"Spying among friends, that's just wrong"

[August]

So said an oh so self righteous German Chancellor Merkel just 2 years ago but now we find:

BERLIN — German public radio station rbb-Inforadio reported Wednesday that the country's foreign intelligence agency spied on the FBI and U.S. arms companies, adding to a growing list of targets among friendly nations the agency allegedly eavesdropped on.
The station claimed that Germany's BND also spied on the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the World Health Organization, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and even a German diplomat who headed an EU observer mission to Georgia from 2008 to 2011.
It provided no source for its report, but the respected German weekly Der Spiegel also reported at the weekend that the BND targeted phone numbers and email addresses of officials in the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland, Greece, the Vatican and other European countries, as well as at international aid groups such as the Red Cross.
The claims are particularly sensitive in Germany because the government reacted with anger two years ago to reports that the U.S. eavesdropped on German targets, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, who declared at the time that "spying among friends, that's just wrong."

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/nat...rench_minister

[Oberon]

Brilliant.

[Mr Quatro]

I bet it starts out innocently enough with someone saying, "I wonder if we can get away with it"

and then they find out they can, but time always back tracks and the truth of the matter is revealed.

[Oberon]

Eh, everyone spies on everyone else, it's been like that throughout history, it's pretty naive to think that just because two countries are allies that they're not going to be spying on each other. Alliances don't last forever, after all.

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Eh, everyone spies on everyone else, it's been like that throughout history, it's pretty naive to think that just because two countries are allies that they're not going to be spying on each other. Alliances don't last forever, after all.

That explains the URLS BBY!

[Betonov]

Keep your friends close

[Catfish]

I'd say Merkel performed a perfect anglo-saxon reaction:
"You did it first, so whatever comes next is only your fault."

[Mike Abberton]

Yeah it's sort of similar to war plans. Just because they are allies, that you don't have a plan.

I love it when every once in a while some "news" agency drags up the old Rainbow Plans and tries to say the US was "planning" to invade Great Britain or some such.

Mike

[Stealhead]

Everyone spies on everyone else. Not shocking news to me at all. Now a political figure being dishonest that shocks me.

[u crank]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

Everyone spies on everyone else. Not shocking news to me at all.

I wonder if some agencies in one country ask other countries about rival agencies in their own country. Nah, that's just too paranoid.

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by u crank

I wonder if some agencies in one country ask other countries about rival agencies in their own country. Nah, that's just too paranoid.

I certainly wouldn't bet against it

[August]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

I certainly wouldn't bet against it

I wouldn't bet against it either. As a matter of fact i'd also bet that countries will attempt to play off one rival foreign agency against another.

[Platapus]

Why do we trust our allies?

Because we monitor them.