A soon-to-be released book by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward reportedly confirms the most open secret in Baghdad's Green Zone – that you never know who's listening on your phone. The book, "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," quotes one source saying the Americans hear "everything" Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says. The scoop was heard in Baghdad and might complicate the oft-contentious relations between the two ostensibly allied governments. In his bright salon living room where he spent his Friday weekend time, government spokesman Ali Dabbagh fielded calls about the report, eying an Arabic translation of an Agence France-Presse version. "Definitely the Prime Minister will be upset. All the government will be upset" if it turns out to be true, Dabbagh said. He vowed that Iraqis would raise the allegation with their American counterparts. At the White House, spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment on the report.

The Iraqi government might be upset, but no one will be too shocked. Reports surfaced in January, 2007, that U.S. agencies were listening in on Maliki. The Green Zone is probably among the most thoroughly spied-upon pieces of turf on the planet. Tales circulate of phone transcripts of top Iraqis passed among embassies. Drones frequently buzz like flying lawn mowers overhead. It's reputed that U.S. government employees' calls are monitored and people can be disciplined for speaking the details about top officials' movements. This means the Americans think insurgents could have the equipment needed for listening in on mobile connections, carried by local phone companies. It can make it tough for embassy press aides, who have to invite reporters to press conferences without naming the speakers.

They use phrases like "senior U.S. official" when a cabinet secretary has come from Washington. Reporters have to gamble on whether showing up will get them a meeting with a top State Department power or someone on a junket from the Department of Commerce.

There's also the old-fashioned in-person spying. I know of one operative from Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army who was arrested by U.S. troops at his job in a Green Zone police station. People worry that Mahdi Army spotters could be phoning in the locations of rocket strikes to provide better aim to the attackers. U.S. advisers assigned to Iraqi ministers are sometimes suspected of reporting back to American commanders.

And, yes, the phones are highly suspect. Dabbagh acknowledge that Iraqis often joke about who might be listening to them chat. They are especially suspicious of the mobile phones that coalition officials have handed out since early in the war. They carry the U.S. country code and a 914 area code. Dabbagh would not say whether Iraqis also spy on U.S. officials but he said spying is not a two-way street. "It is our right if we want to do it," he said. "As long as there's no problem with international law, for our national security we have to do it. But the U.S. should not do it in Iraq." Surely, they're both doing it.