Der Spiegel - UK & US Should Not Be Allowed To Spy On Germany

After futher public revelations of the scale of US/UK interest in intercepting German communications (for obvious reasons), Der Spiegel regular Jakob Augstein has written an article which is very funny. And it really smells strongly of propaganda.

He says;

"Overzealous data collectors in the US and Great Britain have no right to investigate German citizens. The German government must protect people from unauthorized access by foreign intelligence agencies, and it must act now. This is a matter of national security."

"Since Friday, we have known that the British intelligence agency GCHQ is "worse than the United States." Those are the words of Edward Snowden, the IT expert who uncovered the most serious surveillance scandal of all time....
We have Edward Snowden to thank for this insight into the interaction of an uncanny club, the Alliance of Five Eyes. Since World War II, the five Anglo-Saxon countries of Great Britain, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have maintained close intelligence cooperation, which apparently has gotten completely out of control. (out of German control you mean, Jakob??)
It may be up to the Americans and the British to decide how they handle questions of freedom and the protection of their citizens from government intrusion. But they have no right to subject the citizens of other countries to their control. (Its called spying Jakob, Germany does a lot of it too)"

"Thus the data scandal doesn't pertain just to our legal principles, but to our security as well. We were lucky that Edward Snowden, who revealed the spying to the entire world, is not a criminal, but an idealist (propagandist). He wanted to warn the world, not blackmail it. But he could have used his information for criminal purposes, as well (actually that's exactly what he did). His case proves that no agency in the world can guarantee the security of the data it collects -- which is why no agency should collect data in such abundance in the first place."  Maybe Jakob should tell the BND and Siemens this nugget of wisdom - don't collect intelligence because someone might release it!? Or is it only because its the Yanks and Brits spying on poor innocent Germany?

"So what should happen now? European institutions must take control of the data infrastructure and ensure its protection. The freedom of data traffic is just as important as the European freedom of exchange in goods, services and money. But above all, the practices of the Americans and British must come to an end. Immediately." (By force, if neccessary Jakob?)

"It is the responsibility of the German government to see to it that the programs of the NSA and GCHQ no longer process the data of German citizens and companies (is it?) without giving them the opportunity for legal defense. A government that cannot make that assurance is failing in one of its fundamental obligations: to protect its own citizens from the grasp of foreign powers.
Germans should closely observe how Angela Merkel now behaves. And if the opposition Social Democrats and Green Party are still looking for a campaign issue, they need look no further."

So, as we mentioned in our previous posting, this whole leak issue has been a German propaganda operation for German/EU citizen's consumption. Germany needs to make the US and UK look like the bad guys, and Germany the protector of morality and freedom (hahaha).

The goal after that propaganda, seems to be to use the EU in an attempt to prevent GCHQ from listening to German intelligence arranging their Jihadi assets to bomb people or hijack planes and fly them into buildings. Jakob even talks of turning the upcoming German elections into an anti-UK/US vote!

Germany is attempting to make a diplomatic incident out of these leaks.

Berlin officials have since been invited by the British government to participate in a video conference on Monday at 4 p.m. in the British Embassy in Berlin.

The German government will be represented by senior officials from the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and Germany's foreign intelligence agency, the BND.
German government sources said that in light of the revelations, tough questions are likely to be posed at the meeting.

 

Its not that big a step from this sort of propaganda, where the German population could be encouraged to cheer for a military strike against GCHQ/Menwith Hill in the name of "freedom".
The UK and US are being painted as an Axis of Evil by Germany. That next war may be closer than many care to accept, and this sort of German propaganda is very important in preparing the population to accept it.