Germany Nixes Surveillance Pact With US, Britain

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

FRANK JORDANS 2 hours ago

BERLIN (AP) — Germany canceled a Cold War-era surveillance pact with the United States and Britain on Friday in response to revelations by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden about those countries' alleged electronic eavesdropping operations.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had raised the issue of alleged National Security Agency spying with President Barack Obama when he visited Berlin in June. But with weeks to go before national elections, opposition parties had demanded clarity about the extent to which her government knew of the intelligence gathering operations directed at Germany and German citizens.

Government officials have insisted that U.S. and British intelligence were never given permission to break Germany's strict privacy laws. But they conceded that an agreement dating back to the late 1960s gave the U.S., Britain and France the right to request German authorities to conduct surveillance operations within Germany to protect their troops stationed there.

"The cancellation of the administrative agreements, which we have pushed for in recent weeks, is a necessary and proper consequence of the recent debate about protecting personal privacy," Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/germany-nixes-surveillance-pact-us-britain-113557159.html

[agent46]

1. They wouldn't do this lightly.

To me, this means that NSA/Corporate overreach really is that bad and the facts of the matter have been verified by someone at a high level.

Reason enough for politely ignoring apologists now.

Speculating here. I wonder if this may be the first domino to shift in an international re-arrangement of policies (and possibly, alliances) regarding the U.S.. We'll know soon at any rate.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

2. Let the dominos start falling! n/t

[caduceus111]

11. It's all political fluff to make Merkel look like she's doing something. Elections coming in Sept.

From the article:

A German official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the cancellation would have no practical consequences.

He said the move was largely symbolic since the agreement had not been invoked since the end of the Cold War and would have no impact on current intelligence cooperation between Germany and its NATO allies. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the issue, said Germany was currently in talks with France to cancel its part of the agreement as well.

[JackRiddler]

12. Yes, this changes nothing.

You quote the only part of the article that matters.

[PM Martin]

3. The NSA's programs are far more extensive than we know.

[agent46]

4. Yes

I think you're right.

[DFW]

5. "Germany's strict privacy laws" are broken frequently

By the Germans themselves when deemed necessary. They have the technology, and cover their tracks well (until they get their own Snowden).

A friend of mine recently retired from the BKA (Bundeskriminalamt), sort of the German FBI. They follow the rules mostly, bend them when deemed necessary.

Plus ça change, as they say. After all, who do you think their mentors were?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

8. uh huh.

[AverageJoe90]

14. Sad but damn true.

But why won't Snowden's fan club talk about that?

Funny thing is, they don't seem to mention China much, either, a country whose own surveillance tactics are far more egregious than anything we've ever done so far.....

[neverforget]

15. Because we're Americans and not Germans or Chinese.

Just because they do it does not excuse us. We're supposed to be better than that.

[AverageJoe90]

16. Never argued against that, TBH.

But we DO need to keep things in context, though. And sadly, Snowden's fan club isn't doing a good job of that; yes, we could be better. That I agree with. But we're nowhere near as bad as China, either.

[AppleBottom]

17. Stop making sense. nt.

[Kelvin Mace]

6. Well, publicly

but what are they doing under the table?

[Luschnig]

7. It is time to free Germany

from American military occupation so the country can be really free from foreign surveillance and interference.

[DFW]

10. Good luck with that

A former chancellor works for Putin. We aren't the only ones with our eyes and ears on Germany, and the departure of our military bases will not have much effect on Germany except to increase German unemployment temporarily.

Our surveillance will still be there, as is that of England, France, China and, especially, Russia. Today's generation of Germans doesn't feel in the slightest "militarily occupied," and cares more about where their best job prospects are rather than whether or not some American soldiers in uniform are shopping at the corner kiosk or not.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Does anyone ever say 'nix' outside of a headline? (nt)

[AppleBottom]

13. Ohhh you know the mafia never just lets anyone just walk away.

This is bad disobedience is not allowed.