America’s Willing Helper: Intelligence Scandal Puts Merkel in Tight Place

Written on May 6th, 2015 in politics Comments Off

Published on Spiegel Online International, by Maik Baumgärtner, Nikolaus Blome, Matthias Gebauer, Hubert Gude, Frank Hornig, Martin Knobbe, Veit Medick, Gordon Repinski, Sven Röbel, Marcel Rosenbach, Jörg Schindler, Fidelius Schmid, Holger Stark and Gerald Traufetter, May 4, 2015 (Photo Gallery).

Germany’s latest spying scandal has created the biggest crisis yet for the country’s foreign intelligence agency. The German government appears to have been aware of widespread US spying, possibly including economic espionage, against European targets and yet it did nothing to stop it … //

… Total Failure:

  • Officially, the chancellor is in charge of oversight of foreign intelligence and Merkel has an entire department in the Chancellery responsible for formulating the BND’s assignments, managing them and, most importantly, keeping an eye on the agency. But the Chancellery wasn’t just sloppy in exercising this oversight. It failed completely. As such, the scandal surrounding NSA spying, and the evident cooperation between the BND and the NSA, is an affair for Chancellor Merkel, as well.
  • An online report by SPIEGEL triggered the latest intelligence service scandal a week ago Thursday. SPIEGEL reported that the NSA had made massive efforts to target and spy on German and European targets using BND facilities. Despite having had indications for years, the Chancellery had essentially done nothing to stop it.
  • The scope of the affair became increasingly apparent over the past week. It now appears that the NSA, via its cooperation with the BND, didn’t just spy on companies, but also on politicians and institutions in Europe. The conclusion can be drawn from search criteria the Americans supplied to their German partners. The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office is now reviewing whether there is “initial evidence for a criminal offense that would fall under our jurisdiction.” Within the federal public prosecutor’s jurisdiction is the prosecution of crimes relating to espionage and treason.
  • Reporting by SPIEGEL has now found that the BND’s willingness to cooperate was even greater than previously known. In the top secret operation Monkeyshoulder, the BND also planned a partnership with Britain’s GCHQ intelligence service in a program that involved the NSA’s participation as well. In the beginning, even the Chancellery was kept in the dark about the dubious partnership.
  • A further suspicion has also emerged in recent days, raising questions about whether the US targeted Chancellery staff in Berlin or spied on journalists.
  • Thus far, those who may ultimately be responsible have merely let their spokespersons do the talking. But the affair nevertheless has the potential to become a major scandal. In order to protect Germany from terrorist attacks, the American intelligence services were permitted to scoop up millions of data sets from German territory — with the BND’s help and without any real political oversight.

Questions for Merkel: … //

… A New Era for German Intelligence: … //
… Deep Dependence: … //
… A River of Data: … //
… 12,000 Active Selectors: … //
… Far-Reaching Implications: … //
… Industrial Espionage?: … //
… Intense Competition: … //
… ‘No Risk, No Fun’: … //
… Legal and Political Concerns: … //
… Chart: Control of the BND: … //

… Trapped in Solidarity:

  • The consequences of the BND’s self-imposed dependence on the US have now become apparent. The BND appears as America’s willing helper and Angela Merkel looks helpless, not knowing how to react. She appears trapped by her solidarity with the US.
  • Merkel is sparing in her use of terms like “raison d’etat. She uses it when referring to Germany’s obligation to protect Israel, and she uses it to underline her commitment to keeping the euro zone together. But there is a third thing, something she calls her “maxim” when talking with her closest advisors: to do everything in her power, with the help of German intelligence agencies and the Americans, to prevent a terrorist attack on German soil. That is how she interprets her oath of office, she once said.
  • But that oath goes much further, and that has now become her problem. Protecting Germans from harm also means preventing German targets from being spied on, no matter who is doing the spying. Allowing a foreign power access to German data and secrets, silently acquiescing to the same, or declaring German companies to be a pawn in a larger game is tantamount to betraying German interests.
  • From this perspective, the situation in which Merkel now finds herself is remarkably similar to that of the BND itself. She willingly became dependent on the Americans, a position that is now radically limiting her options. That, in fact, goes a long way toward explaining the silence that has descended over political Berlin during the past week. Rarely have those responsible in the cabinet been so withdrawn.
  • The press statement released by the government in reaction to accusations that the BND had tolerated industrial espionage, by contrast, was unusually terse. Indeed, the chancellor herself read and approved the statements, which were withering in their rebuke of the BND.

A Turning Point for Merkel?

  • For now, the Social Democrats, Merkel’s junior coalition partners, have benefited most from the affair. The party’s reaction to the news of the BND’s transgressions was swift and sharp. “What’s happening here is scandalous,” blustered SPD head Sigmar Gabriel. The system of checks and balances failed, added SPD General Secretary Yasmin Fahimi. The outrage was well coordinated, with party leaders agreeing over the course of several telephone conversations to not let the Chancellery off the hook this time. “The chancellor’s shiny finish could certainly stand a bit of tarnishing,” said one SPD leader.
  • The affair also presents party head Gabriel with an opportunity. As economics minister, he can now pose as the protector of companies that were perhaps the victims of espionage. More than that, he can once again revert to his favored role of a take-charge party leader who isn’t afraid of going after the chancellor. Indeed, the SPD is beginning to feel something it hasn’t in a long time: the conviction that it has the upper hand on an issue relative to Merkel’s conservatives. Relative to a chancellor who has seemed so unassailable for so long.
  • It is, in fact, not wrong to say that the affair is the greatest challenge to Merkel that we have seen in some time. The chancellor has enjoyed Germany’s trust for so long because voters have long believed that she is adequately protecting their interests and those of the country. But this scandal of the BND, NSA-spying, a lack of control and lying cabinet members could seriously shake the foundations of her power. It could indeed mark the turning point in her chancellorship.

(full long text).

Links:

NSA’s ‘Google for Voice’ tech can transcribe any phone call – Snowden docs, on Russia Today RT, May 5, 2015;

UK: Why neither main UK party is competent, on Financial Times FT, by Martin Wolf, May 5, 2015: The time has come to shift the focus from fiscal deficits and debt;

India to sign port deal with Iran, ignoring US warning against haste, on Mail ONline.co.uk, by Nidhi Verma and Manoj Kumar, May 5, 2015;

Discussing Islam: Western Logic Is Flawed, on Dissident Voice, by Sufyan bin Uzayr, May 5, 2015;

Mysterious ‘X-Files’ noises captured 22 miles above Earth’s surface, on Russia Today RT, May 5, 2015;

Ukraine’s European Discourse Does Not Correspond to Reality, on The Bullet, Socialist Project’s E-Bulletin No. 1112, Interview with Volodymyr Ishchenko by Javier Morales, May 4, 2015;

Der BND-Skandal:

Die Linke und der Kommunismus, Sendung bei Maybrit Illner, von Dasekl im Januar 2011 hochgeladen: 1/5, 14.44 min, 2/5, 14.34 min, 3/5, 09.48 min, 4/5, 11.53 min, 5/5, 12.10 min.

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