Imperial arm-twisting: "mounting a surge"

Yesterday, the done-deal in Turkey was undone yet again, this time evidently
staggering American officials. The Turkish parliament by a combination of
no-votes and abstentions managed to nix the stationing of 60,000 American
troops on the Turkish border in preparation for an invasion of Iraq, the
subject of weeks of arduous negotiations. American policymakers had, it
seems, been so sure of this one that prodigious quantities of equipment and
supplies were already being unloaded in Turkey, probably illegally, for the
invading army that now may not be.

My vote for quote of the day comes from the New York Times: "'The
relationship is spoiled,' said Murat Mercan, a member of Parliament from the
majority party. 'The Americans dictated to us. It became a business
negotiation, not something between friends. It disgusted me.'" That quote
might stand-in for the way, at the UN and elsewhere, the Bush administration
has been carrying out its "diplomacy" for war – with a hand far too heavy
for its own good.

My vote for story of the day did not – here's a surprise – appear in the
American press. Today's British Observer carried a report on a leaked memo
from our highly secretive spying outfit, the National Security Agency (NSA),
on "mounting a surge" to bug, tap, intercept the phone calls, emails of, and
otherwise spy on the UN missions (and homes) of the diplomats of the crucial
uncommitted nations which will soon vote in the Security Council on the
American-British resolution for war in Iraq. I include both the story and
the document itself.

http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?emx=x&pidE2