NSA Blackmail of Obama Himself is Not Far-Fetched (Die Zeit, Germany)
"One doesn't have to be a conspiracy theorist to raise the
question: Isn't it possible that Obama might also be a victim of NSA eavesdropping?
It wouldn't be the first time an intelligence agency developed a sense of
omnipotence and set itself up as a 'state within the state.' It is therefore high
time for Obama and Congress to relentlessly expose and severely curb the
macabre practices of the NSA."
Chancellor Angela Merkel: The NSA may well have spied on the wrong person, jeapordizing the astronomical budget and nearly free hand the agency has had since 9-11.
And
now even Angela Merkel's cell phone? DilmaRousseff, the president of Brazil, as well as former
Mexican President Felipe Calderón, his successor Enrique
Peña Nieto, diplomatic representatives of the E.U. in
Washington, and various European embassies, have all been victims of
eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency. The NSA also spied on the
telecommunications traffic of millions of French citizens, accessed phone
conversations in Germany, and examined e-mails. Apparently, the U.S. trusts its
allies to the point of wanting to know, day and night, what they are saying and
thinking.
Of
course, President Obama immediately denied reports that the chancellor's cell
phone had been tapped, and assured her that the U.S.
"is not monitoring and will not monitor" her in the future. There
really wasn't much more he could say. But even if we were to believe him, this
is only a partial denial. After all, what happened before yesterday? Was Merkel's
cell phone a target for U.S. intelligence agency employees in the past?
Since
Edward Snowden brought the NSA's practices to light,
America's intelligence agencies have been trying to reassure us with the claim
that the data and contents were being collected and stored, only to be searched
with specific keywords in the event of a genuine suspected act of terror.
Is
this still something one can believe? The intelligence service doesn't even
stop at eavesdropping on its own people, although it is bound by much stricter
regulations at home than outside the country.
It's
true that the NSA doesn't have sufficient staff to listen to millions of
telephone conversations or to read millions of e-mails. But the invasion of
privacy occurs much earlier. The problem is that the United States has the
audacity to open its eyes and ears all over the world, and that it's
accumulating an enormous amount of clandestinely-gathered information,
regardless of whether or not it will be evaluated.
Obama himself
must be afraid and apprehensive
Of
course in the end, only a very small number of people are really of interest in
this mass of data. But heads of government are always of interest. They weren't
caught in the net by accident, but were targeted deliberately. Meaning that the
NSA knew six months before, which politicians Mexican President Peña would appoint to his cabinet - at least according to
Brazilian channel TV Globo.
Barack
Obama is avoiding the issue, appeasing and promising to make corrections - and
this when he himself should be afraid and apprehensive. If the NSA is
eavesdropping - even on friendly heads of state, the American president himself might
every now and then become a target. One doesn't have to be a conspiracy theorist
to raise the question: Isn't it possible that Obama might also be a victim of
NSA eavesdropping? It wouldn't be the first time an intelligence agency
developed a sense of omnipotence and set itself up as a "state within the
state."
It
is therefore high time for Obama and Congress to relentlessly expose and
severely curb the macabre practices of the NSA. They made promises to this
effect several months ago, but so far very little has been done. With every new
revelation, there is further loss in confidence. If America wants to stop
alienating its friends, taking the bull by the horns now is the only thing that
will help.
