Counterpoint: Two Stories Caught My Eye Todaly

Bob Woodward in the Washington Post:

Throughout much of the past two years, U.S. surveillance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and others within the Iraqi government has given the Bush administration a transparent view of the prime minister's actions, according to officials knowledgeable about the intelligence gathering.

"We know everything he says," said one source, who, like the other officials, declined to speak on the record because of the highly sensitive nature of the subject.

From the Economist:

VIEWED from any angle, the revelation that Abin, Brazil’s intelligence agency, recorded a conversation between Gilmar Mendes, president of the Supreme Court, and Demóstenes Torres, a senator, is ugly. Either someone told the agency to bug the highest judge in the land, or the senator’s phone was bugged—or an agent was freelancing. Any of these scenarios would be bad enough. But according to the source who handed the transcript to Veja magazine, the agency has also bugged the offices of the president and his chief of staff, as well as numerous congressmen.

In response to the news, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on September 1st ordered an inquiry and temporarily suspended Paulo Lacerda, the country’s chief spook, and senior officials in his agency. Mr Lacerda denies that his men bugged Mr Mendes. He has Lula’s backing, for the moment. In the meantime, all three branches of government—legislative, executive and judicial—are wondering whether they really were spied on, by whom and for what purpose.

Comment: Right to privacy, where privacy can be expected, should trump the desire for information on others. Getting caught invading someones privacy may, as Bob Woodward implies, by worse than ignorance. JAD