March 04, 2003
Coverage of Alleged Diplomatic Dirty Tricks? In
the U.S., Mostly Online
It is absolutely huge news around the world --
allegations in last Sunday's London Observer that the United States has
launched a surveillance and/or "dirty
tricks" campaign against United Nations delegations of
nations on the Security Council. The Observer also published an
alleged internal memorandum from the
U.S. National Security Agency, in which a key official discusses the
campaign.
Yet this is not news at all in most American publications. Why not?
The U.S. government isn't denying the report, according to
this story in Newsday, one of the few
U.S. newspapers that has followed up what strikes me as an explosive
charge. (See also Salon's coverage,
which is quite good.)
Needless to say, the webloggers are going nuts with the story, spreading
it far and wide no matter what U.S. media do. It's the top news item on
the link-based Daypop's Top 40 today,
for example.
Two issues seem worth mentioning here. Spying on diplomatic delegations
is common practice all over the world. They do it to our folks overseas.
We do it to them here.
Second, however, if the Bush administration is indeed pulling some kind
of sleazy campaign to wheedle favorable votes in the Security Council in
favor of invading Iraq, the operation could backfire badly. It's
incredible how clumsy the administration has been in its rush to war,
taking what still seems like a reasonable goal -- ridding the world of a
murderous thug like Saddam Hussein and promoting democracy in the Middle
East -- and turning it so sour.
� posted by Dan Gillmor 08:48
AM
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