Monday, March 12, 2007

A kinky new twist on the 'international incident"

I've always wondered what, for example, the Argentinian ambassador to Vietnam does. Sure there is the odd lost hiker, and the outside chance the two nations might meet in an international sporting event -- an occasion which would call for a meal of beef and sweetbreads to be diplomatically proffered against a spicy bowl of crab and banh canh.

Other than that, what? Well, there is the embassy party circuit. But can anything good happen when you send somebody's nephew to a far-off, irrelevant land and give him a cool-sounding title, fancy digs, diplomatic immunity, an expense account and unlimited time and opportunity for drinking?

Probably not. Or, as the Israelis are finding out, things can get out flat-out goofy. Goofy in a bad way. According the BBC:

Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked apart from bondage gear. Reports say he was able to identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.

While the Israeli Foreign Ministry acknowledged Ambassador Tzuriel Refael hadn't technically violated any rules or broken any laws, he is still being brought home as an "unprecedented embarrassment."

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