Washington: India-born US proscutor Preet Bharara has thrown the book at an Indian diplomat over alleged visa fraud in the name of equality before law, "no matter how powerful, rich or connected they are." Contrast this with the lengths Uncle Sam has gone to save the skin of its diplomats and non-diplomats alike accused of exploiting their domestic help, or even rape, murder and worse.

Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, has recalled "a similar but much worse row in January 2011" when a CIA contractor Raymond Davis killed two men in a crowded street in Lahore. The US claimed that Davis carried a diplomatic passport, but Pakistan's Foreign Office found that Davis' name had been included on the list of diplomats serving in Pakistan only after he had committed the murders, he noted in an article in The Beast.

But once his real identity was revealed "The Pakistani government avoided embarrassing President (Barack) Obama, who had been misled into publicly insisting on Davis' diplomatic status," Haqqani wrote.

Eventually, Davis was set free by a Pakistani court after his lawyers reached a financial settlement with the victims' families under Pakistan's Islamic 'blood money' law, he recalled and US conveyed America's regret over the loss of life caused by Davis.

Peter Van Buren, who blew the whistle on the State Department waste and mismanagement during Iraqi reconstruction in his first book, "We Meant Well", has in his blog lifted the lid on the cases of several other US diplomats who have gone scot free after various crimes.
Read Also:
Indian Diplomat In New York Arrested For Visa Fraud
Opportunities Provided By Indo-U.S. Nuke Deal Yet To Be Tapped, Says Condoleezza Rice