UPDATED - ColdType

Unofficial leaker in trouble
EMBEDDED: WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION
MEANWHILE, in England, another Pentagon
Papers case may be brewing. You will recall that
Observer article a week back that exposed U.S.
spying on members of the Security Council. (U.S.
buying of Security Council members is far more
open.)
At the time, few U.S. newspapers picked it up
and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
declined to comment on it. It was DOA , as far as
most U.S. news outlets were concerned. The
Washington Times challenged its authenticity, as
did Matt Drudge. Well now, Ed Vulliamy, one of
the reporters who broke the story, tells us:
“This is to inform you that there has just been
an arrest at the British Government’s Communications
Headquarters (GCHQ – equivalent of the
NSA) in connection with the leak of the memo. If
charges are made, they will be serious – Britain
is far more severe in these matters than the U.S.
(So far!).
“They could result in a major trial and a long
prison sentence for the alleged mole. It is also a
criminal offence to receive such information in
Britain (some of you may recall the ‘ABC’ trial of
the 1970s), and this may also become an issue of
press freedom. The authors of the piece will defy
any attempt by the government to discuss our
sources.
“It is important that maximum international –
as well as domestic British – pressure be
brought to bear on the Blair government over
this impending case, the prosecution of which
will inevitably have a political agenda, and to
protect this prospective defendant all we can.
Pleading motive will be impossible because
there is no defense of justification in Britain.”
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That U.N. vote
MEANWHILE, all the media is buzzing with
reports that Washington wants the Security
Council to vote tomorrow on the new resolution
that would sanction war after St. Patrick’s Day.
The Times speaks of “urgent diplomacy” and
says it has so far failed. What is “urgent diplomacy”?
It seems that translates into money
changing hands, with promises of new U.S. Aid
projects to come. The U.S. may succeed in turning
the votes of many nations who want to be on
the side of a winner.
“It is a good time to be a Ghanaian,” said Joe
Klein on ABC yesterday morning, apparently not
knowing the difference between Ghana and
Guinea unless I heard him wrong. CNN reported
that French President Jacques Chirac and German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder might fly
over to cast their countries votes personally. Will
Bush? Times agit-propster Maureen Dowd’s
“Xanax Cowboy” might show up, too. CNN also
said that we will we see which cards fall where, a
direct steal of President Bush’s language which
compared the Security Council’s deliberations to
a card game. Interesting how a presidential
metaphor quickly finds its way into ‘objective’
news language.
As for the President’s presence at the U.N., he
may like the showdown aspects of it, and see it as
a new chance to grandstand. We will see. The
Daily Mirror in Britain tells us about another
recent invite that the Commander-in-Chief
turned down:
“George Bush pulled out of a speech to the
European Parliament when MEPs wouldn’t guarantee
a standing ovation.
“Senior White House officials said the Presi-