Text 4101, 122 rader
Skriven 2004-10-25 22:46:54 av Dawn Robicheaux (1:396/65.0)
   Kommentar till text 4043 av Frank Scheidt (1:123/140)
Ärende: ELECTION
================
Hello,

FS> The UN was formed at the end of WWII with one goal in mind -- to 
FS> prevent future wars.  It has proven to be an utter failure in 
FS> that respect hence it should be abandonded, and the NY real 
FS> estate should be put to better use -- perhaps as a parking lot.

A belated happy United Nations Day to you, too.

Though there have been many wars since its formation, how can you know 
how many wars have been prevented?  How can you know how much of an
impact the U.N. has had compared to a world where the U.N. never came
into existence?  As for its relative value, consider the claims made
in this article from the Washington Post:

   Spying Much Denied but Done a Lot at U.N., Experts Say 

   By Dana Priest and Colum Lynch
   Washington Post Staff Writers
   Friday, February 27, 2004; Page A14

   From the very first day it convened, the United Nations has been a
   magnet for spies, according to U.N. diplomats and U.S. intelligence
   experts.

   The tapping of phone lines and the planting of microphones in U.N.
   offices are common enough that the organization employs a team of
   debuggers, headed by a former New York police officer, to routinely
   sweep offices and respond to requests from nations that suspect their
   officials are being monitored.

   "In my opinion everybody spies on everybody, and when there's a
   crisis, big countries spy a lot," said Inocencio F. Arias, Spain's
   ambassador to the United Nations. "I wouldn't be surprised if this
   secretary general and other secretary generals have been listened to
   by a handful of big powers, and not only the ones you are thinking."

   An ambassador of a Security Council member nation, who spoke on the
   condition of anonymity, said it would almost be an insult to be spared
   the attention of foreign intelligence agencies. "It used to be a
   shame; now it's a matter of status. If your mission is not bugged,
   then you are really worth nothing."

   President Franklin D. Roosevelt "fought hard for the United States to
   host the opening session" of the United Nations" in April 1945, says
   James Bamford in his book about the National Security Agency, "Body of
   Secrets."

   "It seemed like a magnanimous gesture to most of the delegates. But
   the real reason was to better enable the United States to eavesdrop on
   its guests," according to Bamford.

   "They're doing it today," said Stephen C. Schlesinger, author of "Act
   of Creation: The Founding of the United Nations." "States always will
   be using spying to further their own national security interests."

   Regardless of how common spying is, it is not common to get caught, as
   the NSA apparently was last March when a British translator gave the
   Observer newspaper copies of an agency memo requesting a "surge" in
   eavesdropping on Security Council members during the debate on
   authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Yesterday, a former British
   cabinet member told BBC radio that she had seen transcripts of
   Secretary General Kofi Annan's surreptitiously recorded conversations.

   Experts say it would be highly unusual if the United States did not
   know about the Annan eavesdropping. Under a secret pact between
   Britain, Canada, Australia and the United States, Washington has
   responsibility for surveilling and sharing information on targets
   within the United States, NSA experts said.

   No wiretapping is allowed in the United States without a court order.
   When the eavesdropping involves foreign officials, the FBI or the NSA
   must obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act order, although
   classified executive orders permit surveillance of specific targets.

   Besides U.S. law, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said, three treaties --
   the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United
   Nations, the 1947 agreement between the United Nations and the United
   States regarding the headquarters of the United Nations, and the 1961
   Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations -- affirm the inviolability
   of U.N. premises. "The premises of the United Nations shall be
   inviolable," states the 1947 agreement, signed by Britain and the
   United States. It adds that the United Nations' "property and assets
   ... shall be immune" from any form of "interference, whether by
   executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action."

   At the same time, most diplomats acknowledge spying as a fact of life.
   It was at its height during the Cold War, when U.S. and Soviet agents
   competed for secret information, and the two rival countries filled
   their U.N. delegations with CIA and KGB officers. Still, it is a
   subject few diplomats discuss openly.

   "I take it as something that could take place," Sergey Lavrov,
   Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, said of the recent
   allegations. "I think it is illegal, but this shows that the British
   intelligence service at least technically are very professional."
   Lavrov said Russian intelligence would not engage in the same
   activity. "Never, never," he said. "I don't think you could find any
   even suspicion that the secretary general's office was bugged by the
   Russian intelligence service."

   Another Security Council member nation's ambassador reacted with
   incredulity. "On the record, if Lavrov says so, I have to believe
   Lavrov," the diplomat said. "Off the record: Is he joking?"

   "The U.N. spends millions a year on anti-bugging equipment," said
   James Atkinson, president of the Granite Island Group, a firm that
   provides debugging services to governments and private firms. Atkinson
   recently drove into New York for fun, passing by many foreign missions
   to the United Nations. "My equipment picked up so many bugs that it
   nearly tipped over."

   "The secretariat routinely takes technical measures to guard against
   such invasions of privacy," Eckhard said, "and those efforts will now
   be intensified."



  

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