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Maybe so, but then why take so long to get around to this? GCHQ knew that the Guardian had these files all summer long. If this were a cover-your-ass move wou

Maybe so, but then why take so long to get around to this? GCHQ knew that the Guardian had these files all summer long. If this were a cover-your-ass move would they not have done this back in May or June? It could be that GCHQ is so bureaucratic that they need three months to figure out what to do with an information leak. On the other hand, the UK government did just intimidate Greenwald's partner for no apparent reason. This sounds more like retaliation at this point; the only bureaucratic inefficiency to it is the amount of time it took for the government to decide to retaliate.

redthrowaway 13y ago
The British spy agencies have always had a well-earned reputation for surprising incompetence.[1] It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it took them three months to make a decision and it ended up being an idiotic one. [1] An entertaining read: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/BUGGER http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/posts/BUGGER A more serious retrospective from someone who was there: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3561321/John-le-Carre-the-spies-who-lost-it.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3561321/John...
- lttlrck 13y ago
  Thank you. The second link is a wonderful read.
  - redthrowaway 13y ago
    It's strange, I've never been able to get into le Carre's novels, but I do quite enjoy his writing in that piece.