The “NSA Affair” Goes Criminal in Germany. Vast spy in Germany revealed. Untitled. US on Spying Scandal: 'Allies Aren't Always Friends' Jon Stewart knows how to twist the knife.
"So you guys are all upset we're spying on you," America's most popular TV satirist told an imaginary European audience. "But I just have one question: Have you met us? Meddling in your affairs for our national self-interest is kind of our thing. " That's no joke -- especially not this week when the tremors of the alleged US surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel will finally reach Washington.
A German intelligence service delegation is traveling to the US capital to find answers to the array of question this scandal has thrown up. The main ones are: What did President Barack Obama know? That last question can already be answered: not a lot. Take Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which on Tuesday plans to discuss the NSA and, probably, SPIEGEL's latest revelations. Peter King, chairman of the House subcommittee on counter-terrorism and intelligence, said "the president should stop apologizing, stop being defensive. " 1406885. Obama 'not told of Merkel phone bugging' 27 October 2013Last updated at 16:54 ET.
Obama, Kerry trying to quell anger abroad over alleged NSA spying. The Associated Press Published Saturday, October 26, 2013 7:20AM EDT Last Updated Saturday, October 26, 2013 11:01PM EDT WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Rome and Paris to talk about Mideast peace, Syria and Iran but was confronted by outrage over the sweep and scope of U.S. spying abroad.
President Barack Obama already has defended America's surveillance activities to leaders of Russia, Mexico, Brazil, France and Germany and was even questioned about it during his birthday appearance on late-night television. Obama and Kerry are trying to calm international anger over classified disclosures by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden's revelations about NSA tactics -- that allegedly include tapping as many as 35 world leaders' cellphones -- threaten to harm U.S. foreign policy in several areas.
In Washington, demonstrators held up signs reading "Thank you, Edward Snowden! " Diplomatic relations are built on trust. Embassy Espionage: The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin. It's a prime site, a diplomat's dream.
Is there any better location for an embassy than Berlin's Pariser Platz? It's just a few paces from here to the Reichstag. When the American ambassador steps out the door, he looks directly onto the Brandenburg Gate. When the United States moved into the massive embassy building in 2008, it threw a huge party. Over 4,500 guests were invited. Embassy Espionage: The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin. It's a prime site, a diplomat's dream.
Is there any better location for an embassy than Berlin's Pariser Platz? It's just a few paces from here to the Reichstag. When the American ambassador steps out the door, he looks directly onto the Brandenburg Gate. When the United States moved into the massive embassy building in 2008, it threw a huge party. Over 4,500 guests were invited. Research by SPIEGEL reporters in Berlin and Washington, talks with intelligence officials and the evaluation of internal documents of the US' National Security Agency and other information, most of which comes from the archive of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, lead to the conclusion that the US diplomatic mission in the German capital has not merely been promoting German-American friendship. The NSA spying scandal has thus reached a new level, becoming a serious threat to the trans-Atlantic partnership. Hardly anything is as sensitive a subject to Merkel as the surveillance of her cellphone. NSA: Obama wist niet van Merkel.
Barack Obama en Angela Merkel in Dresden (2009) EPA De Duitse krant Bild meldt dat Obama van NSA-directeur Keith Alexander had gehoord over het aftappen van haar telefoon en toestemming had gegeven om ermee door te gaan.
Een bron bij de NSA zou dat aan Bild hebben gemeld. Spooks throw Obama under the bus: He knew about Merkel spying since 2010. NSA denies discussing Merkel phone surveillance with Obama. The US National Security Agency was forced on Sunday to deny that its director ever discussed a surveillance operation against the German chancellor with President Barack Obama, as the White House tried to contain a full-scale diplomatic crisis over espionage directed at allied countries.
The Obama administration appeared in disarray as it struggled with the fallout over the disclosure that the National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of at least 35 world leaders, and that the phone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had been monitored. Barack Obama 'approved tapping Angela Merkel's phone 3 years ago' Last week, however, Mr Obama assured Mrs Merkel that her phone is not being monitored now – and will not be in future.
But the US has pointedly declined to discuss the NSA’s actions in the past. Its surveillance operations raises questions about whether US officials breached domestic laws. Hans-Peter Friedrich, the German interior minister, said: “If the Americans intercepted cellphones in Germany, they broke German law on German soil”. He noted that wiretapping was a crime in Germany and “those responsible must be held accountable”. Even before the latest reports, German intelligence chiefs were preparing to travel to Washington this week to demand answers from the NSA about the alleged surveillance of Mrs Merkel.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, received a dose of European fury this weekend when he visited Paris and Rome. “The magnitude of the eavesdropping is what shocked us,” said Bernard Kouchner, a former French foreign minister, in a radio interview. L'espionnage d'Angela Merkel viendrait de l'ambassade américaine à Berlin. L'espionnage dont aurait été victime la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel sur son téléphone portable de la part des services secrets américains aurait été effectué depuis l'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Berlin, comme l'affirme le quotidien Süddeutsche Zeitung, dans son édition du vendredi 25 octobre.
"Les écoutes seraient effectuées par un centre d'écoute baptisé Special Collection Service (SCS)", sous la responsabilité conjointe de la NSA et de la CIA et qui opérerait "dans les ambassades et les consulats américains à travers le monde, le plus souvent en secret", écrit le quotidien. Le Süddeutsche Zeitung tire ses informations de documents fournis par Edward Snowden, l'ancien consultant de la NSA à l'origine de révélations sur les activités d'espionnage des Etats-Unis dans le monde. Les soupçons sur un possible espionnage de la chancelière par les Etats-Unis ont créé un choc en Allemagne, pays marqué par deux dictatures qui avaient systématisé l'espionnage des citoyens. Allegation of U.S. Spying on Merkel Puts Obama at Crossroads. Thierry Roge/European Pressphoto Agency Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, fourth from left in the back row, with other leaders at a summit meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
Tension with the United States has built since German officials were given evidence of cellphone monitoring of her. The pressure to make such a choice builds each day, as some of the United States’ closest allies have demanded explanations from Washington after similar disclosures about the breadth and sophistication of American electronic spying.
Inside the administration it has touched off behind-the-scenes recriminations between the White House and the intelligence agencies over how much detail was given to White House officials about which world leaders are being monitored. “This was colossally bad judgment — doing something because you can, instead of asking if you should,” said one career American official with long experience in Europe. During the call, according to German officials, Ms. If Ms. Mr. L'espionnage d'Angela Merkel viendrait de l'ambassade américaine à Berlin. Merkel puts NSA spying on EU leaders' agenda. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that allegations that the U.S. National Security Agency hacked her phone is relevant for every citizen who needs to trust digital communications.
Arriving at the meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels, she told reporters: “The spying isn’t all about me. Trust with the U.S. can only be built on mutual respect.” She added that spying on “friends” is misguided. On Wednesday, the German government said it had received information that the chancellor's mobile phone has possibly been monitored by American intelligence services, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a news release. E.U. leaders are due to discuss Europe’s digital economy, including plans to make cross-border e-commerce easier and taxing Web-based content and services providers. French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron remained tight-lipped as they arrived for the summit. The Switchboard: Angela Merkel reportedly ‘livid’ over alleged NSA surveillance.
President Obama meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Nov. 3, 2009. Merkel: US Spying Has Shattered Allies' Trust. Merkel: U.S. relations 'shaken' over spying. NEW: U.S. official: "Surveillance capabilities, including with ... foreign partners" under reviewGerman leader: "True change is necessary" on part of the U.S.U.S. isn't monitoring Merkel's communications, White House insistsFrance is angry about claims the NSA intercepted millions of phone calls in France (CNN) -- "Trust needs to be rebuilt.
" That's what German Chancellor Angela Merkel firmly asserted early Friday -- as she had the previous day -- in the wake of reports the U.S. National Security Agency had eavesdropped on her cell phone. This claim and others that she and other world leaders have been spied on had "severely shaken" relationships between Europe and the United States, the German leader said. "Obviously, words will not be sufficient," Merkel said in the wee hours Friday at a summit of European Union leaders.