|
(Continued from page 28)
classified disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Longer term, Snowden's revelations about NSA tactics -- that allegedly include tapping up to 35 world leaders' cellphones -- threaten to undermine U.S. foreign policy in a host of areas.
• It's the vacuum-cleaner approach to data collection that has rattled foreign allies. "The magnitude of the eavesdropping is what shocked us," former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview. "Let's be honest, we eavesdrop too. Everyone is listening to everyone else. But we don't have the same means as the United States, which makes us jealous."
• The disclosures not only raise the question: Where in the world isn't the NSA? They also sparked debate about whether tapping the phones of allies is a step too far. The question might already be moot. The British ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Fletcher, tweeted this week: "I work on assumption that 6+ countries tap my phone. Increasingly rare that diplomats say anything sensitive on calls."
• Diplomatic relations are built on trust. If America's credibility is in question, the U.S. will find it harder to maintain alliances, influence world opinion and maybe even seal trade deals.
• ___
Obama taps private company to oversee dozens of fixes to health insurance website
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- It should be working well by the end of November. That's the Obama administration's rough timetable for completing a long list of fixes to HealthCare.gov, the new, trouble-plagued website for uninsured Americans to get coverage.
• Summarizing a week's worth of intensive diagnostics, the administration acknowledged Friday the site has dozens of complex problems and tapped a private company to oversee fixes.
• Jeffrey Zients, a management consultant brought in by the White House to assess the extent of problems, told reporters his review found dozens of issues across the entire system. The site is made up of layers of components that are meant to interact in real time with consumers, government agencies and insurance company computers.
• It will take a lot of work, but "HealthCare.gov is fixable," Zients declared.
• The vast majority of the issues will be resolved by the end of November, he asserted, and there will be many fewer screen freezes. He stopped short of saying (Continued on page 30)
|
|
