At this point in history, we know enough to know Bill Clinton was more interested in arranging secret, sexual trysts with White House intern Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office than he was in mobilizing the U.S. intelligence community to defeat Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorists. We now learn that his administration engaged U.S. Secret Service resources to eavesdrop on Princess Diana's phone calls, including the night she died, without the permission of British intelligence. The London Evening Standard reports:American intelligence agencies were bugging Princess Diana's telephone over her relationship with a US billionaire, the Evening Standard has learned.
She was even forced to abandon a planned holiday with her sons in the US with tycoon Teddy Forstmann on advice from secret services, who passed on their concerns to their British counterparts.
Both US and British intelligence then forced Diana to change her plans to stay with Mr Forstmann in the summer of 1997, saying it was too "dangerous" to take her sons there. Instead the princess took the fateful decision to take a summer break with Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed. This ultimately led to her going to Paris with his son Dodi, where they died in a car crash.
The revelation from independent inquiries by the Evening Standard comes as it emerged that Princess Diana's phone was bugged by US intelligence agencies on the night she died without the permission of the British secret intelligence services.
It seems our government was concerned about her relationship with U.S. billionaire Teddy Forstmann, a name which is not familiar to this writer. Diana reportedly planned to travel to the U.S. with her two sons, William and Harry, to be with him, but British intelligence vetoed the trip based upon U.S intelligence concerns about her security. If she had made that trip, the Evening Standard speculates she may never have met Dodi Fayad and been in Paris on that fateful night, August 31, 1997. The newspaper talks about more files the Secret Service gathered on Diana:
The Evening Standard also understands that US secret services have a number of secret files on Diana and her closest associates that are held by the national security agency. The files, which include reports from foreign intelligence - thought to include MI5 and MI6 - come under both top secret and secret categories. The reports cannot be released because of "exceptionally grave damage to the national security". The documents on the princess seem to have arisen because of the company she kept rather than through any attempt to target her.
This revelation is very disturbing. You can count on it having several immediate consequencs. American public opinion in Britain, which is already riding low, will be further dampened. Conspiracy theories, which have already been ramping up, are going to escalade and make her death a greater subject of conspiracies than the death of former President John F. Kennedy. More importantly, there will be even greater distrust of America among Muslims and Arabs than there already is. Conspiracy theorists, fueled by claims of Dodi Fayad's father, believe she was killed to prevent a marriage between a British royal and an Arab.
I can't wait to hear former President Clinton's reaction to the disclosure. Let me guess what he'll say: "This is the first I've heard about it. It's news to me." I took a gander at a number of the liberal blogs today after the news broke. The same bloggers who bash Bush endlessly over the U.S. government's wiretapping program for combatting terrorism are noticeably silent on this topic. Can you imagine their reaction if Bush had been the one wiretapping Diana? It makes no sense to me at all that U.S. intelligence agencies could claim this information to be "top secret." The American people should demand an explanation, but I'm guessing this won't be a high priority for the new Democratic-controlled Congress.
UPDATE: CBS News is reporting tonight that the NSA is denying it eavesdropped on Princess Diana's calls, although it had files on her because of conversations she had with other persons of interest. According to the report, more than 1,000 pages are held by an unidentified U.S. intelligence agency on Diana. The report speculates on why the U.S. may have been keeping tabs on her. One reason given is as a favor to the British because she had been stripped of her official security detail after her divorce from Prince Charles. The other reason is based on her work in eradicating land mines and reports she came into contact with known arms dealers as part of her humanitarian efforts. The report notes that this news will give conspiracy theorists more reason to believe her death was not an accident.
20 comments:
What was to gain? That's what I'm having a hard time trying to figure out.
Slick Willie trying to get his rocks off by Di talking dirty to her dates?
I'ver heard Bill Clinton blamed for a lot, but the death of Di is a new one...
This sounds like a story only Wilson could dream up.
I'm certainly not blaming him for her death, but I would like to know why the hell we were eavesdropping on her phone conversations.
Princess Di was a leading world campaigner against the continued use of land mines which the US Govt wants to continue to do. There were possible security implications in Her anti-mine campaigning.
It is perfectly legal in the USA to eavesdrop on foreigners talking to foreigners. Bush has wantonly broken the laws concerning warrantless wiretaps of US citizens -- AI and other Bush idolators conveniently overlook this illegal activity all done in the name of "listening in to terrorists (the Prez defines who are the terrorists not the courts)".
AI should be more concerned about illegal wiretaps on US citizens instead of royal foreigners ... the GOP is still in thrall to the Mighty Power of the Clenis.
Wilson, I have no trouble with the government listening in on international phone calls Americans are having with people outside our country with known terrorist ties. I make no such calls. Do you?
(Ducking from the Wilson-AI kerfuffle)
You're comparing the proposed Gonzalez-Bush weiretaps, to this alleged wiretap of Princess Di?
Puh-lease, Gary. That's way over the top.
The Standard is one of the raggier British tabloids, in the first place. And that's saying a lot.
It's a little sick that anyone had files on Di, especially if BC was involved.
But don't link the Bushite Manifesto with this. It's not even close to fair.
Or sensible.
Why Gary, the police only arrest guilty people, dont they? And deport only illegal aliens, dont they? We have no needs for the Courts (and lawyers) anymore, do we? If the Constable says they are guilty, off to the pokey indefinitely, right?
In America, we operate under the rule of law and the Constitution, not some lawless rogue spy system unchecked. Congress passed explicit laws about getting warrants for wiretapping Americans - the Bush Administration and its sycophants ignore such mandates.
We have no need for lawyers in the USA if the Government in its infinite wisdom has unlimited powers...trust Big Brother (as long as it's Republican)
Turn in your legal shingle, Gary, and go to work for MacDonalds! Lawyers and courts are so passe under this Bush regime. !
"trust Big Brother (as long as it's Republican)"
The most honest words ever spoken by Wilson...and he had no idea what he was saying.
Yes Wilson, We can trust most Republicans...
Indyernie perfectly represents the current degradation of the Republican Party in that he's willing to chuck 200 years of American checks & balances constitutional democracy and liberty in favor of a one-party state.
Wilson perfectly represents the perpetual degradation of the Democrat Party and its willingness to chuck 200 years of American checks & balances, constitutional democracy and liberty in favor of a one-party socialistic state.
But Clinton!!!
It's weird that you take an unsourced story from the Evening Standard as fact on sight with no evidence, yet if a prestigious paper had such a story that was derogatory to Bush, you'd probably say something like, "I'll wait to see the evidence before I make a comment."
Besides, saying Clinton was listening in on Di's calls just because it happened during his administration is like saying Bush is listening in on the NSA wiretaps right now.
Also, you know as well as I do that if Diana was still alive today, that her calls would still be monitored, as they probably were under Bush I and possibly even Reagan.
We should all try and be Wilson's neighbor. I mean don't we all want to live on Fantasy Lane with him and his view of this city. You'd think this was the greatest city in the history of modern civilization with his distorted view of reality. I guess until he is a victim of violent crime, he'll continue to support the out of control and corrupt power machine in Marion county
Every time I read this headline I giggle.
gary, you must not have searched the liberal blogs very hard if you couldn't find anything about this. glenn greenwald already destroyed your argument as of 9am yesterday morning.
Okay, stallio, you and your liberal friends are in agreement that Bill Clinton is totally free to eavesdrop on anyone's phone conversations as long as they are not U.S. citizens, the eavesdropping takes place overseas and regardless of whether there is a legitimate national security interest--just one's prurient interest in knowing what someone is up to. I love the hypocrisy of liberals. They just can't seem to find it in themselves to admit Bill Clinton ever did anything wrong.
how exactly do you know that clinton was personally listening to di's calls, and that the only reason he was doing it was to get his rocks off? your own update to your post throws some cold water on that idea.
but go ahead and believe what you want. you will anyway.
Believing the Clinton administration's motives were pure is like believing J. Edgar Hoover's motives were pure in eavesdropping on pols and celebrities.
The CBS update, stallio, was contradictory. On the one hand, the NSA denied it tapped her phones, while admitting it had files on her and trying to piece together phony national security reasons for keeping tabs on her.
AI- I have not been following this story at all, so sorry if this has been debunked somewhere, but, I thought something came out about this right around Di's death b/c of her relationship with Dodi Fayed, who I don't know anything about, but I thought there was some potential shadiness in his family background. I recall it was involving the British secret service monitoring her b/c of Fayed. DOes anyone else remember this?
Fayed's father has claimed the wreck was not an accident from the very beginning. He thinks the British royal family had something to do with it.
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