Posted on 09/07/2008 8:12:24 AM PDT by forkinsocket
BAGHDAD — The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true.
The allegations appear in a new book, The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008, by journalist Bob Woodward, who writes that the United States spied extensively on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and other government officials.
The report emerged as the two governments are in delicate negotiations over the future of American troops in Iraq. Those talks have already extended past their July 31 deadline and have drawn sharp criticism from Iraqis who want an end to the U.S. presence.
Critics may well use the allegation to step up pressure on the government not to sign a deal or hold out for the most favorable terms.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Baghdad will raise the allegations with the U.S. and ask for an explanation.
But if true, he warned, it shows a lack of trust.
"It reflects also that the institutions in the United States are used to spy on their friends and their enemies in the same way," al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
"If it is true, it casts a shadow on the future relations with such institutions," al-Dabbagh added, referring to the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies.
In Washington, the White House declined to directly comment on the allegations.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
“The allegations appear in a new book, The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008, by journalist Bob Woodward”
Oh, THAT S.O.B.
That SOB needs to be strung up for treason, just because he loves putting down the US Pres in the face of war, as if he’s the enemy vs. the foreigners, much less any snitching going on.
Excuse me but we (USA) have every right to "vett" the guy.
Why Bush has let this “journalist” have such unfettered access is beyond me.
Typical lib, anything to hurt the war effort and/or the Bush administration.
by pseudo journalist Bob Woodward ?? fixed it!
This Pinko POS is still out there carping ?
Thanks for posting the article.
That’s why we call them ‘spies’. We have whole agencies full of them, and he’s not the only one we spy on.
Buh-bye Chronicle. There's a reason you're in the dumpster.
Well, the Administration should come out and debunk the guy. I would like to hear something like this:
‘Don’t believe everything you hear from a Democrat, especially members of the MSM like Bob Woodward who’s got an ax to grind. Look what they are doing to the Republican VP nominee. They spread lies and rumors about her.’
The Iraqi government needs to join the grown-up world. Everybody spies on everybody. You spy on enemies, you spy on allies, you try to steal info allies have gotten on enemies, you try to steal info enemies have gotten on allies. In the intel world there are no unacceptable sources.
U.S. spied on Iraq’s prime minister
____________________________________________
How naive of them to think they wouldn’t be spied on. Ofcourse we spied as does every nation with any resources to do so. It’s protecting our interests and our national security.
It was clear from the museum and books I read later that espionage is regular part of all foreign relations, “friendly” and not friendly. It is usually called “intelligence”, and it includes information from pretty normal conversations with leaders and diplomatic staff people to information picked up from listening devices, satellites and ground observers.
To a professional, saying “we know everything he says” in a hot zone like Iraq is so obvious as to be silly. This is probably why it got leaked.
Of course we keep tabs on these guys,,, who really knows what the oily, sneaky bastitches are doing behind our backs?
We keep tabs on everybody, just in case. Heck we spy on Israel and England, arguably the two closest allies we’ve had in our history. And they spy on us. Why? Just in case.
“The allegations appear in a new book, The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008, by journalist Bob Woodward”
Oh, THAT S.O.B.
That SOB needs to be strung up for treason, just because he loves putting down the US Pres in the face of war, as if he’s the enemy vs. the foreigners, much less any snitching going on.”
I want that hanging platform to be a “two-fer”.
I want Jimmah Carter right there with Woodward.
The scary thing is that the Iraqis are surprised by this. Are they that naive? We own their gov’t and it’s our investment that has resulted in it. They think we wouldn’t want to know what they are up to?
If I were the President I would say to Mr. Woodward: “Of course we spy on Iraqi politicians—the same way and for the same reason we spy on English, French, Mexican, Icelandic, Samoan, etc, etc and etc politicians. It’s called gathering intelligence you fool.” Woodward is so nothing anymore. If he really is naive enough to believe we don’t spy on all countries he is even more stupid than I thought. Get a grip everyone, this so called revelation is going no where. The only people who will unhappily shake their head at this are the usual suspects—brain dead dem voters.
With Woodward’s name on it, I call bullshit from the git !
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