Tiassa
02-26-04, 07:09 AM
Short: Brits bugged Secretary General
Bloomberg reports that former UK Development Secretary Clare Short has revealed that the British government spied on the office of the Secretary General of the United States prior to the invasion of Iraq.Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- British intelligence spied on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during the buildup to last year's Iraq war, former U.K. Development Secretary Clare Short told the British Broadcasting Corp. today.
The war that toppled Saddam Hussein began last March, after the U.S. and U.K. failed to win UN support for a Security Council resolution explicitly endorsing military action. Short resigned from U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet in April, and called for Blair to quit over the war.
"These things are done and in the case of Kofi's office, they've been done for some time," Short said. "I've seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations."
Short's comments will fuel political debate about British actions before the war. U.K. prosecutors yesterday dropped charges against Katharine Gun, a U.K. intelligence worker who leaked an e-mail about a U.S. request that Britain help bug UN delegations before the Iraq war. (Bloomberg (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aDplnXZGshCk&refer=uk))This could spell trouble for Tony Blair ... isn't he answering questions on the matter right about now?
Reuters hits the wire with the UN's response; they're not surprised."This is something which is not entirely surprising because we always have suspected that," Andreas Nicklisch, deputy director of the U.N.'s office in Brussels, said in a telephone interview from London.
"It's illegal of course, but it's also unnecessary because we work in complete transparency and openness." (Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4443614§ion=news))You know, all is fair in love and war, but if we're going to bother pretending to get along at all in this world, there are some things you just don't do.
This is one of those things that's a toss-up. Either Ms. Short is grievously incorrect, or else it really has come to this.
You spy on your friends, you spy on your enemies. It's actually hard to tell which is more embarrassing to be busted by.
Although, for the record, I give about as much credibility to the statement that the UN operates in complete transparency and openness as I do to the statement that British security services always act within the law.
Nonetheless--all is fair in love and war; nothing is sacred; trust nobody; keep your friends close and your enemies closer ... I just don't see that this has really done a whole hell of a lot for the world throughout time.
Tragic, but inevitable.
Bloomberg. "UK Spied on UN's Annan, Ex-Cabinet Minister Says (Update 1)." February 26, 2004. See http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aDplnXZGshCk&refer=uk
Reuters. "U.N. Says Any British Spying on Annan Illegal." February 26, 2004. See http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4443614§ion=news
Bloomberg reports that former UK Development Secretary Clare Short has revealed that the British government spied on the office of the Secretary General of the United States prior to the invasion of Iraq.Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- British intelligence spied on United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan during the buildup to last year's Iraq war, former U.K. Development Secretary Clare Short told the British Broadcasting Corp. today.
The war that toppled Saddam Hussein began last March, after the U.S. and U.K. failed to win UN support for a Security Council resolution explicitly endorsing military action. Short resigned from U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet in April, and called for Blair to quit over the war.
"These things are done and in the case of Kofi's office, they've been done for some time," Short said. "I've seen transcripts of Kofi Annan's conversations."
Short's comments will fuel political debate about British actions before the war. U.K. prosecutors yesterday dropped charges against Katharine Gun, a U.K. intelligence worker who leaked an e-mail about a U.S. request that Britain help bug UN delegations before the Iraq war. (Bloomberg (http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aDplnXZGshCk&refer=uk))This could spell trouble for Tony Blair ... isn't he answering questions on the matter right about now?
Reuters hits the wire with the UN's response; they're not surprised."This is something which is not entirely surprising because we always have suspected that," Andreas Nicklisch, deputy director of the U.N.'s office in Brussels, said in a telephone interview from London.
"It's illegal of course, but it's also unnecessary because we work in complete transparency and openness." (Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4443614§ion=news))You know, all is fair in love and war, but if we're going to bother pretending to get along at all in this world, there are some things you just don't do.
This is one of those things that's a toss-up. Either Ms. Short is grievously incorrect, or else it really has come to this.
You spy on your friends, you spy on your enemies. It's actually hard to tell which is more embarrassing to be busted by.
Although, for the record, I give about as much credibility to the statement that the UN operates in complete transparency and openness as I do to the statement that British security services always act within the law.
Nonetheless--all is fair in love and war; nothing is sacred; trust nobody; keep your friends close and your enemies closer ... I just don't see that this has really done a whole hell of a lot for the world throughout time.
Tragic, but inevitable.
Bloomberg. "UK Spied on UN's Annan, Ex-Cabinet Minister Says (Update 1)." February 26, 2004. See http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aDplnXZGshCk&refer=uk
Reuters. "U.N. Says Any British Spying on Annan Illegal." February 26, 2004. See http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4443614§ion=news