Confronted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week, U.S. President Barack Obama assured his “ally” that her cell phone wasn’t being tapped by America’s spy machine – and wouldn’t be in the future.
“Hmmmm … no past tense assurances?” we asked at the time.
No … and apparently there was a good reason why not.
According to German magazine Der Spiegel, the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have been spying on Merkel and numerous other German leaders for years. In fact since 2008 they’ve been conducting this espionage from the rooftop of the new American Embassy building in Berlin.
“The US diplomatic mission in the German capital has not merely been promoting German-American friendship,” the paper reports. “On the contrary, it is a nest of espionage. From the roof of the embassy, a special unit of the CIA and NSA can apparently monitor a large part of cell phone communication in the government quarter. And there is evidence that agents based at Pariser Platz recently targeted the cell phone that Merkel uses the most.”
Such wiretapping is against German law.
“If the Americans intercepted cellphones in Germany, they broke German law on German soil,” Germany’s interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said.
Of course it gets better … or worse, if you’re Obama.
According to Der Spiegel, the U.S. President personally approved tapping Merkel’s phone during a 2010 meeting with NSA leader Keith Alexander. That monitoring continued until just prior to Obama’s June 2013 trip to Berlin.
Amazing …
Merkel is, not surprisingly, displeased.
“Spying between friends, that’s just not done,” she said last week.
Obviously Germany isn’t the only “ally” the American government has been spying on … oh, and all of this foreign espionage is in addition to the massive (and massively unconstitutional) domestic spying network that’s been erected and advanced under the administrations of Obama and former president George W. Bush.
35 comments
Obama was tapping dat ass.
No, he was fantasizing about her spanking him while he’s wearing a diaper, and calling him “meine kleine Zwerg.”
“…Germany isn’t the only “ally” the American government has been spying on….
In the world of spying there are no allies.
Do believe in time the world will lean that Barack Obama is a paranoid schizoid and that his sole objective since becoming POTUS has been to bring the United States to its knees
Buck Farack
There is an agenda there supported by his cabal and his appointed cockroaches. Although his time is running out he will still attempt to do as much damage as possible before his (he is hoping Democrat) successor appears on the scene.
News Flash for Sic Willie. In the world of diplomats and embassies, the rules are different. Starting with the embassy, you must not know that it is considered the sovereign territory of that government. Thus the US embassy in Germany is on “US soil” and thus not subject to German law. Therefore equipment installed on the roof is not subject to German law. Why do you think dissidents hole up in embassies? Further, laws of a country do not necessarily apply to foreign diplomats. Why do you think they all display “diplomatic” plates on their cars in DC and NYC? So they can thumb their nose at the police.
BTW, Captain Renault is shocked to learn that countries spy on each other even when they are supposed to be “friends”.
I bet you have an answer for everything …
I am struggling with one for why you like to distort things.
He’s not very intelligent,in case you haven’t noticed.
CNSYD won’t let you suck his cock.
I prefer drilling butt.Wassup wit u??
FWIW, he is correct.
Hey, you may want to use the restroom and take care of that brown stain on your nose
Shifty is waiting to read/hear about what Germany has been harvesting about the US. For example, what has been harvested from (potus), and what Germany uses for his “code name”.
Sounds like Watergate II – Only this time it is a dirty obama.
Why should Merkel be any different than the rest of us?
Because unlike us, she is not a subject of ruler BHO. Not yet, anyway.
:-D
Obama is like Clapper, a bald-faced liar. If he tells you it’s raining outside, you better look out the window.
ya’ got me here – who is Clapper?
Why are people suprised when a Liar LIES?
Other ariticle suggested that Merkel had been targeted since 2002.
US ‘operates 80 listening posts worldwide, 19 in Europe, and snooped on Merkel mobile 2002-2013’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10407089/US-operates-80-listening-posts-worldwide-19-in-Europe-and-snooped-on-Merkel-mobile-2002-2013.html
Embassy Espionage: The NSA’s Secret Spy Hub in Berlin
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-nsa-spied-on-merkel-cell-phone-from-berlin-embassy-a-930205-2.html
Amazing that Senator Obama was able to start tapping Merkel’s phone from the roof of the embassy in 2008.
No sane person is asserting that Obama started this program – the facts however clearly establish that:
a. he was aware of it in 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10407282/Barack-Obama-approved-tapping-Angela-Merkels-phone-3-years-ago.html
b. he de facto or de jure approved of it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10407282/Barack-Obama-approved-tapping-Angela-Merkels-phone-3-years-ago.html
c. the “secret government” that started under Bush (and earlier) has grown dramatically under the Obama administration http://www.globalresearch.ca/debunking-the-bush-and-obama-administrations-justification-for-mass-surveillance/5340066
Was in agreement until the attacks on Snowden and Manning. They have allowed some light to shine on the evil that our government has been committing against us (United States citizens) and allied governmental officials. Their deeds have done more good than harm, IMHO.
The stuff
Mr.Ms. Manning stole was mostly after action reviews of combat missions, summaries of interactions with tribal leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan and communications between State Department agencies and the Army – little of it ground breaking or earth shattering or indicative of “evil deeds”. There is no “My Lai Massacre” hidden here. The “controversial stuff” was some videos of attacks on purported civilians that can be found by a simple “Googling” of YouTube. The little piss ant was not a “whistle blower” or a “high minded moral discloser” he was a disaffected, gender confused, miscreant who wanted out of the Army.Snowden appears to have had an agenda from the outset – he is an excellent example of the “unreliable people” we’ve allowed into the intelligence system. he was not even a “gubamint” employee – he was a freaking contractor. Here’s an interesting take from HuffPo on Snowden with the title, “…Whistleblower or Traitor, Snowden Must Shut Up…” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-h-harwood/whistleblower-or-traitor-_b_4143834.html
Hi Colonel! Fair enough on Manning, and while I do respect you and your opinions, I still believe that Snowden has done a service to the American people by keeping the spying in the forefront. Sheeple are often slow-learners so hearing it over and over again may be helping many of them to see the evil that we are living under at this time.
Lots of evil people who have power bases both here and abroad may be exposed by Snowden’s efforts, thereby weakening their power. That is probably only a good thing, in the great scheme of things.
I’ll agree that Snowden raising the issue has the potential to be a good thing but – and this is a big but, It’s time to shut up.
There’s no My Lai or Iran Contra here.
Anyone who pays attention already knows about the capabilities of ECHELON, PRISM, TIMBERLINE, LATERAL, and SALUTE. Most of us who pay attention already know that our government (and private businesses) spies on us. Merkel had to know we were doing it – her BND, MAD, BfV and LfV do exactly the same things.
And, Benedict Arnold was a highly decorated American officer until he (also) turned traitor.
“…Benedict Arnold was a highly decorated American officer until he (also) turned traitor…” after he was passed over for promotion and disciplined. While talented and brave, Arnold had an interesting personality – he resigned/tried to resign several times. After being seriously injured at Saratoga he was given his seniority back (stripped earlier as a result of his shenanigans) and he viewed it as a “sympathy move”. He ultimately became a traitor over feelings that he had been mistreated by “the system” – a classic insider threat.
Couple of observations here:
The first is Merkel’s dis-ingenuousness, “…“Spying between friends, that’s just not done…”, really Angela, do you believe that or are you just working up a lather? One of our more infamous episodes of spying on our German “friends” resulted in the discovery of the “Zimmerman” telegram*. (*see World War One) Almost every embassy in the world has a military attache’ who’s sole function is to keep tabs on what his countries’ allies and enemies are up to under the cover of “military cooperation” – let’s not even discuss the “Assistant Cultural Attache'” who’s really CIA, DGSE, BND, Mossad, MOIS, AISE, IAS – hell, even the Christmas Islands have their “Foriegn Security Directory.
The second is that “spying” has always been considered an essential part of a state’s existence: Sun Tzu said “…It is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for the purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve great results…”, Machiavelli said “… The fact is that a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous…” Sun Tzu has been dead for 2,500 years, my friend Nicoolo has been dead 500 – they both understood that “states” don’t have “friends” only “allies” and only for a time. We’ve pulled France’s ass out of the pan twice in the last century only to have them deny over flight rights when we need them.
Finally, our first president said it best “…”THE NECESSITY OF PROCURING good Intelligence is apparent & need not be further urged–all that remains for me to add, is, that you keep the whole matter as secret as possible. For upon Secrecy, Success depends in most Enterprizes of the kind, and for want of it, they are generally
defeated, however well planned and promising a favorable issue.”
Another thought, again from a guy who really understood life, liberty, power and the need for intelligence: “…I have received your letter of the 4th, containing an apology for sending an agreeable piece of Intelligence which you have since
discover’d to be false; mistakes of this kind are not uncommon and most
frequently happen to those whose zeal and sanguineness allow no room for
scepticism when anything favourable to their country is plausibly
related.”
G. Washington
Not that I’d be surprised if Obama ordered it, I would expect that, but isn’t Der Spiegel a tabloid?
Not in the “John Edward’s Two Headed Martian Love Child, National Enquirer vein” but more in the form of Time Magazine. It’s a weekly with a very good reputation for investigative journalism. I read just enough German to figure out what the article is about and Der Spiegel (The Mirror) was the weekly we practiced with.
So many news reporters, bloggers and other “experts’ commenting on a world they know zero about…………….lets just say, listening/recording phone conversations of world leaders was going on a long, long, long time before I was first stationed in Germany in 1986…….
I really wish the people who put together these animated “World Leaders” shows would do some updated ones with Obama in them. They did a great job with Bush and others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAnXltAvxhQ
Of course we should all be careful of what we say that could be overheard —
——————————————
By mistake, a captain forgets to disconnect the intercom from the cockpit and is overheard by the passengers as he tells the copilot, “The first thing I’m going to do is take a crap and then I’m going to grab this hot new stewardess.” Hearing this, the stewardess rushes forward toward the cockpit. A nice elderly lady stops her and says, “Don’t rush. He hasn’t gone to the toilet yet!”