A few thousand people came out to demonstrate in 40 cities Germany on Saturday against US National Security Agency spying and German government complicity with it. They hailed from the Green Party, the Pirate Party, and organizations like “Stop Watching Us!” The biggest demo was in Frankfurt, the financial capital.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center-right) has been worried that the surveillance scandal will hurt her in the upcoming elections. So far the socialists and greens have not been able to gain too much traction on this issue, but given the depth of feeling in Germany against anything that smacks of totalitarianism, given the country’s modern history, it is not impossible that it could yet emerge as a campaign issue.
NSA leaker Edward Snowden revealed close cooperation between the German BND intelligence organization and the NSA, which he says is structured to allow politicians deniability. And, indeed, German intelligence officials have asserted with a straight face that the NSA is not monitoring the German public. Yes, and there is this bridge over the Rhine that he can let you have for a song.
Der Spiegel revealed, based on the Edward Snowden leaks, that half a billion data connections in Germany are monitored each month by the Tempora program, jointly operated by the British GCHQ and the American National Security Agency. (The press seems determined to call it PRISM, but that is actually a different operation; see no. 4 here ).
I believe that this is the first song about Edward Snowden
Every Call You Make
link to youtube.com
Calm
“…but given the depth of feeling in Germany against anything that smacks of totalitarianism,…”
If only a few thousand Germans saw fit to take to the streets that “depth of feeling” appears to be more shallow than deep.
Unfortunately, it appears authoritarians and authoritarian followers are still determining how that nation is run.
This is all about industrial, commercial espionage of German companies. Intelectual Property theft to the benefit of their U.S.and UK competitors.
“German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center-right) has been worried that the surveillance scandal will hurt her in the upcoming elections.”
The election will give us a truer portrait of Germany and the Germans. After Merkel clicking her heels and saying “Jawohl, mein Fuehrer” to Obama when he told her to deny Evo Morales his right to overfly Germany, it will be a serious sign about the status of German democracy and independence if she is reelected.
“After Merkel clicking her heels and saying “Jawohl, mein Fuehrer” to Obama when he told her to deny Evo Morales his right to overfly Germany.”
You are seriously misinformed. France, Spain, and Portugal denied Evo Morales’s aircraft overflight permission. Germany was not involved. Morales’s plane was forced to land in Vienna because it was running low on fuel. Austrian authorities used the stop to check to see if Snowden was on board. Later, Spain allowed the plane to refuel in the Canary Islands, provided Snowden was not on board.
Germany and Chancellor Merkel were not involved in Morales’s adventure at all. There was no request to Germany for overflight permission from Morales’s aircraft, and thus there was nothing for Germany to either approve or deny.
Bolivia called in diplomatic representatives from Spain, Portugal and France, but that doesn’t let Germany off the hook. Der Spiegel reported “Several European countries had allegedly denied the Bolivian aircraft overflight rights after rumors began flying that National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.” link to spiegel.de.
France and Spain claim they would have allowed overflight rights. If so why did Morales’ plane not cross German air space?
That line about running low on fuel has to be regarded with skepticism. Munich was closer to the flight path than Vienna according to Aeroflot’s route map, so why did it not go there. Distance-wise from Moscow there wouldn’t have been much difference.
“Der Spiegel reported “Several European countries had allegedly denied the Bolivian aircraft overflight rights after rumors began flying that National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board.”
Der Spiegel is, of course, correct. Several European countries did deny Morales’s aircraft overflight permission: France, Spain, and Portugal.
And Italy.
Why don’t you get a map of Europe or a Spanish newspaper? I was in Spain during the affair and apparently the Bolivians were fuming over what they perceived as Spanish racism. That’s at least what the Spanish media said they were focusing on, and they are written in Morales’ mother tongue….
And by the way: what Germans mind if they do mind anything is not what Obama is doing to his own people. Anyone undertaking any serious efforts in the US to come to Snowden’s aid? After all, he was doing it for his own people in the first place? If so, word doesn’t get across to us here in Europe. If the US get what they apparently deserve, we can perfectly live with it. What we mind is a foreign nation minding our affairs, and our government obeying to it.
Watch the flight path of Bolivian Air Force One link to zerohedge.com. It flew past Vienna then backtracked to its airport. It clearly could have made it to Munich and Zurich from its turnaround point. Why did it not go there? Why did it not enter German airspace? How can we explain Germany’s role in this squalid affair?
“How can we explain Germany’s role in this squalid affair?”
If Germany had denied Morales’s aircraft overflight permission, Bolivian officials would have included it, along with France, Spain and Portugal, in their complaint. That they did not is pretty good evidence that Germany was not involved.
To answer your question cited above, there is nothing to explain because Germany was not involved.
Would you like to take a guess as to why Morales’ plane turned back to Vienna when it was near the German border instead of going on to Munich?
As for an emergency landing in Vienna because Morales’s plane was low on fuel, this report – link to presstv.com – indicates the plane was scheduled to refuel in Portugal.
As for Germany, there is something here that is reminiscent of the dog that didn’t bark in the Sherlock Holmes story.
Wait til those Frau Merkel fans find out about this!
link to abcnews.go.com
And Dianne Feinstein should stick to judging San Diego mayors after they are already cooked. Big NSA hearing this week!
…great link…thanks!