Washington suffers from serious form of paranoia

The United States might be the most powerful country in the world. But its capital Washington is undoubtedly the most paranoid place on the planet as exhibited this past Tuesday.

In a front-page report, The Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed sources close to the US intelligence community as saying that Wendi Deng, former wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is lobbying for a high-profile construction project funded by the Chinese government in Washington. The report also said the planned $100 million "Chinese Garden" at the US National Arboretum was deemed a national security risk because it included a 70-foot-high tower that could potentially be used for surveillance.

With due respect for the newspaper, the reporters clearly did not press their sources hard enough to get the facts, given the gravity of the allegation. Anyone who has visited the arboretum knows that a six-story-high building in the 400-acre (161.87-hectare) arboretum may be good for bird watching as it would offer a 360-degree eyeful of lushness - trees, shrubs, bushes and grass - but an ill-advised spot for surveillance as it would be far from anywhere.