I suppose this would bring a tear of joy to the eyes of anti-UN types. NY alone stands to gain $100,000,000+ in property taxes and penalties from the foreigners.
The problem is, now those countries will be free to reciprocate in relatiation. What's good for the goose is good for the gander! Why would this bother Americans who don't give a flying f**k about foreign countries? Because we have massive embassies in prime real estate around the world.
For example, they said, the cash-strapped localities of Baghdad and Kabul could now argue that Washington should pay taxes on the U.S. embassies there, both of which contain housing quarters for hundreds of staff. If the United States objects, they could decide to sue given the Supreme Court ruling.
"The cornerstone of diplomatic relations is reciprocity; without reciprocity the whole system fails," said lawyer Andrew Odell, a former general counsel for New York City's U.N. and Consular Corps Commission. "Any affected country will in some fashion seek retribution. They will do something to mete out reciprocity, it's just the nature of bilateral relations."
So, if this holds, get ready to start paying more to maintain America's overseas empire. I don't know if it affects military bases overseas, but if it did, we'd probably owe billions more in Japan, alone.
More broadly, the finding could also jeopardize traditional rights and privileges that date back to ancient Greece and are enshrined in international treaties, notably the Vienna Convention, which grants immunity from most civil and criminal prosecutions to diplomats on foreign soil.
This slippery slope could result in Americans losing diplomatic immunity overseas. How would this affect intelligence operations? How would this affect our ability to go after terrorists? Time will tell.
Who knows, maybe Americans are about to learn the true price of empire maintenance. At least then, they could decide if it's something they actually want.
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