The German BND-NSA scandal seems to snowball. Focus is now shifting towards Chancellor Angela Merkel.
German Intelligence, BND — acting directly under the Chancellor Office — is accused for spying on European political and economical targets on behalf of the American surveillance authority NSA. Now the question is: What did Merkel know?
Chancellor Merkel is known for taking moral high ground when it turned out that she had been under NSA surveillance, stating that “you do not spy on your friends”. And now it turns out Germany did. (If we assume that e.g. France and the EU are Germanys “friends”.)
On top of all this, there are the (allegedly 12,000) cases where Germany did not assist the NSA. All documentation about these cases seems to have been deleted.
It seems that the German government and/or the Chancellor Office might have been missleasing the Reichstag (parliament). If so, the question is if the Reichstag can trust the highest political leaders of the country. This is a very serious question of confidence.
From another perspective, the BND/NSA affair underpins the notion that whatever politicians tell the people — the transatlantic intelligence cooperation continues unmoved.
The Local: Pressure on Merkel rises over BND affair »
/ HAX