Monday, October 12, 2015

Temptation


Hello I am the Sir Guestling and thus it will always be!

Many years past when both I and the world were younger, a rather naive Guestling Thorn, believed that most people in the diplomatic service were trustworthy and honest. I mistakenly thought that as a representative of Her Majesty's government one had integrity, was honest and would try one's hardest to achieve the best outcome. It did not take too long to dissuade me of that ideal. I was not so naive, that I thought diplomacy would always find a solution, history has shown that to many disputes and situations just cannot be solved by measured discussions but I did believe we could change things.
In every walk of life you meet those who take shortcuts or want an easy life, some who deliberately find obstacles where there are none, who cheat and lie for their own gain or who simply don't care. We've all met them. I like to think the best of people and until they prove me wrong and I try to treat everyone that way. Sometimes your view of a colleague can be misguided and they are not as bad as you believed and sometimes they are far worse!
It is far worse, when the person in question is the leader of the team. I had been posted to an embassy in a very volatile south american country, I am deliberately not saying which one, nor will I mention the Ambassador in question, not because of any qualms about the politics but because I do not wish to impugn the reputation of a person who is long passed or upset his family. This man had a distinguished career and was well thought of in the diplomatic community. I was honoured to join his team and looked forward to learning from him. There were only a few of us and the country was in a state of constant turmoil, corruption was rife, killings were frequent and the whole situation became increasingly volatile. The government was losing control and the president looked to Britain and the USA to help them out. The Americans had their own agenda and were reluctant to get involved, they were still involved in Vietnam and had no wish to embroil themselves in another conflict. The British position was, as always, to try and stay neutral and see if we could persuade all the protagonists to meet and discuss a peaceful end to all conflict. Our Ambassador dragged his feet and seemed to procrastinate and delay, instead of trying to move things quickly. At first I thought it was a clever tactic and believed in his ultimate aim as he put it 
To bring everyone to the brink and get them sat down
I had been left to my own devices one afternoon in our rather splendid old colonial style embassy and found myself in the ambassador's office where I was trying to organise a stack of documents.  By accident I triggered a secret compartment in the desk, it revealed a leather covered ledger. I opened the pages and found a complete set of figures which were the accounts of bribes and other payments that our gallant leader had been taking from all sides and where he had transferred the money too. To say I was shocked and horrified is an understatement but it did explain his reluctance to help settle matters. The longer he could keep things as they were, it seemed the more he could line his own filthy pockets! My faith, in a man I believed acted with integrity and diplomacy, was shattered. I am a Thorn and I knew what I had to do. A Thorn's approach to these problems is to face them head on and sometimes damn the consequences, clearly he was corrupt and clearly it had to be stopped. He returned and I asked for a private meeting. He greeted me all smiles and compliments, telling me he had been meaning to inform me what a good job I was doing and how he was sorry he had not found the time to say so. His bonhomie rapidly disappeared as I produced the ledger from behind my back and his hand strayed nervously to the secret compartment.  
What have you there?
I think you know sir I calmly replied, though I felt far from calm inside.
He coughed and laughed nervously And what do you propose to do with it?
I am hoping there is a rational explanation sir and it's not what it seems?
I was expecting a denial or some reasoning of it's content but to my surprise he said I'm afraid Guestling it is exactly what you think it is! So what are you going to do?
I hesitated, I had been expecting denial and I had got a flat admission of guilt, I confess it threw me off balance but a Thorn must do the right the thing, a little bending of rules can be tolerated especially for the right reason but flagrant corruption cannot. 
I am duty bound to report it sir, you have prolonged a dangerous situation for your own gain and it must have consequences. All pretence at bravado dissipated and he slumped in his chair and collapsed like a deflated balloon.
I have ruined a long career and besmirched my service, sometimes Guestling greed creeps up and even though you know it's wrong the temptation is to great. Age catches up with us all and I was only thinking of my comfort and not my duty. Make your call Thorn, I deserve it.
Somewhat shocked by his rapid capitulation, that's what I did.
Well the matter was dealt with quickly after that, of course it was all done quietly and with little fuss. All of the staff were replaced and investigated in case they too had been tainted, including myself. I'm pleased to report that none of the others were involved and all were ignorant of his crime.
Nor did my part in the affair do me any good and for a time my career was stalled but old Guestling usually comes bouncing back and so I did!
Well that was a long time ago but it is a timely reminder that no matter who or how high the office corruption will tempt even the best of us and one must be ever vigilant in resisting. Sound familiar?
Have a great week, tat ta for now.

No comments:

Post a Comment