U.S. taps half-billion German phone, internet links in month: report

[temmer]

Source: Reuters


The document Spiegel cited showed that the United States categorized Germany as a "third-class" partner and that surveillance there was stronger than in any other EU country, similar in extent to China, Iraq or Saudi-Arabia.

"We can attack the signals of most foreign third-class partners, and we do it too," Der Spiegel quoted a passage in the NSA document as saying.

It said the document showed that the NSA monitored phone calls, text messages, emails and internet chat contributions and has saved the metadata - that is, the connections, not the content - at its headquarters.

On an average day, the NSA monitored about 20 million German phone connections and 10 million internet data sets, rising to 60 million phone connections on busy days, the report said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/30/us-usa-germany-spying-idUSBRE95T04B20130630

---

Spiegel is at it again - I bet their next issue (tomorrow, it's a weekly magazine) will be a bestseller in Germany.

most foreign third-class partners...delicious...

[Scootaloo]

1. Winning friends and influencing enemies!

I've not been a "Snowden cheerleader" or whatever someone might want to call it, and I don't plan to become one... But really? Way I see it is that the US government is angry at having its supremely dickish behavior exposed... And that could have been handled simply by not being such a magnificently awful pack of dicks in the first place.

[Ash_F]

2. But being a magnificently awful pack of dicks is empowering. /nt

[Android3.14]

11. Thanks for making me spill my coffee

eom

[fasttense]

3. Since Germans are merely third-class,

Can NSA corporate contractors sell off their personal info for fun and profit?

Who gets the copyrights on all that juicy, juicy info?

[AllTooEasy]

4. Germans, losing their civil liberites to a foreign power???

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Cry me a freaking river.

I hope the Brits, Russians, French, Pols, and any country with a microphone is tapping their phone calls to hear what they are up to.

Especially Southern(Bavaria) German...bunch of racist, ultra-nationalist, Neo-Nazi pricks. You think they would have learned after the last 2 ass kickings.

Spy on Germans, not Americans, I say.

[Cooley Hurd]

12. The war ended 68 years ago...

...time to let it go?

[warrant46]

16. Not long enough ago for some people

[Celefin]

26. My, are you progressive.

bunch of racist, ultra-nationalist, Neo-Nazi pricks

Careful with those ultra broad brushes, the paint tends to get all over those trying to paint with it. By absolute numbers and probably also percentage, the US has way more nutcases fitting that description. Way. More. By the way, Southern Germany does not equal Bavaria.

Either you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about in regards to modern day Germany or you are just being an ass intentionally. And if you have 'lived there once' you must have lived in very interesting, non-representative company. Jeez.

[DFW]

29. Actually most of the Germans of that persuasion are in the East these days

Besides the fact that "Southern Germany" encompasses the very easy-going people of Baden-Württemberg as well as Bavaria, I might point out that Baden-Württemberg is the FIRST German state to have elected a Green as its governor, and the mayor of Munich has almost always been a member of the Social Democrats. In the former "socialist" East Germany, where the government always claimed "nothing but socialists here, no Nazis left," they never worked through their Nazi past, and the worst of the rightist agitators these days are to be found there.

There are of course, areas of hard-core pockets of "racist, ultra-nationalist, Neo-Nazi pricks," no question about it. However, the worst ones in my experience are to be found within a 1500 mile radius of my home in Dallas, not the one in Düsseldorf.

[DeSwiss]

5. I'm sure they only tapped the ''bad'' Germans.....

- And besides, it was only half-a billion taps a month! And if we missed getting any warrants before ''our judge,'' it's okay because s/he would have approved them anyways.....

K&R

[Scootaloo]

8. Think about that number

Half a billion taps. Five hundred million, thereabouts.

Germany has a population of just 81 million people. The entire country.

[DeSwiss]

9. Or, 6.1728 taps per German.....

Hmmm, let's see:

1 - landline
1- mobile
1- regular isp
1- work isp
1- bierbrewery line
1- porn

- Yeah, once you factor the kids out that does sound kinda high.....

[Kolesar]

6. Isn't Germany where Mohammed Atta did his organizing pre-9/11? ... eom

[GeorgeGist]

10. No

That was Florida.

[Progressive dog]

7. Let's cheer for embarrassing the USA

because our government spies on Germany or because the spy agency wasn't polite to the Germans.

most foreign third-class partners...delicious..[/di

[DeSwiss]

13. Even a blind man could see.....

...nothing can embarrass these bastards. They will have to be driven from office.

- You got a cheer for that?

[Coyotl]

18. "office"? Don't you mean their cushy bushy gov't jobs for life, with pensions and health care

[DeSwiss]

19. That's exactly what I mean.

- Along with those multi-million dollar lobbying gigs they get with the owners of the country, when they've vested and proven their worth to TPTB.

[Progressive dog]

21. So drive them, you're prabably already trying

and it hasn't worked yet.

Snowden the American patriot and modern day Paul Revere strikes again.

[DeSwiss]

23. Last offer:

- Click me for enlightenment.....

[Harmony Blue]

20. If it applies political pressure for the U.S.

to change how NSA does business through embarrassment so be it.

[madrchsod]

14. according to snowden`s stolen documents that no one knows are actually true..

the brits have been spying on the germans too.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/us-britain-germany-spying-idUSBRE95P0EO20130626

oh my ,the world of spy versus spy certainly is complex.

[DeSwiss]

15. ''...according to snowden`s stolen documents that no one knows are actually true....''

Wouldn't the actual theft of state documents be required in order to request extradition? You know, the actual commission of a crime? Of course lying is par for the course in politics, but he can't be a thief if what he supposedly stole isn't what the US government says it is. Right? Or is logic passe' as well?

So which way is it gonna be: ''Master thief and international spy, or bubbling high school dropout with questionable government documents that may or may not be real?

- I hate to see people contorting themselves so. You could strain something, and then where would we be???

''You're in a prison, Evey. You were born in a prison. You've been in a prison so long, you no longer believe there's a world outside. That's because you're afraid, Evey. You're afraid because you can feel freedom closing in upon you. You're afraid because freedom is terrifying. Don't back away from it, Evey. Part of you understands the truth even as part pretends not to. You were in a cell, Evey. They offered you a choice between the death of your principles and the death of your body. You said you'd rather die. You faced the fear of your own death and you were calm and still. The door of the cage is open, Evey. All that you feel is the wind from outside.” ~ Alan Moore, V for Vendetta

[truth2power]

22. Love the humor, DeSwiss! And you make an important point...

I've tried to point out the illogic of the deniers' position several times here, but it doesn't seem to have been picked up on.

If Snowden had alleged that Obama was secretly plotting with the "greys" to take over the world, the US Govt. would simply say he was nuts. Case closed.

By charging him with espionage, they validated his claims. Those who accuse him of making it up need to find other talking points.

[DeSwiss]

25. You can't let the ''facts.....''

...and crap like logic and/or reason get in the way of a half-baked talking point, now can you? Besides, it's not about facts and truth, it's about sides.

- As in whose are you on?

[DFW]

17. There must be quite a delegation of expert linguists at the NSA

Half a billion communications, most of which were in German, and the rest scattered among Russian, Polish, Arabic, Turkish, Romanian, Serbian/Croatian, Albanian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and host of other minorities that are well-represented throughout Germany.

Granted, Germany HAS been comparatively lax in following up on bad guys from other countries in the past, but they are plugging the holes slowly but surely, and I wonder to what extent the will appreciate the "help" we have been providing.

[DeSwiss]

24. And each one......

...a potential spy.

A leaker.

Tomorrow's whistleblower.

It's no wonder these people have gone insane with their surveillance capabilities.

They see nothing but enemies everywhere they look.

And they're looking EVERYWHERE!!!

So they just SEE MORE!!!!

- ''Quis custodiet ipsos custodes, indeed......''

[Celefin]

27. Brilliant summary.

This whole thing has long since ceased to be about security.
It's a mad, self-sustaining industry full of freakish business opportunities and mysterious black holes for unaccounted public funds and it works like an infinite Russian doll...

[DeSwiss]

28. At least those Russian dolls......

...have some cultural value. They're beautiful with their dazzling colors and intricate carvings, and can be a joy for all who love art and craft. But if you're not interested you can turn away and ignore them completely.

The NSA on the other hand has none of that. And we have to listen to our elected officials explain why (lie to us again and again) we should ignore it all because it's nothing really and in fact that its good for our security, the country and everything.

- And on top of all that we have pay them for it all, whether we want to or not......


[center]

[/center]




Resource-based Economy

[proverbialwisdom]

30. Might 'foreign 3rd-class partner' label reflect valuing public health over raging corporate profits?

Last edited Sun Jun 30, 2013, 04:04 PM - Edit history (2)

...relative to the nuclear, biotech food, and pharmaceutical industries? German regulatory oversight standards in these areas are highly admirable, IMO.

See:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/nuclear-power-germany-renewable-energy
http://www.stopthecrop.org/news/german-fields-are-gmo-free-2013
http://venice.cineca.org/documents/germany_ip.pdf

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/02/business/fi-healthspend2
Europe healthier than U.S.
Older Americans have higher rates of serious diseases than aging Europeans, a study says.
October 02, 2007|Lisa Girion | Times Staff Writer

http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/index.htm

Oops, sorry, the OP is about the NSA and terrorism, not this speculative, business disparaging tangent.

[jakeXT]

31. to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.

The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO