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NSA: For Europe, it's Better to be 'Heard than Ignored' (El Pais, Spain)

 

"We in Europe have long complained that the United States hasn't been listening to us, that we are a dispensable continent, and that we no longer even show up on America's radar, inundated as it is with blips from the Asia-Pacific. Now we find that they're not only listening to us, they are spying on us - and on a massive scale. ... We wish to receive the same treatment that Washington grants its first cousins in Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. That's a far cry from a 'stop it!'"

 

By Francisco G. Basterra

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Translated by Vicky Latham

 

October 30, 2013

 

Spain - El Pais - Original Article (Spanish)

Obama must consider whether alienating his citizens from his allies increases international security.

 

We in Europe have long complained that the United States hasn’t been listening to us, that we are a dispensable continent, and that we no longer even show up on America's radar, inundated as it is with blips from the Asia-Pacific. Now we find that they're not only listening to us, they are spying on us - and on a massive scale. And it does so without feeling obliged to offer us any kind of explanation, never mind actually halting such practices. Behind it all is Obama - he whose praises Europe sung, and the one we believed in because he wasn’t Bush. They control the technology that enables this intrusion for the achievement of political, commercial or economic objectives, under the cover of the battle against global terrorism. They oversee the servers of American companies like Google, Microsoft or Apple. They use America's “soft power” to control cyberspace, which is the scaffolding of globalization. However, this abuse, warns The New York Times, reduces America's capacity to influence global affairs by way of example and moral leadership. It took the eavesdropping of Angela Merkel - also known as the “mobile chancellor” due to her extensive and continuous use of her cell phone to govern Germany - to unleash a storm in transatlantic relations.

 

At stake is confidence in the United States. Obama must weigh whether alienating his citizens from his allies is a promising strategy for enhancing international security. It doesn't t seem like the best way to make friends in time of need, when the Middle East is seething, when the U.S. remains mired in its decision to abandon Afghanistan, and when the Arab Spring is collapsing. Its strategy of an Asia pivot to contain China is still a half-hearted pirouette. The U.S. looks like an absent-minded giant incapable of resolving its primary domestic problem, the budget. It is a superpower that collects taxes as if it were a run-of-the-mill nation - but one that faces colossal expenditures, above all in defense, but also in infrastructure and healthcare, where it suffers shortages that are inadequate for a developed country. Distracted from its alliances, the right attitude would be to mend relations with Iran by controlling its nuclear development without resort to military force, not threatening to attack Syria and thereby inciting its Saudi ally, Egypt and Turkey, all of which now question Washington’s reliability, as do Europeans, given the contempt created by wide-scale eavesdropping. The violation of international law committed with drone attacks, as confirmed by independent observers, is yet another sign of the strange attitude shown by the Obama Administration, which has been exhibiting some rather erratic behavior on the international stage. The United States, having problems managing its partial decline, often behaves awkwardly, still a victim of a self-satisfied arrogance stemming from its supposed exceptional place as the indispensable nation, when in every instance it is becoming less so.

 

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We have been advised that our communications are tapped. Through Le Monde we discovered the details of Datagate - exposed by American analyst Edward Snowden, which is a massive electronic spying effort that the United States has unleashed in France. This year, the same newspaper revealed that French authorities had developed their own electronic surveillance network monitoring telephone calls, e-mails, text messages, and the Twitter and Facebook messages of their own citizens and third country nationals. President Hollande called Obama to demand an explanation, which has so far been limited to a general appeal for finding the right balance between privacy and the need for security in a dangerous world.

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Europeans have hitherto preferred to treat this problem bilaterally with Washington. We still don’t believe that there is strength in numbers, fearful of bothering the big boss - a classic behavior of the weak when the strong pursues an opposing policy. We have a chronic incapacity to earn respect. Now, overwhelmed by the leaks by Snowden, who is sheltered by Putin in Russia, the E.U. summit in Brussels called on the great powers to yield to the commandment not to spy on the allied leaders you are sitting at the table with. We wish to receive the same treatment that Washington grants its first cousins in Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. That's a far cry from a "stop it!"

 

The United States is, and will continue to be, our best friend. In Washington they think Europe is overreacting - that those that can, always spy on one another, just as easily as they do the U.S. Westerners and communists spied on each other extensively during the Cold War, and the implosion of the USSR did little to change that long tradition. Long gone is 1929, when Secretary of the State Henry Stimson explained why the State Department was closing its unit for decryption, saying "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail." Today, the capacity to rapidly collect and analyze vast amounts of data has quickly abolished privacy. If the government wishes to, it can even penetrate your kitchen electronics. For Europeans, isn't it better to be heard than ignored?

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
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Telegraph, U.K.: David Cameron 'Spies' Trouble
Der Spiegel, Germany: Embassy Espionage: The NSA's Secret Spy Hub in Berlin
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Guardian, U.K.: Spain Summons U.S. Ambassador Over Claim NSA Tracked Millions
Rzeczpospolita, Poland: Europe's 'NSA Envy'
Die Zeit, Germany: NSA Blackmail of Obama Himself is Not Far-Fetched
Polityka, Poland: Allies or Enemies? American Intelligence Has Lost the Plot
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Le Nouvel Observateur, France: NSA Snoops on France: 'Like Spying on Family'
Le Monde, France: 'How the NSA Spies on the French'
Le Monde, France: Fighting 'Big Brother'
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La Jornada, Mexico: Latest NSA Leak Puts President Nieto's Credibility at Stake
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Guardian, U.K.: France Summons U.S. Envoy Over NSA Surveillance Claims
Dep Speigel, Germany: Fresh Leak: NSA Accessed Mexican President's E-mail
La Jornada, Mexico: Nations Should Quickly Heed Advice of Greenwald, Assange
Guardian, U.K.: World Editors: 'What Guardian is Doing is Important for Democracy
Guardian, U.K.: Surveillance, Democracy, Transparency - Views from Across the Globe
Guardian, U.K.: EDITORIAL: Spies and Journalism: When Worlds Collide
Izvestia, Russia: Global Call to Arms Against 'American Exceptionalism'
Huanqiu, China: Letter By Vladimir Putin Exposes 'Exceptional' American Inequality
de Volkskrant, The Netherlands: Putin's Note to Americans a Guilty Pleasure for World
Epoca, Brazil: America's 'Undemocratic' Surveillance is More Invasive than China's
Guardian, U.K.: Committee to Protect Journalists Issues Scathing Report on Obama
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Estadao, Brazil: Warning to Brazil Lawmakers Before Meeting with Snowden
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El Mundo, Spain: The U.N.'s Yearly Show Again Plays a Vital Role
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Opera Mundi, Brazil: Outraged Evo Morales Wants Obama Tried for 'Crimes Against Humanity'
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O Globo, Brazil: NSA Targeted Latin American 'Trade Secrets'
O Globo, Brazil: Brazil 'Gravely Concerned' Over Massive NSA Espionage
O Globo, Brazil: Leading Brazilians Condemn U.S. Surveillance Against the Nation
O Globo, Brazil: President Rousseff's U.S. State Visit Imperiled By NSA Spying
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Der Spiegel, Germany: Codename 'Apalachee': How America Spies on Europe and the U.N.
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Guardian, U.K.: Innocent have Nothing to Fear? After Miranda, We Know Where that Leads
Guardian, U.K.: Groklaw Legal Site Shuts Over Fears of NSA E-Mail Snooping
Guardian, U.K.: 'Sending a Message': What U.S. and U.K. are Attempting to Do
Guardian, U.K.: U.S. Senators Warn NSA Privacy Breaches Just 'Tip of the Iceberg'
Der Spiegel, Germany: Merkel and the NSA: The Scandal That Will Not Die
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Savon Sanomat, Finland: Better For Finland that Obama Goes to Sweden
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Posted By Worldmeets.US Oct. 30, 2013, 02:19pm