'In His Heart,' Obama Knows Rousseff
is Right about Spying (Folha, Brazil)
"The U.S. should not develop tools to investigate
virtually every citizen around the globe. ... It's easy to see that it has exceeded
any reasonable boundary. ... According to protocol, Barack Obama spoke right
after President Rousseff, as if he didn't preside
over a country accused of violating human rights and civil liberties. ... Of
course Obama knows Dilma is right. However, as in the
fable The Emperor's New Clothes, the
most likely thing is that he will continue unmoved."
"If
Brazil isn't spying on the U.S. - the world's most powerful country - Brazil's
spy agencies are incompetent."
The
sentence belongs to John Allen Gay, one of the editors of the American journal
on foreign affairs, The National Interest,
published yesterday on his microblog during a
not-so-friendly exchange with journalist Glenn Greenwald, author of
reports on the U.S. espionage system.
With
the frankness and simplicity of 140 characters, Gay summed up the problem underlying
allegations against the NSA (National Security
Agency): as their technical capabilities dictate, all countries tend to rely on
espionage to protect their interests.
It
doesn't follow from this, however, that the U.S. cannot or should not be
criticized for procedures that have now been made public. Much less that they
can or should develop tools to investigate virtually every citizen around the
globe.
It
is difficult to draw a clear line in the area of international pragmatism, but
it's easy to see that the United States has exceeded any reasonable boundary.
President
DilmaRousseff got it right
when she used a good portion of her speech to the 68th United Nations General
Assembly to criticize the U.S. for its monitoring of Brazilian telephone calls
and e-mails, including communications from Petrobras
and the President herself.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
Described
by the global press as "compelling," "virulent," "strong,"
or "harsh," Dilma's criticism was no
different than anything she said or did before, such as suspending her state
visit to the United States scheduled for October. They gained obvious weight,
though, as they were delivered at U.N. headquarters.
Beyond
the indignant rhetoric, Russeff said she would defend
her landmark proposal for a multilateral civil agreement on Internet use. The
idea, according to the president, is to create rules in "prevent cyberspace
from being exploited as a weapon of war."
There
is no doubt that, in theory, a regulation like this would be welcomed. It is unlikely,
however, that this objective is obtainable - it is enough to note that
conflicts of interest have prevented Brazil itself from approving similar
legislation domestically.
According
to protocol, Barack Obama spoke right after Dilma, as
if he didn't preside over a country accused of violating human rights and civil
liberties. In an indirect response, he said only it was necessary to balance security
concerns with concerns over privacy. He preferred to deal with other issues, particularly
the Middle East.
Of
course Obama knows Dilma is right. However, as in the
fable The Emperor's
New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen, the most likely thing is that
he will continue unmoved.
