A Nation incapable of being true ally is also incapable of securing trust of other nations From Spiegel International Online, excerpt, minor editing by Carolyn Bennett
Lawbreakers’ Club
“…The Americans’ only real friends are the members of the coalition of Anglophone countries
known as the ‘Five Eyes,’” consisting of the United
States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand who maintain “an
informal agreement among their intelligence agencies not to spy on each other” and
to “closely cooperate and exchange highly sensitive information. …
“… The Five Eyes collaborate
on spying operations throughout Europe, drone attacks and the rendition of
suspected ‘terrorists’.
These are dirty operations that would
immediately be reviewed by an investigative committee if they were conducted by
a German intelligence agency.
Not surprisingly, the German government
has no inclination to become a member of this dubious club.
Espionage against nonmembers
Most Washington observers agree that the operation against German
Chancellor Angela Merkel could not have been launched in 2002 without the
approval of then-U. S. President George W. Bush. The surveillance campaign
began shortly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when the United States was
preparing unprovoked, violent aggression against an ancient sovereign nation: the
Republic of Iraq situated in Western Asia encompassing the Mesopotamian
alluvial plain, the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, and the eastern
part of the Syrian Desert.
There are many indications that a spying campaign began back
then ─ a campaign that was not only directed against Chancellor Merkel, but
also against leaders of other allied countries. Yet, to this day, U.S.
intelligence agencies feel themselves justified in what they have done.
 |
| Britain Prime Minister David Cameron German Chancellor Angela Merkel |
This is from Spiegel International’s “Codependent: Merkel’s
Pragmatic Approach to the NSA Scandal”
Chancellor Merkel, the authors correctly observe, “has every
reason to be angry.”
Nothing over the past few years has strained ties between
Germany and the United States more than the revelation that the U.S. National
Security Agency (NSA) has been tapping the cell phone of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel. And the chancellor, the article says, does not know what should
upset her more:
…the chutzpah of a so-called friend who
listens to her phone calls,
…or Americans’ inability to keep it a
secret
As she was deceived “by an
unscrupulous [U.S.] intelligence agency”, the chancellor “has every reason to
be angry”; but she faces a dilemma, difficulty in finding the appropriate
response. The article continues:
Angela Merkel does not want to go down
in history as a chancellor who allowed herself to be pushed around by her
American big brother. On the other hand, she doesn’t want to rock the boat too
much.
Her first move following the outrage
over her tapped cell phone was to send a delegation of top-ranking German
officials to Washington, including foreign policy adviser Christoph
Heusgen and Günter
Heiss, the foreign intelligence coordinator at the Chancellery.
For some time now, many Germans have become uncomfortable,
Spiegel says, “with the notion that [Germany is] at the mercy of U.S.
intelligence agencies”; many politicians and officials have been considering or
reconsidering projects that would bring independence: German “sovereignty in
the world of espionage.”
Although the chancellor was initially dismayed by U.S.
actions ─ an occurrence that was published widely on news pages throughout the
world ─ and the German government considered “a wide range of possible
sanctions” against the United States; for now, the chancellor “has come to
terms with the fact” that imposing “sanctions on the Americans would be counterproductive
for Germany. “Instead,” Spiegel says. “Merkel can console herself with
practical thoughts:
 |
| German Chancellor Angela Merkel |
She has just won an election victory
and she can look forward to at least another four years as chancellor.
U.S. President Barack Obama, on the
other hand, is already one year into his last term in office.
[And] In two years, at the latest, the
U.S. president will be a lame duck at major international summits whereas Chancellor
Merkel will be received as Europe’s most powerful woman.
Sources and notes
“Codependent: Merkel’s Pragmatic Approach to the NSA Scandal:
Chancellor Merkel might be furious about the NSA's unscrupulous surveillance
activities, but reluctance to anger her partners in Washington prevents her
from imposing sanctions. Trade issues aside, Germany itself depends heavily on
intelligence gathered by the U.S. agency. By SPIEGEL Staff : BY RALF NEUKIRCH,
RENÉ PFISTER, LAURA POITRAS, MARCEL ROSENBACH, JÖRG SCHINDLER, FIDELIUS SCHMID
AND HOLGER STARK. Translated from the
German by Paul Cohen, SPIEGEL ONLINE, 11/04/2013 05:59 PM, URL:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/nsa-scandal-berlin-restricted-by-close-relationship-with-us-intelligence-a-931503.html
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