Blair Battles to Calm Iraq Bugging Row

[Whoa_Nelly]

LONDON (Reuters) - Tony Blair battled on Friday to rise above a row sparked by claims of British subterfuge at the United Nations but the spying furor snowballed as former U.N. officials complained their phones had been tapped.

The prime minister was addressing a conference of his Labour Party in Scotland where he was expected to steer clear of the bugging charge and focus on domestic issues in yet another bid to put the controversy over the Iraq war behind him.

But the fallout from the bugging charge -- made by former British minister Clare Short -- proved relentless as former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and two former U.N. arms inspectors said they believed they had been spied on.

"From the first day I entered my office they told me: beware, your office is bugged, your residence is bugged," Boutros-Ghali told the BBC.

more...
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4454539

[wryter2000]

1. Saw him on the news last night

There he was, trying to smear Clare Short. What a slimy bastard.

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Other people are making the same allegation re: bugging

But Richard Butler, a former chief U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq, added his voice to the spying row, saying "there was abundant evidence that we were being constantly monitored."

and continuing on page 2 of the article:

I had to go to the basement cafe in the U.N. where there was heaps of noise or I'd go and take a walk in Central Park and keep walking" to avoid eavesdroppers, he told BBC Radio.

His successor Hans Blix also said he believed his phone had been tapped, according to media reports from Australia.

[sadiesworld]

2. What's the status of gay rights across the pond?

[Brotherjohn]

4. Why isn't this even raising an eyebrow on this side of the pond?!

Wasn't Katherine Gun being charged with revealing the fact that the UNITED STATES had requested the U.K.'s help in spying on the U.N.?

I mean, we read all these articles about how this is giving Tony Blair fits, and nary a mention of the fact that we were just as guilty, if not moreso!

[Brotherjohn]

10. The story (of U.S. spying) broke BEFORE the war, for Chrissakes!

March 2, 2003:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,905936,00.html

Also, there's more here:
http://www.accuracy.org/gun/

[Nihil]

5. The proof is in what isn't said

Noticed that nowhere has Blair said that *what* Short said was wrong,
merely that the fact that she said it was wrong.

This way he cannot be accused of having lied, merely of obstructing
the truth.

If Short was wrong, he would have said so and waved the appropriate
report in front of the camera on every opportunity to prove how
honest and upright a leader he is.

We are being deafened by the silence.


You know the bit that really made me laugh? The following statement
being provided by the BBC and the press:

> UK Home Secretary David Blunkett said he had never been shown
> transcripts of Mr Annan's phone conversations

The man's fucking BLIND!

He has a guide dog in the House of Commons!

Of course he'd never been shown any transcripts. Who the hell shows
a blind man anything? Now if Blunkett had said that he'd never heard
about any such operation, that would be a trifle more useful to
Blair's defence ...

Nihil

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Nice catch, Nihil

I wouldn't put it beyond them to squirm out that way!

[Whoa_Nelly]

8. If Blunkett had wanted to read the transcripts

or been given the opportunity to do so, wouldn't these have been given to him in Braille or read to him?

Whatever is going on re: bugging and UK and US, this doesn't pass the smell test, and has the ROVEr Hush-Up Machine stamp all over it; If it hurts Rove's pet monkey, it has to be obfuscated and dismantled in the press as quickly as possible.

[dArKeR]

6. [e-mail]

[e-mail]
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1077843961492B262&s ...

Office of the Spokesman for the Secretary-General
United Nations, S-378
New York, NY 10017
Tel. [phone] - press/media only
Fax. [phone]

[Barrett808]

9. US refuses comment on UN spying charges

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House refused to comment on whether the United States spied on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan or urged any allies to do so, amid charges that Britain did so ahead of the war in Iraq (news - web sites).

"I don't comment on national security matters such as intelligence," spokesman Scott McClellan said when asked whether Washington had eavesdropped on Annan's conversations or encouraged other nations to do so.

Asked whether he was stopping short of a denial, McClellan said "I don't think you should look at that either way. We do not discuss our intelligence matters."

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040227/pl_afp/us_iraq_un_spy&cid=1521&ncid=1480

[Brotherjohn]

11. So they are completely unaccountable then? What if they are spying...

... on every one of us? Would they then be able to claim it was an "intelligence matter" and be able to avoid the topic altogether?