FOREIGN RELATIONS: The Microwave Furor

"Why not go public and embarrass them for a change?" demanded an irate former Moscow diplomat last week. He was referring to Washington's curious reticence about the great Moscow microwave furor. Last month the U.S. confirmed that for some 15 years the Soviet Union has been beaming microwaves at the hulking nine-story U.S. embassy on Moscow's Tchaikovsky Street (TIME, Feb. 23). The purpose: to jam the sophisticated electronic monitoring devices inside and on the roof of the building. (An earlier theory, now taken less seriously, was that the microwaves were designed to...