PARTNERS IN CRIME: HOW CYBERSPYING NEEDS COLLABORATORS AS MUCH AS FRIENDS

 


Chancellor Merkel has a sticky wicket in her hands, in eyeshot of the approaching elections: how to deal with the accusations that Germany not only has allowed the NSA and the US to spy on its citizens, but that the German government has gone happily along and used the channel as a two way street without much thought of how its citizens might take such a flagrant infringement of their rights. 

Not too long ago, the Germans sighed a breath of relief when the icy grip of East Germany's Stasi finally fell from their lives. One of the great advantages of the reunification of Germany was the ability for those Easterners to enjoy a freedom they had long forgotten and desired. 

The news that the NSA in conjunction with several police forces in Germany has begun to spy on them at the level or beyond that of the Stasi has angered some beyond reparation.

What is Merkel to do? So far her campaign was pretty much ho hum. No earth shattering news had occurred, no political snafus, no terrorist acts.  But then this.  Opposition parties are having a field day.  Some are calling for some sort of impeachment of the Chancellor, for having violated her oath of office, since the surveillance is an obvious prevarication of basic human and civil rights. 

The biggest problem is that Merkel denied at the onset that she had any knowledge of the NSA/German agencies collaboration and exchange.  Unfortunately, the evidence might very well prove and very soon, that she did have in fact knowledge of such activities.   In addition, the very intelligence agencies in Germany are denying that they too had any knowledge.  That beggars belief.  In fact, Germany's agencies are key partners in the constellation of cooperating countries that make up the world wide intelligence gathering underway at the NSA. 

What is worse, the German government is seeking an even deeper connection with the US surveillance program.  

Some believe that the German government's permissiveness and eagerness to work within the frame of international surveillance has to do with information gathered in 2007 that detailed a terrorist plot by an Islamist cell called the Sauerland cell. Since then the collaboration has both enlarged in scope and frequency, with frequent visits from both sides of the Atlantic to consolidate plans and actions. 

In effect a very in depth and pervasive system of surveillance was already active as far back as 2008.   Furthermore the surveillance does not just read and sift, it also capture all or part of a communication. 

As of now, the surveillance in place can also track in real time 'anomalous events' or conversation in which certain parameters are hit that trigger closer scrutiny.  

Of course there is a positive side to the surveillance collaboration: counter terrorism efforts are greatly enhanced and successful.  But as more and more information surfaces, the scope of the program becomes mind boggling and all encompassing, leaving very little privacy to any personal activity.  Since this information is collected by the government, claiming no knowledge is absurd.

What is interesting however, is that Germany's citizens as angry as they may be, are not demonstrating openly or angrily in the streets.  

The daunting question however, if it becomes true that Frau Merkel is or was without knowledge of the activities, is that there is the distinct possibility that there is a state within a state scenario, in which there are 'rogue' agencies who are not communicating their activities throughout the legislative and executive branches. 

Source : Spiegel Online / 7.22.13

 

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