Editorials & Other Articles

riversedge

(70,191 posts) Wed Oct 21, 2015, 04:37 PM Oct 2015

USAtoday: Hillary Clinton worked to make diplomats safe: Column

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/10/21/hillary-clinton-secretary-of-state-embassies-john-kerry-column/74328300/

Hillary Clinton worked to make diplomats safe: Column

Wendy Sherman 3:52 p.m. EDT October 21, 2015
As a former undersecretary of State, I know her true record.
sherman102215

(Photo: Pool photo by Carlos Barria)

Just a few short weeks ago, after four intense years, I stepped down as undersecretary of State for political affairs, responsible for the day-to-day work of all regional bureaus and international organizations. Thanks to then-Secretary Hillary Clinton's leadership, and continued by now Secretary John Kerry, I began every day looking at intelligence and getting information from every region to see which diplomats, which locally employed staff and which U.S. citizens might be at physical risk, and what we needed to do about it. Every day, every ambassador also looks at risk, and thanks to Secretary Clinton's initiative, works to implement every single recommendation of the non-partisan Accountability Review Board convened after the tragic death of our colleagues in Benghazi, Libya.................

Because of Secretary Clinton, and, of course, President Obama, our highest priority is security, for our diplomats and for our nation. As secretary of State, Hillary Clinton also took critical action to make our world safer, fundamental to making our diplomats and our country safer. She guided the State Department to repair relations around the globe and brokered major agreements that made our world safer, such as the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. She led the effort to impose the toughest sanctions in U.S. history on Iran, fought to expand Internet freedom and continually promoted the betterment of women and girls.

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USAtoday: Hillary Clinton worked to make diplomats safe: Column (Original Post) riversedge Oct 2015 OP

Hillary Clinton directed US diplomats to spy on the UN, OnyxCollie Oct 2015 #1

Dissent survives Doctor_J Oct 2015 #2

OnyxCollie

(9,958 posts)

1. Hillary Clinton directed US diplomats to spy on the UN,

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Oct 21, 2015, 10:40 PM

Oct 2015

over concerns the UN might unearth details of the torture program.

US diplomats spied on UN leadership
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cables-spying-un

A classified directive which appears to blur the line between diplomacy and spying was issued to US diplomats under Hillary Clinton's name in July 2009, demanding forensic technical details about the communications systems used by top UN officials, including passwords and personal encryption keys used in private and commercial networks for official communications.

It called for detailed biometric information "on key UN officials, to include undersecretaries, heads of specialised agencies and their chief advisers, top SYG {secretary general} aides, heads of peace operations and political field missions, including force commanders" as well as intelligence on Ban's "management and decision-making style and his influence on the secretariat". A parallel intelligence directive sent to diplomats in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi said biometric data included DNA, fingerprints and iris scans.

Washington also wanted credit card numbers, email addresses, phone, fax and pager numbers and even frequent-flyer account numbers for UN figures and "biographic and biometric information on UN Security Council permanent representatives".

~snip~

The UN has previously asserted that bugging the secretary general is illegal, citing the 1946 UN convention on privileges and immunities which states: "The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the United Nations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action".

Hillary Gets Wiki-Served
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/hillary_gets_wiki-served_20101130?ln

Hillary Clinton should cut out the whining about what the Obama administration derides as “stolen cables” and confront the unpleasant truths they reveal about the contradictions of U.S. foreign policy and her own troubling performance. As with the earlier batch of WikiLeaks, in this latest release the corruption of our partners in Iraq and Afghanistan stands in full relief, and the net effect of nearly a decade of warfare is recognized as a strengthening of Iran’s influence throughout the region.

~snip~

Instead of disparaging the motives of the leakers, Hillary Clinton should offer a forthright explanation of why she continued the practice of Condoleezza Rice, her predecessor as secretary of state, of using American diplomats to spy on their colleagues working at the United Nations. Why did she issue a specific directive ordering U.S. diplomats to collect biometric information on U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and many of his colleagues?

As the respected British newspaper The Guardian, which obtained the WikiLeaks cables, said in summarizing the matter: “A classified directive which appears to blur the line between diplomacy and spying was issued to US diplomats under Hillary Clinton’s name in July 2009, demanding forensic technical details about the communications system used by top UN officials, including passwords and personal encryption keys used in private and commercial networks for official communications.”

The Guardian pointed out that the Clinton directive violates the language of the original U.N. convention, which reads: “The premises of the United Nations shall be inviolable.” The spying effort derived from concern that U.N. rapporteurs might unearth embarrassing details about the U.S. treatment of prisoners in Guantánamo as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the directives demanded “biographic and biometric” information on Dr. Margaret Chan, the director of the World Health Organization, as well as details of her personality and management style. Maybe she’s hiding bin Laden in her U.N. office.

Factbox: Main revelations of WikiLeaks diplomatic cables
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/30/us-wikileaks-details-idUSTRE6AT1I720101130?pageNumber=3

ARGENTINA

-- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton questioned the mental health of Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, asking U.S. diplomats to investigate whether she was on medication.

Doctor_J

(36,392 posts)

2. Dissent survives

Reply to OnyxCollie (Reply #1)

Thu Oct 22, 2015, 11:52 AM

Oct 2015

On Thu Oct 22, 2015, 10:13 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

Hillary Clinton directed US diplomats to spy on the UN,
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1016&pid=134989

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

OT.....

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Thu Oct 22, 2015, 10:31 AM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: DUers are free to present information and express opinions. The Alert system should be used to report posts outside TOS, not censor. Ban the Alerter.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Might be OT, but the OP was a HRC campaign piece, so rebuttal is legal I guess.
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: A reasoned opinion backed by reputable sources. And another example of a bogus alert. There ought to way to cut down on this. Spies at the UN. Shocking. Alerting on that: silly.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The alerter apparently thinks that DU members should not be well informed. Well phoooey on that!
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't understand why this was alerted on. It is in good reads, how can it be off topic?

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

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