If the Americans intercepted phone calls in Germany, they broke German law on German soil.
Most recently, Spain and France have expressed outrage last week as it seems likely the NSA was also paying on hundreds of millions of communications between innocent civilians within their borders as well says the guardian. These accusations prompted the Spanish secretary of state to summon US ambassador James Costos to Madrid in oder to discuss the nature of NSA spying further.
According to an article in Japan Today, the US could lose access to an important law enforcement tool used to track terrorist money flows as Europe weighs a response to the new spying allegations. Today the German Justice Minister said that she believed the Americans were using the information to gather economic intelligence apart from terrorism and that the deal, known as SWIFT, should be suspended. The agreement, known as the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, allows access to funds transferred through the private, Belgian based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which handles the movement of money between banks worldwide. The suspension of the agreement would require an overwhelming majority decision by the 28 EU member states and would represent a crucial disconnect between the United States and some of their closest allies, potentially undermining American national security.
Spying on foreigners is a core aspect of the mission of the NSA, one that it defends as appropriate given the nature of global threats and widespread spying. Do you think that the NSA has abused its power with regard to international spying? And if so, should programs such as SWIFT be suspended despite the fact that this may hinder national security efforts on the behalf of the United States?
According to an article in Japan Today, the US could lose access to an important law enforcement tool used to track terrorist money flows as Europe weighs a response to the new spying allegations. Today the German Justice Minister said that she believed the Americans were using the information to gather economic intelligence apart from terrorism and that the deal, known as SWIFT, should be suspended. The agreement, known as the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, allows access to funds transferred through the private, Belgian based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, which handles the movement of money between banks worldwide. The suspension of the agreement would require an overwhelming majority decision by the 28 EU member states and would represent a crucial disconnect between the United States and some of their closest allies, potentially undermining American national security.
Spying on foreigners is a core aspect of the mission of the NSA, one that it defends as appropriate given the nature of global threats and widespread spying. Do you think that the NSA has abused its power with regard to international spying? And if so, should programs such as SWIFT be suspended despite the fact that this may hinder national security efforts on the behalf of the United States?
I don't think that it comes to a big shock to most people that the US has been spying on other countries, just the extent that it has been going on. European leaders might not be too surprised either knowing the United State's has its hand in just about every country on the planet. I think the real question is what the leaders in the EU will do with the leverage that they may have gained from the public uproar resulting from the information leaked by Edward Snowden. I doubt that this leverage from public opinion will last very long, so EU leaders may use the power they gain from the situation in upcoming interactions with the US.
ReplyDeleteI am honestly not surprised that the United States has been spying on other countries. But it did come as a surprise that the United States has been spying on allied countries, especially ones that we have strong economic ties with. It seems like quite a big risk for the United States...Honestly speaking, I am sure that the United States is not the only state that is spying on other countries...I think that we are just the ones "lucky" enough to get caught and take the heat.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find really surprising and a bit concerning is the fact that President Obama was not aware that the NSA was spying on the German Chancellor and other "friendly states" until this summer, right after the administration conducted an internal review of the NSA after the Edward Snowden scandal (http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-365565/). The fact the President himself was not (allegedly) informed of the NSA's far-reaching spying program represents a huge lack of supervision. That, to me, is more surprising than the prominent targets of this particular NSA program. If a leader of a state cannot be held accountable for the activities of the (arguably) most contentious national agency in the country, it is important to ask who exactly is. In regard to relations with other countries, a growing sense of discontentment and distrust could potentially hinder them from working closely on international issues where consensus is crucial.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Morgan, when stating that I am not really all that surprised to hear that the US has been spying on other countries. What I find hard to understand is why the US would decide to spy on our own allies. Why would the US risk losing the trust of a country that we have had strong relations with over a long period of time? With technology always progressing and new ways of spying being developed, I'm extremely curious to see how exactly the US will respond to these new threats of cyberterrorism and how to prevent future events from unfolding through technology.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew that it is certainly not a shock that we are spying on other countries. However, I must admit, being a German citizen, if I were living in Germany, I too would be outraged by the NSA’s action on Merkel. It would definitely feel out of left field and give the rest of the world the impression that the US is no nobody’s ally. We thought only Americans were concerned for their own privacy, but now as it is appearing in Europe, who’s the next target of the NSA? With civilians being tracked in Spain, it would be hesitant to even use a phone. Who knows what they could be listening in on? I think the actions of Germany sending senior intelligence officials or the actions of Spain by sending their secretary of state to investigate this spying are very reasonable responses and I would expect my government to do the same if we were targeted in such a fashion, especially by our own allies.
ReplyDeleteThe author mentions, with rare insight, potential steps European states, or the EU as a whole, could take against the United States in response to the recently uncovered illicit spying program the US has been running. He mentions specifically that the agreement between the US and the EU to share information regarding the SWIFT bank transfer network could be terminated, which could seriously effect the efforts of US intelligence to defend against terrorist acts. The US should rethink the structure of its intelligence apparatus perhaps by cooperating more effectively with its more trusted allies.
ReplyDeleteIt is a known fact that states spy on different states. Spies are designed to eliminate the dilemma of information when concerning state interaction (whether armed or unarmed), in order to provide the spying state with the best possible outcome whether that be economically or involving armed conflict. As a realist would see it, these states are doing what is best for their survival, regardless of alliances. It is no mystery that the US uses spies, and it is no mystery that its allies use spies as well, often to spy on their other allies like the US. The US was unfortunately caught in the act, so they will have to pay the price (whatever that is). Knowing that everyone uses spies I am sure the repercussions are not going to be as severe as they very well could be. However, with that being said, many of the US’s allies could put sanctions on them as punishment, stopping much of the trade to hurt their economy. This is the worst that could really come of this, I personally believe it has been blown WAY out of proportion. The US will likely continue to spy on its allies in the future, but be cautious of its actions as of now.
ReplyDeleteI think that every country is constantly trying to gain the upper hand and always spying and doing what is necessary in order to gain a possible advantage. I think this could hurt the U.S. if we actually needed this in order to help with terrorism but does not come as a huge shock.
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