Not that I'm defending obummer's NSA, but do you think that the US intelligence apparatus are the only spooks that don't have their fingers in their "friend's" pudding?
Personally, I think the three letter federal agencies have devolved into a state of paranoia wherein they've completely forgotten their fundamental mission statement and are just trying to get one up on all the other foreign, evil three letter agencies around the globe.
Merkel's indignation over Snowden disclosing the fact that her sexting* has been tapped is ingenuous, or she's a rube. I doubt it's the latter.
Aside from the other "evil" three letter agencies around the globe, the thing that terrifies the US three letter agencies the most is the American People.
Together we stand. Divided, we fall.
* that is hyperbole, but the NSA probably has that on file as well.
The fuming is entertaining. Really, no country has "friends". You have enemies and allies. They change status periodically. So everybody is snooping on everybody. The real "crime" - being dumb enough to get caught.
ReplyDeleteI think there has and always will be spying amongst friends; of course that isn't really what they are ticked off about.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the personal nature of the revealed spying is setting them off in my opinion. It isn't we are spying on Germany; its the fact that Merkel's very own cell phone was tapped. It's one thing to consider your business to be vulnerable, another to realize how close to home it hits.
Second, it is the inept nature of the handling of the revelations is fueling much of the outrage. Politicians across the globe are suddenly being asked "Hey, do we do that HERE?"
And that is something they really don't want to discuss. Had Obama handled the issue better, there would be less awareness of how little privacy people had.
Third, I think the people, even our allies, are waking up to how little focus is being spent on those that really are the problem. Anybody reading how the Taliban is utterly dismayed by the revelations or that Al-Qaeda has been crippled by the actions of the NSA?
Nope, the information coming out is showing the TLAs don't seem to be worried about the known terrorists just about the people who could put them out of business.