German Report: Obama Aware of Merkel Spying Since 2010

First time accepted submitter pupsocket writes "Yesterday the German newspaper of record, Frankfurter Allgemeine, reported that the President told German Chancellor Merkel that he would have stopped the tap on her phone had he known about it. Today, another German paper, Bild am Sonntag, quoted U.S. Intelligence sources that the President had been briefed in 2010. 'Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue,' the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying."

Comments

Sounds legit

[Anonymous Coward]

So Slashdot reports that Yahoo News printed an article from AFP that the newspaper Bild am Sonntag heard from a "high-ranking NSA official" that something happened! It's like Obama told me himself....

Re:Sounds legit

[Anonymous Coward]

Given my bias, I'm inclined to believe them.

Fixed that for you. No "high-ranking NSA official" would talk to the press without a prepared statement, especially not some off-brand foreign rag. This story failed the sniff test from fifty paces, and you're "inclined to believe them?" More telling of your own bias than anything else...

Credibility gap

[PoochieReds]

Why would anyone believe anything that Obama or NSA lackeys say at this point? It's too late for that. Obama's successor is going to have a huge credibility gap to bridge...

Re:Credibility gap

[Anonymous Coward]

If you like your doctor you can keep him.
If you like your insurance you can keep it.
My administration will be the most transparent ever.
This is the moment when the rise of the oceans began to stop video
Gitmo will close by the end of my first term.
The average family of four will see their health insurance lower by $2500 a year.
If we pass my stimilus the unemployment won't go over 8%.
The US is the country that invented the automobile video
What you are not seeing with the NSA spying is abuses of their abilities.
via Clapper... The NSA is not spying on millions of Americans
I did call the attack on Benghazi a terrorist attack right from the beginning.

I could go on all day. Its actually harder to find things he say that are truthful then lies. Not sure why it takes what has been going on recently for everyone else to start seeing this.

Re:Credibility gap

[K. S. Kyosuke]

To be honest, many of these things probably stem from delusional optimism and self-deception; a mental disorder endemic within Homo politicus.

Re: Credibility gap

[JWW]

Not just optimism and self deception, theres a great deal of narcissism and megalomania there too.

Re:Credibility gap

[7-Vodka]

How about recently:

• Raising the debt ceiling won't raise the debt.
• We have to raise the debt ceiling to pay our bills
• If we don't raise the debt ceiling we will have to default.

what a joke

[Anonymous Coward]

IRS targeting conservatives? Nobody at the White House knew.

Healthcare enrollment website has massive problems? The President didn't know.

NSA tapping German Prime Minister's phone? The President didn't know.

At some point, the American people have to start wondering if the President knows anything.

Re:what a joke

[__aaltlg1547]

Some corrections. The IRS wasn't targeting conservatives per se. It was targeting ALL political groups that were applying for tax exempt status under new absurd rules handed down from the (SCOTUS) Ivory Tower.

Healthcare enrollment website has massive problems, well yeah, I'm sure the President knew as much from press reports as the rest of us. But I'm guessing that his subordinates at several levels down the chain were minimizing the problem so what at the level of the people directly responsible for working on the problem looked like a total nightmare was regarded with decreasing severity at each level up the chain. Like this:

webmasters: Website is fucked. Needs basic redesign that will take months to fix.
direct managers: Website has major problems. Some elements will need to be overhauled.
middle managers: Website has significantly underperformed. Some changes will be needed before it performs as expected. ...
Deputy HHS Secretary in charge of project: Website is experiencing some customer difficulties. We are working on it but it might take a while.
HHS Secretary: There have been some troubles with the website rollout. We're working on it. Should be fixed soon.
President of the United States: ???

Who hasn't seen pretty much this same scenario play out in their own organizations?

Re:what a joke

[wmac1]

So you say the president in a country should know everything (like website problems, every action of spy agencies and problems in tax and financial organizations)? That's Terra bytes of information.

I am not American but I cannot think how can he know about everything.

About what

[Anonymous Coward]

How do you know the US is the good guy. Unmanned drones killing women and children in the middle east, psychotic banks out of control, eugenics. You sound so emboldened and brash about ur choices considering ur country is becoming completely satanic..

And bear in mind that China and Russia already have an alliance to protect themselves from u. If the EU (inclusing France and UK) joined that - both have nukes - your potential list of allies will have dwindled and you could be alienated internationally.

However, I think u just don't get it. It's not about u or me. It's all a big charade by rich people globally, to hide pillaging from their own countries. And American people seem to be the biggest suckers of them all in this regard.

Re:About what

[gweihir]

And if they are incompetent and stupid enough in their spying to get caught, then there are consequences that can easily be worse than not having that "needed" information in the first place. The claim they "need" this information is a bald-faced apologist lie. Spying on friendly heads of state is something only complete scum does.

It is time to find out whether the US really does not need allies (deceptively called "friends" in politics).

Re:About what

[multisync]

But there are things that countries need to know about what's going on in other countries.

So you're okay with other countries listening in on the communications of your politicians?

All politicians are liars...

[bradley13]

...but I repeat myself.

Like a spoiled kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Obama needs a good spanking. Amongst genuine "small government" and "limited government" types, this just leads to feelings of frustration and despair. The Tea Party movement seemed promising, until it was hijacked by the religious right. What other chance is there, really, to reign in the US government? It's no wonder that talks about secession and revolution are kicking up again.

Re:Germany sells nuclear tech to Iran

[Anonymous Coward]

How can you tell when a politician is lying?

His lips are moving.

One can also substitute "lawyer" for "politician" in the above joke. Oh, wait, he matches that case as well, doesn't he?

Well, in a democracy, you get the government you deserve. Even in a republic, where you don't actually take part in government but only elect the representatives, you still get what you deserve. It's only when the people, take a moment to really think this over and think about who they are voting for rather than just responding to the charisma campaigns that you might see some real change in government.

Oh, yeah, and you have to get control or get rid of the Electoral College that stands between the people's votes and the actual decision of who runs the country because that's just a shadow tyranny.

Re:Wutend

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking as an American: that's probably what needs to happen. Our leaders are going to "manage the dialog" and attempt to weasel out of any responsibility unless their feet get held to the fire by every ally we've got. Unless the pain level gets cranked up high enough to effect the day to day lives of average Americans, those average Americans aren't going to do jack shit. They'll keep voting for the same two political parties, no matter how corrupt, incompetent, and irresponsible they are.

I'll be disappointed if this leads anywhere short of a dissolution of trade agreements and cessation of cooperation on military and economic fronts from our allies. And I hope that's a temporary situation, and eventually things can be made right again. But for now, the only path to a less dysfunctional situation is by holding people actually responsible - like jail terms up to the highest levels, with "just following orders" not allowed as an excuse, followed by disbanding the institutions responsible, and starting over with a new system that's accountable to the people it's supposed to serve.

So yes. Please. Stop playing ball with the US. That's what's needed to fix this clusterfuck. It can't be "papered over" at this point.

Re:The Limbaugh Doctrine

[TheCarp]

Well why should the President know about most of this? If some guy in shipping fucks up your order, are you shocked when the CEO of the company isn't personally aware of the status of your package?

That is why this case is different, because this presents a case that, in fact, he did know; and not only did he know but since:

NSA, which sent the intelligence gathered straight to the White House bypassing the agency's headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, according to the report.

Is a very specific claim in a report put out by the German government, and a very damning one.

Re:Wutend

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you please stop with the crap about exporting jobs overseas? I am tired of this arrogant beggar thy neighbor attitude. You are arguing they they should buy your stuff but you don't have to buy theirs! All you consumers have that choice when you go to the shop! Buy American made then and stop fucking complaining about free trade deals. It also flies in the face of understanding of low level economics where if you and your partner optimize what you are both good at and then trade you are both better off!
MY GOD the stupidity overwhelms.