Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster

JIHAD WATCH: NSA McMaster: Islamic State uses “perverted interpretation of religion” »

Glenn Greenwald in Berlin: Talk with ‘Die Zeit’ (2014)

Glenn Greenwald Destroys NSA Apologist

Edward Snowden Should Not Face Trial, Says UN Human Rights Commissioner

THE GUARDIAN: Navi Pillay says of former NSA contractor: 'those who disclose human rights violations should be protected'

The United Nations's top human rights official has suggested that the United States should abandon its efforts to prosecute Edward Snowden, saying his revelations of massive state surveillance had been in the public interest.

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, credited Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor, with opening a global debate that has led to calls for the curtailing of state powers to snoop on citizens online and store their data.

"Those who disclose human rights violations should be protected: we need them," Pillay told a news conference. Read on and comment » | Reuters in Geneva | Wesnesday, July 16, 2014

Glenn Greenwald on Impact of Edward Snowden's Revelations

Jun. 23, 2014 - 10:48 - Journalist says new disclosure is 'imminent'

Germany Opens Inquiry into Claims NSA Tapped Angela Merkel's Phone

THE GUARDIAN: Unexpected inquiry, announced by federal prosecutor, will determine if US actively listened in to calls

Germany's federal prosecutor has defied public expectations by opening an investigation into the alleged tapping of Angela Merkel's mobile phone by the US's National Security Agency (NSA).

Federal prosecutor Harald Range announced on Wednesday: "I informed parliament's legal affairs committee that I have started a preliminary investigation over tapping of a mobile phone of the chancellor."

Merkel had complained to Barack Obama in person about the alleged tapping of her phone last October, but the federal court's investigation, which will be against unnamed persons, would constitute the first formal response to the affair. The German government has reportedly announced its support for the investigation.

The Karlsruhe-based court's decision comes as a surprise, not least since it appeared that both the German and the US governments had over recent months successfully calmed the waves stirred up by the revelations. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Wednesdat, June 04, 2014

Angela Merkel Denied Access to Her NSA File

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.

THE GUARDIAN: Frustration with US government rises over failure to clear up questions about surveillance of German chancellor's phone

The US government is refusing to grant Angela Merkel access to her NSA file or answer formal questions from Germany about its surveillance activities, raising the stakes before a crucial visit by the German chancellor to Washington.

Merkel will meet Barack Obama in three weeks, on her first visit to the US capital since documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA had been monitoring her phone.

The face-to-face meeting between the two world leaders had been intended as an effort to publicly heal wounds after the controversy, but Germany remains frustrated by the White House's refusal to come clean about its surveillance activities in the country.

In October, Obama personally assured Merkel that the US is no longer monitoring her calls, and promised it will not do so in the future. However, Washington has not answered a list of questions submitted by Berlin immediately after Snowden's first tranche of revelations appeared in the Guardian and Washington Post in June last year, months before the revelations over Merkel's phone.

The Obama's administration has also refused to enter into a mutual "no-spy" agreement with Germany, in part because Berlin is unwilling or unable to share the kinds of surveillance material the Americans say would be required for such a deal.

Merkel is intensely aware of the importance of the surveillance controversy for her domestic audience, and is planning to voice Germany's concerns privately with White House officials and leading senators. She will also be "forthright" in confronting the issue if she is asked by reporters during a press conference with Obama, according to a well-placed source with knowledge of the trip. Read on and comment » | Paul Lewis in Washington and Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Thursday, April 10, 2014

Striking Back: Germany Considers Counterespionage Against US

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Unsatisfied with the lack of answers provided by Washington in the NSA spying scandal, officials in Berlin are considering a new approach. Germany might begin counterespionage measures aimed at allies.

The question seemed out of place, especially when asked three times. A female journalist from a satire magazine wanted to know if Thomas de Maizière liked cheese snacks. "Questions like that are more appropriate for breakfast television than here," the minister snipped back. It was de Maizière's first visit as interior minister to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency. And he was in no mood for jokes.

Instead, the minister preferred to focus on the basics during the appearance two weeks ago, with counterespionage at the top of his list. The issue, he warned, shouldn't be underestimated, adding that the question as to who was doing the spying was but of secondary importance.

In other words: Germany intends to defend itself against all spying efforts in the future, even if they are perpetrated by supposed friends.

While the minister's words may have sounded innocuous, they marked nothing less than the start of a political about-face. Away from the public eye, the German government is moving toward implementing plans to turn its own spies against partner countries like the United States, putting allies on the same level as the Chinese, Russians and North Koreans. » | SPIEGEL Staff | Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Data Protection: Angela Merkel Proposes Europe Network

BBC: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is proposing building up a European communications network to help improve data protection.

It would avoid emails and other data automatically passing through the United States.

In her weekly podcast, she said she would raise the issue on Wednesday with French President Francois Hollande.

Revelations of mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) have prompted huge concern in Europe.

Disclosures by the US whistleblower Edward Snowden suggested even the mobile phones of US allies, such as Mrs Merkel, had been monitored by American spies.

Classified NSA documents revealed that large amounts of personal data are collected from the internet by US and British surveillance. » | Saturday, February 15, 2014

Obama's Ex-Bodyguard: Scandals 'Worse Than You Know'

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino - "It's to the point where these (Obama) scandals in and of themselves would be huge, backbreaking scandals are just lost in the 'scandal fog' of this administration," he said in disbelief. "It's worse than people know; I'm not trying to scare you either."

Anti-NSA Activists Don't Like Obama Speech

Read the CNN article here | Doug Gross. CNN | Friday, January 17, 2014
INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES: Obama Calls for Overhaul of N.S.A.’s Phone Data Collection Program » | Mark Landler and Peter Baker | Friday, January 17, 2014

US Federal Judge: NSA Phone Surveillance Program Likely Unconstitutional

A judge in America has ruled that the National Security Agency may have violated the Constitution by collecting telephone data. It follows a lawsuit over privacy violations - the first such judgement in open court. The NSA's been ordered to stop collecting data and to destroy the data it's already gathered. But it can't come into force yet because the government has at least 6 months to appeal. Chris Kitze, who moved his secure online messaging service to avoid U.S. intelligence control, says people would comply with legal searches - but not mass secret surveillance. Josh Gerstain, a Senior White House Reporter, considers that Snowden's revelations made the courts take the side of the victims of surveillance

Obama Review Panel: Strip NSA of Power to Collect Phone Data Records

THE GUARDIAN: • Review proposes greater authority for spying on foreign leaders • Government 'should be banned from undermining encryption' • Forty-six recommendations in 300-page report released early

The National Security Agency should be banned from attempting to undermine the security of the internet and stripped of its power to collect telephone records in bulk, a White House review panel recommended on Wednesday.

In a 300-page report prepared for President Obama, the panel made 46 recommendations, including that the authority for spying on foreign leaders should be granted at a higher level than at present.

Though far less sweeping than campaigners have urged, and yet to be ratified by Obama, the report by his Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology comes as the White House faces growing pressure over its so-called “bulk collection” programs from US courts and business interests.

Earlier this week, a federal judge ruled that the bulk collection program, first revealed by the Guardian in June through a court order against Verizon, was likely to be in violation of the US constitution, describing it as “almost Orwellian” in scope.

The White House was stung into releasing the report weeks earlier than expected after meeting America’s largest internet companies on Tuesday. The firms warned that failure to rebuild public trust in communications privacy could damage the US economy. » | Dan Roberts in Washington and Spencer Ackerman in New York | Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Merkel Compared NSA to Stasi in Heated Encounter with Obama

THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor furious after revelations US intelligence agency listened in on her personal mobile phone

In an angry exchange with Barack Obama, Angela Merkel has compared the snooping practices of the US with those of the Stasi, the ubiquitous and all-powerful secret police of the communist dictatorship in East Germany, where she grew up.

The German chancellor also told the US president that America's National Security Agency cannot be trusted because of the volume of material it had allowed to leak to the whistleblower Edward Snowden, according to the New York Times.

Livid after learning from Der Spiegel magazine that the Americans were listening in to her personal mobile phone, Merkel confronted Obama with the accusation: "This is like the Stasi."

The newspaper also reported that Merkel was particularly angry that, based on the disclosures, "the NSA clearly couldn't be trusted with private information, because they let Snowden clean them out."

Snowden is to testify on the NSA scandal to a European parliament inquiry next month, to the anger of Washington which is pressuring the EU to stop the testimony. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels and Paul Lewis in Washington | Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Face Time: Hundreds March in DC in Anonymous-inspired Protest

People in hundreds of cities across the world are taking part in mass rallies planned by the global protest group - Anonymous. The day of action is called the Million Mask March - it's uniting those, protesting against the violation of online privacy, as well as corporate greed and corrupt governments. Protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks - are demonstrating their allegiance with the Anonymous hacktivist group - infamous for its online anti-government actions. One of the biggest rallies is underway in Washington DC - RT's Gayane Chichakyan joined the protesters there.

Merkel will wegen Snowden keinen Bruch mit USA riskieren

Im Ringen um eine Befragung des ehemaligen US-Geheimdienstmitarbeiters Edward Snowden bemühen sich Bundesregierung und SPD, einen Bruch mit den USA abzuwenden.

Germany 'Should Offer Edward Snowden Asylum after NSA Revelations'

THE GUARDIAN: Writing in Der Spiegel, more than 50 high-profile Germans add to increasing calls for Berlin to welcome NSA whistleblower

An increasing number of public figures are calling for Edward Snowden to be offered asylum in Germany, with more than 50 asking Berlin to step up it support of the US whistleblower in the new edition of Der Spiegel magazine[.]

Heiner Geissler, the former general secretary of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, says in the appeal: "Snowden has done the western world a great service. It is now up to us to help him."

The writer and public intellectual Hans Magnus Enzensberger argues in his contribution that "the American dream is turning into a nightmare" and suggests that Norway would be best placed to offer Snowden refuge, given its track record of offering political asylum to Leon Trotsky in 1935. He bemoans the fact that in Britain, "which has become a US colony", Snowden is regarded as a traitor.

Other public figures on the list include the actor Daniel Brühl, the novelist Daniel Kehlmann, the entrepreneur Dirk Rossmann, the feminist activist Alice Schwarzer and the German football league president, Reinhard Rauball.

The weekly news magazine also publishes a "manifesto for truth", written by Snowden, in which the former NSA employee warns of the danger of spy agencies setting the political agenda. » | Philip Oltermann in Berlin | Sunday, November 03, 2013

SPIEGEL ONLINE: NSA-Affäre: US-Politiker wollen Snowden keine Gnade gewähren: "Wer die Wahrheit ausspricht, begeht kein Verbrechen", sagt Edward Snowden. Doch das Weiße Haus und der US-Geheimdienstausschuss teilen diese Meinung offensichtlich nicht - und sprechen sich gegen eine Begnadigung des ehemaligen Geheimdienstmitarbeiters aus. » | sun/AP/AFP | Sonntag, 03. November 2013

UK Government Reaction to NSA Leaks Eroding Freedom, Rights Groups Warn

THE GUARDIAN: Coalition of organisations says Cameron's response has damaged UK's reputation for freedom of expression

Seventy of the world's leading human rights organisations have written to David Cameron to warn that the government's reaction to the mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden is leading to an erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms in the UK.

The coalition, which includes organisations from 40 countries, said it had become increasingly alarmed at the way the UK government had applied pressure on media groups covering the leaks and its use of national security concerns to close down important public interest debates.

"We have joined together as an international coalition because we believe that the United Kingdom government's response to the revelations of mass surveillance of digital communications is eroding fundamental human rights in the country," the letter states. "The government's response has been to condemn, rather than celebrate investigative journalism, which plays a crucial role in a healthy democratic society." Read on and comment » | Matthew Taylor and Nick Hopkins | Sunday, November 03, 2013

Open letter: Human rights groups' open letter to David Cameron on surveillance: 'National security should never be used to justify preventing disclosures of illegalities or wrongdoing,' says coalition »

Espionnage: les États-Unis admettent avoir commis des excès

Le secrétaire d'État américain John Kerry

LA PRESSE: Les États-Unis ont encore concédé vendredi avoir commis des excès en matière d'espionnage, au lendemain d'un aveu très clair du secrétaire d'État John Kerry, en pleine polémique avec l'Europe et l'Asie sur la collecte massive de données par Washington.

Après dix jours d'indignation internationale, le département d'État a admis du bout des lèvres certains abus dans les programmes d'interception de communications et de collecte d'informations menés dans le monde entier par la toute puissante Agence nationale de sécurité (NSA).

La porte-parole de la diplomatie américaine Jennifer Psaki a invoqué, lors de son point de presse vendredi, «le réexamen» des pratiques américaines en matière de renseignement que le président Barack Obama avait annoncé en début de semaine.

«Nous n'aurions pas ce réexamen si nous ne pensions pas que ces programmes méritaient d'être regardés de près», a reconnu la responsable, promettant des «changements, si nécessaires». » | Nicolas Revise | Agence France-Presse | Washington | vendredi 01 novembre 2013

Merkels Handygate ist Putins bislang größter Coup

DIE WELT: Dass das Handy der Kanzlerin von den USA abgehört wurde, erfuhr die Öffentlichkeit nur, weil Russland diese Information lancierte. Wladimir Putin will einen Keil zwischen Europa und die USA treiben.

Es ist an der Zeit, die NSA-Spähaffäreaus einer ganz anderen Perspektive zu betrachten und Fragen zu stellen, die bis heute kaum jemand gestellt hat. Denn neben der Betroffenheit über das Ausmaß, in dem Geheimdienste die Daten von Millionen Menschen sammeln und ausleuchten, gibt es bei Angela Merkels Handygate einen weiteren Aspekt, der nichts mit Bürgerrechten, sondern allein mit Machtpolitik zu tun hat, bislang aber vollkommen ausgeblendet wurde.

Die erste Frage in diesem Zusammenhang lautet: Woher kommt die Information, dass das Handy der Bundeskanzlerin abgehört wurde? Die zweite Frage ist: Wer hat ein Interesse daran, dass die Spähaktion bekannt wurde? Drittens muss nach dem Zweck beziehungsweise dem nach Ziel derjenigen gefragt werden, die mit der Information an die Öffentlichkeit gingen.

Die Antwort auf die erste Frage lautet: Die Information über die Spähaktion stammt zweifellos aus den Daten des früheren NSA-Mitarbeiters Edward Snowden. Bekanntlich hält dieser sich seit Monaten in Russland auf, weil ihm die russische Regierung für ein Jahr Asyl gewährt hat. Von nicht wenigen westlichen Beobachtern wird Russland dafür gelobt. » | Von Günther Lachmann | Freitag, 01. November 2013