United States Tracked Merkel's Phone Since 2002: Report

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

United States tracked Merkel's phone since 2002: report

Sat Oct 26, 2013 2:04pm EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States may have bugged Angela Merkel's phone for more than 10 years, according to a news report on Saturday that also said President Barack Obama told the German leader he would have stopped it happening had he known about it.

Germany's outrage over reports of bugging of Merkel's phone by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) prompted it to summon the U.S. ambassador this week for the first time in living memory, an unprecedented post-war diplomatic rift.

Der Spiegel said Merkel's mobile telephone had been listed by the NSA's Special Collection Service (SCS) since 2002 - marked as "GE Chancellor Merkel" - and was still on the list weeks before Obama visited Berlin in June.

In an SCS document cited by the magazine, the agency said it had a "not legally registered spying branch" in the U.S. embassy in Berlin, the exposure of which would lead to "grave damage for the relations of the United States to another government".

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE99P08G20131026

[Doctor_J]

1. Wait - did Smirk plant a listening device during his infamous shoulder massage???

[SummerSnow]

2. I bet he did.lol

That's when the bugging began

[Ace Acme]

4. What, she has a box on her back like he did? nt

[Wilms]

14. !

[indepat]

30. Decorum of the highest order observed in the annals of international and diplomatic relations

[riverbendviewgal]

18. Love it..

your comment , not W.

[Enrique]

3. so they didn't tell Obama they were doing it?

so how can he tell Merkel they're not still bugging her? Maybe they're still bugging her and not telling the President. Because apparently they are allowed to do that.

[blm]

8. A LOT of covert ops go on without President knowing - if the Pres is a Dem.

BushInc never gives up their stranglehold on this nation's illegal, covert ops. Just like they never loosen their grip on Saudi relations.....China relations.....Colombia.....get the picture?

[OnyxCollie]

23. Prove Obama didn't know.

I await the evidence which supports your claim.

[blm]

25. I hope you hold breath. I wish anyone who gives BushInc the benefit of the doubt should

hold their breath.

You think a lot of CIA and NSA current infrastructure was NOT developed by GHWBush and his fascists pals in the 70s and 80s? I think you don't know BushInc. I think you're naive to believe that the last 4 decades of transitions from president to president have been thorough.

[OnyxCollie]

26. So your claim that Obama was ignorant

is nothing but creative speculation.

[blm]

40. My claim: a LOT of covert ops have been going on since 70s behind the backs

of presidents, especially Dem presidents. BushInc had Reagan out of the loop for some of those ops.

My other claim is that you are willfully naive when it comes to BushInc's reign over this nation.

[tblue]

41. Okay. So now what?

Let's say Pres. Obama had no idea this intelligence gathering was ever put in place and then continuing through 5 years of his presidency.

It's possible.

Would our enraged allies believe that? Would it make any difference to them?

If you're right and Obama didn't know, is that better for him than if he did?

The whole thing is just so sad.

[blm]

47. Yes, it is. And I'm not saying with absolute certainty

that Obama did not know anything the last 5 years - over the last 6 months he has probably learned much more, but..... I am certain it is conceivable that that he did not know given the stranglehold BushInc has had on the national security and intel operations that THEY and their team developed over the last 4 decades.

[OnyxCollie]

42. You got nothing.

In 2007, Obama was going to filibuster any bill that gave retroactive immunity to the telecoms that helped the Bush administration illegally spy on US citizens.

Obama's wiretapping flip-flop? Yes
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jul/14/obamas-wiretapping-flip-flop-yes/

In October 2007, Obama spokesman Bill Burton issued this unequivocal statement to the liberal blog TPM Election Central: "To be clear: Barack will support a filibuster of any bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies."

...

But Obama knows how to drive a hard bargain, making he (and Rahm) the top recipients in the Senate and House of 2008 campaign contributions from AT&T employees and PAC.

Obama: $270,191
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000076&party=D&chamber=S&type=P&cycle=2008

Rahm: $50,650
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/recips.php?id=D000000076&chamber=H&party=D&cycle=2008&state=&sort=A

...

Obama supported an amendment that would have stripped telecom immunity from the measure. But after that amendment failed, Obama declined to filibuster the bill. In fact, he voted for it. It passed the Senate, 69-28, on July 9. The House passed the same bill last month, and Bush said he would sign it soon. (McCain missed the vote because he was campaigning in Ohio, but he has consistently supported the immunity plan.)

In a message to supporters, Obama defended his position, citing a phrase Democrats fought to include that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is the "exclusive" means of wiretapping for intelligence. The bill "is far better than the Protect America Act that I voted against last year... (because it) makes it clear to any president or telecommunications company that no law supersedes the authority of the FISA court."

...

"Constitutional scholar" Barack Obama knew that telecoms were acting illegally and promised to filibuster retroactive immunity, but instead he received a lot of money from AT&T, voted for retroactive immunity, and made sure the FISA court, hand-picked by John Roberts, the Chief Justice chosen by George W. Bush, would be the ultimate authority.

You're embarrassing yourself, blm.

[blm]

48. You're naive if you think BushInc let Obama in on every one of their most covert ops.

They didn't even let Reagan in the loop 100% of the time.

You should be embarrassed to show yourself as being so ignorant of the Octopus.

[OnyxCollie]

49. You're a True Believer

who knows Obama wants to show his liberal side, if only those meddling Republicans would stop holding him down.

Your sycophantic rhetoric has become tiresome.

[blm]

51. You're a poor analyst. Obama's is the weakest presidency

I've seen. And the biggest reason it is the weakest is due to the stranglehold BushInc has on intel and security operations, and US relations with Saudis and China. You think GHWBush built networks and chose security firms and intel personnel that would be loyal to him and his cronies or to every elected president? If you chose the latter you are incredibly naive.

There wasn't one thing sycophantic in my posts - you needed to SEE something that wasn't there so you could deliver your pat anti-Dem attacks. Strawman arguments so you could debate with yourself. Masturdebation.

[OnyxCollie]

54. How are those torture investigations coming along?

'Cause if Obama really wanted to "get" someone on the other "team," he could have prosecuted the Bush administration for torture.

Obama called on the former general chairman of the RNC to stop Spain's investigation of US torture crimes.

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/12/25/105786/wikileaks-how-us-tried-to-stop.html

MIAMI — It was three months into Barack Obama's presidency, and the administration -- under pressure to do something about alleged abuses in Bush-era interrogation policies -- turned to a Florida senator to deliver a sensitive message to Spain:

Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

6. (C) As reported in SEPTEL, Senator Mel Martinez, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, met Acting FM Angel Lossada during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 15. Martinez and the Charge underscored that the prosecutions would not be understood or accepted in the U.S. and would have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship. The Senator also asked if the GOS had thoroughly considered the source of the material on which the allegations were based to ensure the charges were not based on misinformation or factually wrong statements. Lossada responded that the GOS recognized all of the complications presented by universal jurisdiction, but that the independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected. The GOS would use all appropriate legal tools in the matter. While it did not have much margin to operate, the GOS would advise Conde Pumpido that the official administration position was that the GOS was "not in accord with the National Court." Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship, adding that our interests were much broader, and that the universal jurisdiction case should not be viewed as a reflection of the GOS position.

Judd Gregg, Obama's Republican nominee for Commerce secretary, didn't like the investigations either.

US embassy cables: Don't pursue Guantánamo criminal case, says Spanish attorney general
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/202776?INTCMP=SRCH

4. (C) As reported in REF A, Senator Judd Gregg, accompanied by the Charge d'Affaires, raised the issue with Luis Felipe Fernandez de la Pena, Director General Policy Director for North America and Europe during a visit to the Spanish MFA on April 13. Senator Gregg expressed his concern about the case. Fernandez de la Pena lamented this development, adding that judicial independence notwithstanding, the MFA disagreed with efforts to apply universal jurisdiction in such cases.

Why the aversion? To protect Bushco, of course!

US embassy cables: Spanish prosecutor weighs Guantánamo criminal case against US officials
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/200177

The fact that this complaint targets former Administration legal officials may reflect a "stepping-stone" strategy designed to pave the way for complaints against even more senior officials.

Eric Holder got the message.

Holder Says He Will Not Permit the Criminalization of Policy Differences
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=7410267&page=1

As lawmakers call for hearings and debate brews over forming commissions to examine the Bush administration's policies on harsh interrogation techniques, Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed to a House panel that intelligence officials who relied on legal advice from the Bush-era Justice Department would not be prosecuted.

"Those intelligence community officials who acted reasonably and in good faith and in reliance on Department of Justice opinions are not going to be prosecuted," he told members of a House Appropriations Subcommittee, reaffirming the White House sentiment. "It would not be fair, in my view, to bring such prosecutions."

CIA Exhales: 99 Out of 101 Torture Cases Dropped
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/cia-exhales-99-out-of-101-torture-cases-dropped/

This is how one of the darkest chapters in U.S. counterterrorism ends: with practically every instance of suspected CIA torture dodging criminal scrutiny. It’s one of the greatest gifts the Justice Department could have given the CIA as David Petraeus takes over the agency.

Over two years after Attorney General Eric Holder instructed a special prosecutor, John Durham, to “preliminar(ily) review” whether CIA interrogators unlawfully tortured detainees in their custody, Holder announced on Thursday afternoon that he’ll pursue criminal investigations in precisely two out of 101 cases of suspected detainee abuse. Some of them turned out not to have involved CIA officials after all. Both of the cases that move on to a criminal phase involved the “death in custody” of detainees, Holder said.

But just because there’s a further criminal inquiry doesn’t necessarily mean there will be any charges brought against CIA officials involved in those deaths. If Holder’s decision on Thursday doesn’t actually end the Justice Department’s review of torture in CIA facilities, it brings it awfully close, as outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta noted.

“On this, my last day as Director, I welcome the news that the broader inquiries are behind us,” Panetta wrote to the CIA staff on Thursday. “We are now finally about to close this chapter of our Agency’s history.”

[blm]

55. Weakest presidency I've seen, and I state so frequently here at DU....yet....

YOUR analysis claimed I am a 'true believer' and make 'sycophantic' posts.

You can't even analyze a simple blog post without injecting your shortsightedness. You carry no weight with me just because you repost on issues I am already clear about..... and have been from jump street.

You know NOTHING about the extent and reach of BushInc. Your posts are meaningless to the big picture.

[OnyxCollie]

56. What?

I can't hear you over the rustle of your pom-poms.

[blm]

59. That sound is your piss-poor analysis....yet again.

.

[newthinking]

27. Spying on heads of state has to be approved at the presidential level

If he didn't know about it somebody should be losing their job, or worse.

[jakeXT]

36. So he didn't know for 1 or 2 years, is that OK ?

Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/vC09SZmkUJI1W2ppDI45DI/Obama-aware-of-Merkel-spying-since-2010-German-report.html

[newthinking]

45. No, it's not OK. And it is obviously causing a serious rift

[mainer]

52. Sure, it was approved at the presidential level ... by the previous president

Policy already in place, no need to go through approval again.

[geek tragedy]

10. He can say 'knock it off' once he knows about it. nt

[Ace Acme]

15. What makes you think so?

One of his transition team advisors revealed that prosecuting Bushcist war crimes was "off the table" because the Obama team feared a "revolt".

Here's the way the story is told by anti-torture activist Susan Harman:

"Dean Chris Edley volunteered that he'd been party to very high level discussions during Obama's transition about prosecuting the criminals. He said they decided against it. I asked why. Two reasons: 1) it was thought that the CIA, NSA, and military would revolt, and 2) it was thought the Repugnants would retaliate by blocking every piece of legislation they tried to move (which, of course, they've done anyhow)."

http://warisacrime.org/content/obama-team-feared-revolt-if-he-prosecuted-war-crimes

With respect to the Afghanistan surge, it was the same story.

"The Pentagon and top military brass . . . . wanted the president to escalate the war — go all in by committing 40,000 more troops and another trillion dollars to a Vietnam-like quagmire — or face a full-scale mutiny by his generals."

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-generals-revolt-20091028#ixzz2irPjKmIq

So what's that about Obama "can say 'knock it off'"?

[DirkGently]

5. That's way over the line, if true.

Tracking an ally's phone does NOT fall under the "everyone does it" rubric. Imagine the rage and recriminations if Germany or the U.K. was tracking Obama's phone.

Everything that comes out points to the need to reign in the surveillance program drastically.

And we need real, ongoing oversight, not a few show hearings and weaselly "not wittingly" responses from the NSA.

[Ezlivin]

6. What the hell else does Obama not know?

President Barack Obama told the German leader he would have stopped it happening had he known about it.

Either it's plausible denial or the black budget is way too damned big.

[Ace Acme]

16. The covert ops gang can just print money in the basement if they want.

Or extort it from drug and human traffickers.

[Marblehead]

21. true that

[awoke_in_2003]

24. The NSA...

operates in its own little world. I don't think there is any way for a president to know everything they are doing.

[Peregrine]

7. And the US has been tracking her predecessors as well

Who do you think informed Willy Brandt's political enemies of his adulterous affairs and ultimately about the East German spy in his administration?

[fredamae]

9. Well, apparently

indignation over a loss of privacy matters when it is They who are spied upon..
However when We complain? Meh.....

If PBO doesn't know about all of the NSA's activities and since this Isn't Obamas plan, tho he has continued it--I'd suggest that His/Congress/Agency Heads/Wall Street--everyones phones/communications Are Tapped also...

[riderinthestorm]

11. Anyone else find it implausible Obama didn't know? During his daily intelligence briefings

he never asked once about the acquisition of the intelligence?

[Indi Guy]

12. I find it likely that intel agencies are reluctant to volunteer info that they...

...want to be kept secret -- even from the president.

[mainer]

53. A PDB that would include all approved spying targets would take about a month

You think the current president is briefed about every policy decision made in the prior 8-years of his predecessor?

[SoapBox]

13. And exactly how much spying on us does Germany do?

Or China...Russia...England...etc.?

Maybe Comrade Eddie can tell us?

[baldguy]

20. Oh, now don't let any logic & reason get in the way of a good head of Obama hatred.

You've got to listen to the LaRouchies & the Paulbots, & parrot their talking points. It doesn't matter that nation-states have been spying on one another for millennia. The US is uniquely evil in that regard. And it doesn't matter the this particular round of spying began under he Bush Regme. It's all Obama's fault, even if it started 6 yrs before he got into office. It will always be all Obama's fault.

[Ace Acme]

22. If you can't tell us, what's you point? How much spying on us do the Yanomamö do? nt

[DissidentVoice]

17. This is UNACCEPTABLE

The Bundesrepublik Deutschland is a cornerstone of NATO and one of our ALLIES.

Bundeskanzler Merkel is a friendly Head of Government. I can see why she would be sensitive to this as she is a former East German.

Mr. President, you had better get NSA reined in before YOU become one of their investigative targets (if you aren't already).

[Ace Acme]

19. There's a great movie drama about audio surveillance under the Stasi in the GDR

The Lives of Others

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Others

[Hissyspit]

29. +1

[DissidentVoice]

31. I'll have to check that out!

I speak German, so thankfully I don't have to rely on dubbed voices/subtitles.

Some of those are so bad it's ridiculous.

"The Battle Of Britain" is one of my favourite movies, but what really lets it down is the mistranslation of what the Luftwaffe officers are saying into subtitles.

[ripcord]

50. People know

Many are referring to the US surveillance of everyone on the face of the earth as Stasi 2.0.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

28. The NSA is probably listening to Obama's calls, too.

I would love to hear what Merkel said on the phone after junior groped her.

[Agnosticsherbet]

32. Issa should get right on investigation the Bush Administration bugging a foreign leader's phone.

But that won't happen, unless Merkel was running guns in a Fast and furious operation in Benghazi for the IRS while Hiding Obama's real birth certificate on orders that Obama sent to her using the same time machine he used to plant fake birth stories in Hawaii.

[tblue]

43. Haha! nt

[The Second Stone]

33. They reported that Merkel said, "I'd enjoy as much as

felt up by President Bush." They didn't pick up the sarcasm in German and were unaware of the German cultural thing about really hating being touched by the grandchildren of Nazi collaborators.

[NealK]

34. K&R n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

35. Bush just wanted to know if he was her only man!

And he was drunk and forgot to turn off the electronic bugging device.

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. Obama aware of Merkel spying since 2010: German media

US President Barack Obama was personally informed of mobile phone tapping against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which may have begun as early as 2002, German media reported Sunday as a damaging espionage scandal widened.

Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.

"Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue," the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying.

News weekly Der Spiegel reported that leaked NSA documents showed that Merkel's phone had appeared on a list of spying targets since 2002, and was still under surveillance shortly before Obama visited Berlin in June.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFOjuBRUMwsup04a4Y-S2bwEGNRw?docId=8d20606a-6841-4948-85d7-086f208be3f4

[Sunlei]

38. probably used that news corp trick to listen to voice mails. it was so easy, anyone could use it.

[The Second Stone]

44. Even a local Mom

I'm shocked to find out the CIA and NSA spy on countries and people we are not at war with. I assumed they were having parties with those huge black budgets.

[Titonwan]

39. People actually think the president will rebel against the intelligence community.

Yeah, that sure got JFK super results!

SIGINT and the pentagon run this joint and Obama caved just like Bill Clinton did. Sure, Smirky (along with president Cheney) escalated this crap but Barack ain't lettin' off the accelerator pedal one bit.
Now, I know there are loyalists, LOTE voters and the like that will refuse to believe this, but it's hard to penetrate the fortress of a closed mind. I see it all the time with reichwingers but let me tell you that ignorance isn't a one sided truth- Obamabots are not helping matters.
Good luck on Glenn Greenwald's new adventures in journalism. (And thank you, Edward Snowden).

[bemildred]

46. Yes, I don't really think he can without support from other branches. nt

[bigdarryl]

57. So when the BLACK MAN!!!

comes into office all of a sudden it's a problem

[OnyxCollie]

58. Absolutely!

Because when Edward Snowden released all those documents during both the first and second terms of the Bush administration, documents that showed the extent of NSA spying, the media didn't even report it.

Derp.

[Duer 157099]

60. That sort of explains why W felt so comfortable squeezing her shoulders

I imagine his presidency was filled with hours of him reading through these transcripts, just for his voyeuristic pleasure. Likely there were conversations about how stressed she was and so naturally when he saw her, his first thought was to give her a shoulder massage.