http://dynamic.washtimes.com/twt-print.cfm?ArticleID=20030303-14680312
The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com
Report of plans by U.S. to spy on U.N. states questioned
Published March 3, 2003
From combined dispatches
LONDON - A British Sunday newspaper reported yesterday that the United States is
waging a "secret" campaign to eavesdrop on U.N. Security Council delegations in New
York in its battle to win votes in favor of war against Iraq.
The London Observer said it had obtained a memo describing what it called a
"dirty tricks" surveillance operation that involves interception of the home and
office telephone calls and the e-mail of U.N. delegates.
However, the authenticity of the memorandum was called into question and it was
not clear from the text published by the newspaper that "secret" surveillance,
interception of telephone calls and e-mail, or other extraordinary measures were
suggested.
The Observer story was widely reported throughout the Middle East and Europe and
could complicate U.S. and British efforts to win a new resolution in the Security
Council.
The Observer said the memo was written by a top official at the National Security
Agency (NSA), the U.S. agency that intercepts communications around the world, and
circulated by e-mail to senior agents in the organization and to a friendly foreign
intelligence agency.
The newspaper said the memo was directed at senior NSA officials and advises them
that the agency is "mounting a surge" aimed at gleaning information not only on how
delegations on the Security Council will vote on any second resolution on Iraq, but
also "policies," "negotiating positions," "alliances" and "dependencies" - the "whole
gamut of information that could give US policymakers an edge in obtaining results
favourable to U.S. goals or to head off surprises."
The Observer identifies "Frank Koza" as chief of staff in the "Regional Targets"
section of the NSA. Citing sources in Washington that it did not identify, the
newspaper said the NSA initiative was backed by National Security Adviser Condoleezza
Rice and had sparked divisions within the Bush administration.
The newspaper said that it had shown the memo to three former intelligence
operatives, whom it also did not identify, who judged its "language and content" as
authentic. The newspaper also said it had confirmed that a man named Frank Koza does
work for the NSA at a senior post in the "Regional Targets" division of the
organization.
The memo's authenticity was questioned by Internet reporter Matt Drudge, who
cited several misspellings - including the name of the memo's author - on the document
as published by the Observer, and an incorrect version of the agency's "top secret"
stamp.
Mr. Drudge, in an article posted on his Web site (www.drudgereport.com), noted
that the memo used British spellings such as "favourable," "emphasise" and "recognise"
instead of the American use of the letter "z" in the spellings, and that the spelling
of the author of the memo was changed from "Frank Koza" to "Frank Kozu" on the
Observer Web site (www.observer.co.uk)
The Observer posted a footnote late Sunday after receiving "many queries from the
United States," saying it changed the spellings for the convenience of its British
audience. The newspaper attributed other errors to typographical mistakes.
A later version of the Observer Web site spelled the author's name correctly as
"Frank Koza," but printed it all in upper case, followed by three question marks.
The memo describes orders to staff at the NSA to step up surveillance
"particularly directed at ... U.N. Security Council members" to provide
up-to-the-minute intelligence on their voting intentions.
The memo, dated Jan. 31, makes clear that the targets of the heightened
surveillance effort are the delegations from the so-called "middle six" delegations at
the U.N. headquarters in New York, according to the British weekly. The six are
Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Mexico, Guinea and Pakistan.
The United States, Britain and Spain have sponsored a new U.N. resolution
declaring Iraq in noncompliance with earlier U.N. demands that it disarm, which would
in effect authorize the use of force.
Nine votes are required to adopt the resolution to avoid a veto by one of the
five permanent members: the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia. The
United States and Britain are lobbying for support while France and Russia are
lobbying to defeat the resolution without having to use their vetoes.
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The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
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experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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