Reply #41: Apparently the only media that didn't mention NSA was ours

[cal04]

the media coverage has made virtually no mention of the fact that the Bush administration used the NSA to spy on U.N. diplomats in New York before the invasion of

Last Sunday's revelation, published in The Observer, of a 'top secret' US memo, supposedly showing that the NSA has eavesdropped on members of the UN Security Council in recent weeks for insights into their negotiating positions on Iraq, is shocking. But perhaps not for the reasons that might first come to mind.

While the US administration has refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of the memo, it is a sad truth that spying at the United Nations, both at the headquarters and among its various agencies and field missions is as old as the UN itself. The real significance of this story is what this rare public disclosure of such aggressive dipomatic tactics, whether seen as fair or foul, tells us about the atmosphere at the United Nations at a time when the world's diplomats stand starkly divided over the prospect of war on Iraq.

First, the story is clearly embarrassing for the US Administration coming as it does at a crucial moment in its joint efforts with the British Government to secure a second resolution in the Security Council. It will be seen by detractors as heavy-handed and confirm deep-rooted suspicions among many Europeans and others about the direction of US foreign policy under the Bush Administration. It has also upset some of the key undecided UN delegations in the current debate. The Chileans in particular have been vocal about this.

However, the media maelstrom the memo has set off as far away as Sydney and Moscow - but significantly not in Washington - is indicative of a wider malaise in the transatlantic arms control and foreign policy relationship. It says a great deal about the current differences between Bush and Blair's position on Iraq and that of France, Germany and Russia, and why these erstwhile allies have been unable to find a compromise position in Iraq.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,910350,00.html