States have no friends, it is naive to assume that. States have interests, and so at best are temporary partners regarding practical issues.
I expected nothing else than what is revealed in Germany these days. I am only surprised that so many people seriously claim to have been unknowing. As I said: naivety
en masse over here.
The deep mistrust between Merkel and Obama was existent already before.
The French, British, Russians and Chinese spy on us, too.
All this spying is not so much about terrorism. It is about economic spionage, business spying, knowing in advance the negotiation tactic of the other when meeting him at the table next day. It is about how to penetrate best and anchor deepest own business lobbyists in the other's political every day politics. The British even were so kind to say that out clear and loud - cudos for their honesty!
The outlook on surveillance and sniffing out private people?
I am convinced that the pressure from collapsing currencies will mount until just two scenarios are left anymore that could materialise:
- either a return to a value-money (gold standard or else) with all the fall and breakdown that follows when the debt bubbles burst and people lose their pensions and saving during and already before that: this is the scenario of a major, slightly controlled breakdown. It has been done before in history. It'S the lesser evil, compared to sitting it out and then seeing uncontrolle collapse at the end: much worse.
- or the state's power-profiteers (officials, politicians) - trying to secure their power by establishing a dictatorship and according massive suppression, under whose umbrella an official debt-money that does not represent values, but uses debt bonds - the recognition of what we already have, de facto - gets introduced. For slightly varying motives, all seem to want this: socialists, Keynesians, EUcrats.
I see the first as the desirable and necessary, but I see the second as what actually is more likely. Both America and Europe have politicians that clearly prefer the second. Their craving to stay in power tramples all common sense.
Since this is so, you can safely assume that the spying on people, the penetration and deletion of their privacy, the control of their opinion forming, will increase and will be massively boosted. Also, since the crisis sharpens, economic spying will increase even more.
BTW, I assume that nothing of strategic importance has been communicated over Merkel's cellphone. There is a catalogue of different secrecy levels of what is allowed to communicate over private cellphones, encrypted cellphones, and what always is forbidden to communicate over cellphones.
This is not meant to appease over the NSA activities. But as I said in another thread, I find it pathetic if the weak is outraged over the stronger one acting strong, and seriously expecting him to act less strong and more weak. That expectation is a dud from beginning on. If these idiots over here would mean serious business, they would do their share to become stronger themselves to meet the other on same eye level. So, a lot of show there. Europe was stupid enough to comofrtably ignore when the US ov er decades formed the basis of its stratgeic, total superiority in the communication and electronic field. That all main servers of global internet traffic now reside inside the US, is the result. That all communication patterns, globally, depend on schemes that make them vulnerable to American surveillance and possible control/intervention, also is the logical consequences of Europes own failings.
We complain that the other is so strong. We should better ask why we allowed to stay so weak.
There is frequent complaining over here that the US sometimes implies that American laws must be followed by the rest of the world, are valid outside the US as well. But currently I hear a lot of talking that implies that America must follow German laws. Hypocrisy!
No need to apologize, Bubblehead. Or have you given the order to the NSA?