Germany opens NSA spy probe amid calls to deliver Snowden to testify

[DeSwiss]

Published time: April 05, 2014 12:10


German Chancellor Angela Merkel (AFP Photo)

Parliamentary hearings into the scandal involving NSA spying on Germany have started. Some members of the investigative committee have suggested bringing in the document leaker Edward Snowden himself to testify. Some expect this to anger Washington.

The Bundestag presented the evidence on Thursday, as German public anger over America’s blatant violations of German sovereignty vents steam. But some are already speculating what the result of the hearings will mean in practical terms, for German-US relations. And what political fallout will ensue by inviting Snowden to Berlin?

Fresh revelations regarding the NSA’s activities in Germany continue to pour in amid outcries from the German people. Der Spiegel magazine has published further Snowden leaks recently, among them the revelation that the Americans compiled a comprehensive dossier on Merkel, which included over 300 intelligence reports. Apparently, the NSA database contains information obtained during surveillance of over a hundred world leaders. What’s more, the magazine detailed how British secret services also played a part in all this, by hacking into German internet companies.

Clemense Binninger, who is tasked with leading the eight-person investigative committee, does not expect the US to help much in clearing up the surveillance allegations, and believes attempts to formulate a Washington-Berlin no-spy agreement have come to a complete halt, Deustsche Welle reports. Questions the German government sent to the US government have likewise not received a reply – and the head of the committee doesn’t see this changing anytime soon. But Binninger, who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, said “mass surveillance of citizens will not be tolerated.”

MORE

- Somehow I don't expect any selfies to show up of Barack and Angela hamming it up at someone's memorial service. But the NSA could provide such pics if needed. Upon request through the proper channels, of course......

[dipsydoodle]

1. No legal means exist to challenge mass surveillance - Snowden

No legal means exist to challenge mass surveillance, said NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, testifying to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

A former NSA contractor, Snowden was speaking to the PACE session in Strasbourg via a video link-up from Moscow.

>

“I would like to clarify that I have no intention of harming the US government or straining bilateral ties between any nations. My motivation is to improve the government, not to bring it down,” Snowden said.

Snowden told the European parliamentarians that any kind of web traffic can be analyzed and searched with little effort.

http://rt.com/news/snowden-pace-whistleblower-nsa-157/

[Blue_Tires]

2. Why would Snowden be called to testify?

What could he possibly tell them that they don't already know?

As you know, one of the "conditions" of Snowden's public appearances/interviews/testimonies is to *NOT* discuss any topics which haven't been released to the press already...If the committee can't agree to that and the other conditions, Snowden ain't speaking -- It's just that simple...

And as far as I know, a large chunk of the data the NSA used to supposedly spy on average German citizens was supplied by, you guessed it, Germany's own intelligence services...In the interests of fairness, are they getting called on the carpet too?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Oh, well. Everybody knew it before Snowden and it's harmless to spy on allies.

Those damned Germans (and, everyone else) should be grateful for the opportunity to be spied on by the ever benevolent super-duper power.