Wow. I don't think the U.S. has been this hated since March 2003. [View all]

[wtmusic]

Observing what the US are doing and saying regarding Snowden has fundamentally changed my attitude to the country. Add in the whole gun culture thing and much else besides I really don't think I care to visit the place again. Central to both these issues has been Obama and once again my former belief for him as a man and as a president has been terminally screwed. - symphony1010 03 July 2013 4:13am

An op-ed by a German Green politican:

"Edward Snowden deserves shelter in Germany

Edward Snowden has done us all a great service. In the past two weeks Europeans have been made aware of massive data collection from their private and business communications by American and British security services. The extent of this surveillance has been staggering. We have also learned that the US is apparently spying on EU representations in Brussels, Washington and New York, and the embassies of European member states. These practices have nothing to do with the war on terror.

We can only speculate about the real motivation. What type of information is being extracted, and what is being done with it? The European Commission is supposed to start negotiations with the US on a transatlantic free trade agreement. Should our delegations choose to meet at secret locations in future and prepare meetings using encrypted code, because otherwise the US National Security Agency will know their every move in advance? On top of that, German and other European businesses' secrets cannot be secure any more. For years the US has been accusing China of stealing intellectual property. Do we need to redirect our attention over industrial espionage?

If even a few of these revelations are true, our worst Orwellian nightmares have become reality. Already trust between the EU and the US, and between the EU and its member state Britain has been violated. Both governments need to react to these accusations, clarify the activities of their secret services and, if true, stop these programmes immediately. Surveillance without suspicion to this extent constitutes a violation of the right to privacy laid down, for instance, in the international covenant on civil and political rights."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/02/edward-snowden-shelter-in-germany

Read comments by Guardian readers below.