the N.S.A.'s costly european adventure

[xchrom]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2013/07/nsa-costly-european-adventure.html



In the last few days, Der Spiegel and the Guardian published the latest revelations from Edward Snowden’s often random-seeming cache of PowerPoint slides, memoranda citing acronyms whose full import remains mysterious, and other top-secret files from the National Security Agency. The new disclosures describe data collection and black-bag bugging jobs directed by the United States against European allies, including Germany, France, Britain, and the European Union.

The notionally sophisticated reaction in both Washington and Europe has been mais, bien sur—all countries spy on their friends and betray the trust of their allies (even when, as now, those allies have sent soldiers to fight and die in an expeditionary war, in Afghanistan, that the allies never much believed in, but signed up for mainly out of loyalty to the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). French President François Hollande, upon learning that the N.S.A. had bugged the French Embassy in Washington, exclaimed that he “cannot accept this kind of behavior.” “Come on,” is the typical informed response; “everyone knows” that the French spy on the United States routinely.

“I guarantee you,” President Obama said in his glancing defense of the N.S.A. this week, “that in European capitals, there are people who are interested, if not in what I had for breakfast, then at least what my talking points might be, if I meet with their leaders.”

At issue, however, is much more than how David Cameron and Angela Merkel prefer their eggs and toast. Even if European Presidents and Prime Ministers accept hypocrisy (in part because at least some of them practice it themselves), their voting publics will not.

[byeya]

1. The European media will report what the governments conclude about the discovery

and then we'll see if it impacts relationships with this country and if so, on what levels and at which frequency.
Obama is on full damage control and he may stop the losses to USA prestige.
But, the spying is out on full view for all Europeans and I think it will have an impact.

[n2doc]

2. It can't be a mistake-Obama never makes mistakes

We just can't understand the master plan.

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. This is not gonna play well

Empire is stark and naked now.