Bush's White House Spying on Iraqi Prime Minister

Excerpts from investigative journalist Bob Woodward’s new book, “The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008,” reveal that the White House has conducted an “extensive spying operation” on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, supposedly one of the Bush administration’s strongest allies.

Today in the press briefing, reporters gave White House Press Secretary Dana Perino a chance to deny the allegations. Perino refused to do so, however, adding that she wouldn’t even comment on the book:

Q To follow up on that Dana, why are you not simply denying the allegations in Woodward’s book?

MS. PERINO: Why am I not denying what allegations?

Q Denying that there is — that spying –

MS. PERINO: I didn’t deny it. I said I declined to comment on it. And I will decline to comment on it.

The Iraq government reacted sharply to the allegations today. Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that Baghdad plans to press the Bush administration for an explanation. “It reflects also that the institutions in the United States are used to spy on their friends and their enemies in the same way,” al-Dabbagh said in a statement.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Ron Suskind also recently revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies had tapped the phones of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated last year.