German Minister: 'US Operating Without any Kind of Boundaries'

[FarCenter]

In an interview, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, 60, warns that American spying has become "boundless" and expresses sorrow that approval ratings for the United States have plummeted in Germany.

The following is an excerpt from a longer interview conducted with German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.

SPIEGEL: Minister de Maizière, nine weeks ago at the Munich Security Conference you demanded that the United States provide detailed information about its spying activities in Germany. Have you received anything from them yet?

De Maizière: The information we have received thus far is insufficient. That remains my opinion. The US' surveillance measures are largely a result of its security needs, but they are being implemented in an excessive, boundless fashion.
SPIEGEL: How did you come to this conclusion?

De Maizière: If even two-thirds of what Edward Snowden has presented or what has been presented with his name cited as the source is true, then I would conclude that the USA is operating without any kind of boundaries.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-interior-minister-warns-us-spying-has-no-boundaries-a-963179.html

[JDPriestly]

1. OK. I lived in Germany and Austria, and I predicted that they would be furious about the NSA

programs.

I guess my ego wants some recognition here.

When I was there, it seemed very clear to me that the German people consider themselves to be at the same time very German, but also very good friends with the US. When I was in a hospital after giving birth to my first child, one of the nurses brought her grand-daughter to meet me because the grand-daughter had an absent American father. I was very touched and felt how welcome she wanted to make me feel. It must be very disappointing to Germans to think that they were not fully apprised of the details of these programs while other American allies, the English-speaking countries were in on the scheme. What an insult to our good, trusted German friends.

The following is an excerpt from a longer interview conducted with German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.

SPIEGEL: Minister de Maizière, nine weeks ago at the Munich Security Conference you demanded that the United States provide detailed information about its spying activities in Germany. Have you received anything from them yet?

De Maizière: The information we have received thus far is insufficient. That remains my opinion. The US' surveillance measures are largely a result of its security needs, but they are being implemented in an excessive, boundless fashion.

I put the phrase above in bold because I thought it was kind of disingenuous that the Germans want to keep their espionage programs secret, but are glad that ours have been revealed. Germany needs to be more open too. The internet is about being open with your ideas and a lot of your life. Our governments need to understand that concept a little better.

SPIEGEL: How did you come to this conclusion?

De Maizière: If even two-thirds of what Edward Snowden has presented or what has been presented with his name cited as the source is true, then I would conclude that the USA is operating without any kind of boundaries.

SPIEGEL: Are you hopeful that anything will change in the near future -- perhaps when Chancellor Angela Merkel visits President Barack Obama in May?

De Maizière: I have low expectations that further talks will prove to be successful. But of course these talks are continuing.

. . . .

De Maizière: Counterespionage work cannot be the subject of an interview with SPIEGEL. Please understand that. If all of our suspicions are correct, everything that we are discussing right now isn't even taking place on German soil. That also makes it difficult to assess. However, I do want state again that cooperation between the intelligence services of the United States, Great Britain and Germany is indispensable to us. It is in our national interest and it cannot be allowed to be harmed -- not even through the parliament's investigative committee.

. . . .

De Maizière: I am thinking of the foreign policy damage. Because the greater damage has actually been inflicted by the Americans and not the Germans. And I say this as a staunch trans-Atlanticist. Approval ratings for Americans in German polls are lower right now than they have been in a long time. The last time this was the case was during a certain phase of the policies of George W. Bush. It saddens me. Even if Obama's initial popularity may have been exaggerated, the US cannot be apathetic to the fact that approval ratings have shifted to such a degree within just one year. America should have an interest in improving them. Words alone will not suffice. "

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-interior-minister-warns-us-spying-has-no-boundaries-a-963179.html

The NSA has done so much harm by allowing these programs to get so out of control huge and sneaky when it comes to informing some of our trusted allies.

Don't lame Snowden. The spying would have become apparent and would have been revealed sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.

The NSA's attempt to hide its spying program is like the attempt of an alcoholic to hide his addiction from his family. Not going to happen. Sooner or later . . . . .

I saw an interview of Snowden's lawyer here on DU earlier today. She suggested that Germany is planning to set up its own internet connection so that nothing will be routed in a way that the US can spy on.

The NSA's spying could damage the American computer companies pretty badly. It's a real shame.