Established Friendly World Order
Friendly nations do not spy on one another. What need is there to do so? They do, after all, share intelligence between them, as a matter of trust. They share, in fact, the same democratic ideals, view the world and its events from a similar perspective, and have long pledged to come to one another's aid. They have much in common and nothing to divide them in their common zeal to protect order and security and advance their nations' futures.Germany, on two occasions in the last century, caused two horrendous world wars. Fascism and Nazi ideology represented a break of monumental proportions with the values of most of Europe and North America, but it did have its singular proponents. It is undeniable that the wholesale overturning of world security by a dreadful regime that planned the conquest of the world and itself as a tyrannical overseer resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people. Not once, but twice.
That was then. This is now. An entirely reformed Germany presents as the conscience of its demented past, and the cautionary economic guide of Europe within the consolidated Europe that the European Union represents. The world power status that the United States achieved at the conclusion of the Second World War etched out the parameters of statehood that Germany could envision for its future, just as it did for Imperial Japan.
Both countries eschewed war and depended on the good graces of their mentor-conqueror to guide them to meaningful and self-respecting nationhood. The trust that Germany and Japan evinced toward the United States was enormous. And Germany now feels betrayed. Over and over again. First by the revelations that the American National Security Agency spied upon the German government as did its British equivalent, GCHQ, from the roofs of their Berlin-located embassies.
Then the startling revelation that the United States was spying on messages exchanged by Chancellor Merkel, creating a scandal of deep embarrassment to the U.S. and concomitant resentment on the part of Germany. And now? The news that a German "double agent" who worked for the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) made arrangements to hand over documents to the United States. Discovered only when he made contact with Russia with a similar offer.
"It goes without saying that the [U.S.] intelligence official responsible should leave Germany", huffed Hans Peter Uhl, a leading conservative member of the Bundestag. Diplomatic and information-gathering activities were exempted from BND surveillance as a matter of courtesy and trust. Now, Germany's interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere is not ruling out permanent German counter-espionage surveillance of American and British intelligence operations.
"We must focus more strongly on our so-called allies", was the brittle, bitter statement of Stephan Mayer, a domestic security spokesman for Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats. "Friendly" power surveillance plans resulted from the 31-year-old BND agent's selling out his government, passing on top secret documents to American authorities in exchange for a paltry $36,800.
It's rather hard to believe that such a "gentlemen's agreement" has been so long cherished by German authorities. Surveillance of intelligence gathering properties of friends and foes alike has been so common a denominator between most countries of the world, it puzzles that official Germany rebukes its political-diplomatic-defence-trade partners in the pique of peculiar innocence verging on naivete.
Labels: Britain, Crisis Management, Diplomacy, Germany, Surveillance, United States
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, July 10, 2014
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