The Great Ice Age
http://watchingamerica.com/News/225594/the-great-ice-age/
The Great Ice Age
Braunschweiger Zeitung, Germany
By Andre Dolle
Translated By Holly Bickerton
27 October 2013
Edited by Bora Mici
President Obama's warm words to Chancellor Merkel seem like pure mockery now. In June 2011 they stood in the Rose Garden of the White House as Obama gave Merkel the Presidential Medal of Freedom as a symbol "of the triumph of freedom." The former citizen of the German Democratic Republic dutifully said thank you and praised the German-American partnership.
Today, there is none of this sentiment left. The headlines may have yet to be confirmed, but they are already seeing to it that the relationship between Germany and the U.S. is nearly at its freezing point.
~snip~
The arrogance with which some in the U.S. commented on the NSA scandal is likely to vanish soon. In France, too, there is growing resistance against the American spies. More EU countries are likely to follow.
Storm clouds are gathering, not just for the relationship between Germany and the United States, but also for the new government coalition in Germany. Besides the left-wing party, Die Linke, and the Green Party, the Social Democratic Party also wants an investigation now; but what is this supposed to achieve? It will hardly be possible to order NSA or U.S. embassy employees to appear before the committee. It would not go any further than questioning within Germany, but an investigation would raise the pressure on the Christian Democratic Union to insist on answers from the United States.