"'Hostage,' Mr. Kiku said primly, 'is a word that no diplomat should ever use.'"
-CHAPTER XV, p. 154.
He has not denied that he is insisting on hostages, just that that word should ever be used. And he does all this with a straight face. We can learn from the diplomat, Kiku, just as we learn from the merchant, Nicholas van Rijn.
Another short post but I really am trying to get to bed after midnight again.
We deal with cosmic matters and with trivial details. All is one.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I don't clearly recall the exact details, but my vague recollection is that the Geneva/Hague conventions codifying the laws and customs of war allows for the legitimate use of hostages. I "think" in times of war a belligerent occupying some of the territory of its can take hostages, with a view to minimizing the forces needed for occupying it. That is, the hostages could agree to stand surety for the peaceful behavior of their co-nationals in the conquered territory. Any such agreement could allow the occupier to reduce the forces needed for garrisoning it. As long as the populace remains quiescent the hostages were safe--if not the hostages could lawfully be executed.
And that's exactly what we see in THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND, after the Terran Navy occupied several Ythrian planets with minimal garrisons. The wyvans had agreed to act as hostages for their people's good behavior, but took up arms when the main body of the Imperial fleet advanced further into the Domain. But the Imperials returned with unexpected speed and crushed the rebellions--after which the wyvans were executed. All this had been codified in the Covenant of Alfazar, in which the civilized interstellar powers bound themselves to accepting the laws and customs of war and diplomacy worked out over centuries on Terra.
Merry Christmas! Sean
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