<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif;font-size:12pt">Well, the NSA revelations have managed to piss off France and Mexico, and have now pissed off Germany. If the US could somehow achieve this level of rage as well, maybe we could get on the road to recovery.<br><br>Paul<br><br><br>http://boingboing.net/2013/10/24/us-ambassador-to-germany-summo.html<br><br><br><div id="headline-263866" class="headlineBox">
<h1 class="bigHeadline" id="theHeadline">US ambassador to Germany summoned to explain NSA bugging chancellor Angela Merkel</h1>
<div class="byline permalink"><a href="http://boingboing.net/author/cory_doctorow_1" title="Posts by Cory Doctorow" rel="author">Cory Doctorow</a> at 7:22 am Thu, Oct 24, 2013 </div>
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John B Emerson, the US ambassador to Germany, has been summoned to a
meeting with Guido Westerwelle, the country's foreign minister, over
revelations that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/germany-summons-us-ambassador-nsa-merkel-phone">the NSA bugged chancellor Angela Merkel's phone</a>. Germans are <em>pissed</em>
about this. The country's defense minister told a television interview
that the allegations were "really, really bad" and that there could be
no more "business as usual" in US-German relations. Merkel herself is
described as "livid." <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><div>
Merkel's political opponents, such as the Pirate Party, had criticized
her for failing to do enough to bring the US to account over leaks
regarding bulk US surveillance of Germany; now they're making great
political capital out of the fact that Merkel herself appears to have
been directly targeted by US spooks. <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div>
Though, as a Guardian commenter <a href="http://discussion.theguardian.com/comment-permalink/28240711">observes</a>: "If Merkel has done nothing wrong she has nothing to fear.
If she objects to having her phone tapped doesn't that suggest she might be a terrorist?"
<br><br>Quotation from The Guardian:<br><br><blockquote>
<div>
Merkel was said by informed sources in Germany to be "livid" over the
reports the NSA had bugged her phone and convinced, on the basis of a
German intelligence investigation, that the reports were utterly
substantiated. <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><div>
The German news weekly, Der Spiegel, reported an investigation by German
intelligence, prompted by research from the magazine, that produced
plausible information that Merkel's mobile was targeted by the US
eavesdropping agency. The German chancellor found the evidence
substantial enough to call the White House and demand clarification... <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><div>
...Merkel told Obama that "she unmistakably disapproves of and views as
completely unacceptable such practices, if the indications are
authenticated," Seifert said. "This would be a serious breach of
confidence. Such practices have to be halted immediately." <br></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; font-family: HelveticaNeue,Helvetica Neue,Helvetica,Arial,Lucida Grande,sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><br></div><div>
The sharpness of the German complaint direct to an American president
strongly suggested that Berlin had no doubt about the grounds for
protest. Seibert voiced irritation that the Germans had waited for
months for proper answers from Washington to Berlin on the NSA
operations
</div></blockquote><br><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/24/germany-summons-us-ambassador-nsa-merkel-phone">Germany summons US ambassador over claim NSA bugged Merkel's phone</a> [Philip Oltermann/The Guardian]
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