I recall one case where it was _literally_ "Be on the 4pm plane, or else.") If you are out of the country already, you won't be back. (One person was, and his cat became the ""PNG Pussy"" as she was shipped home the next day.)

The Dip List being out-of-date caused considerable embarrassment to the US during our invasion of Panama. Marines raided the Nicaraguan Ambassador's Residence because the out-of-date copy at the US Mission showed the _old_ address.

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