A huge slogan board stands in front of the U.S. Capitol building during a protest against government surveillance in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, October 26, 2013. /Xinhua
Editor's note: Thomas O. Falk is a London-based political analyst and commentator. He holds a Master of Arts in international relations from the University of Birmingham and specializes in U.S. affairs. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
According to a leaked top-secret document, U.S. intelligence agencies continue to spy on their so-called friends and allies, including German agencies and ministries - an affront that has occurred before.
In recent weeks, the world has learned quite a few dicey details from the leaked Pentagon papers. Besides the military activities of NATO in Ukraine and various other information, the leaked documents also show the massive spying campaign that the U.S. intelligence services have used not only against their so-called adversaries but also against their own allies and even friends on a massive scale.
Among the most striking revelations is the wiretapping of conversations in South Korea's national security. These talks dealt with a U.S. request for ammunition for Ukraine. South Korean officials discussed possible violations of their policy of not supplying arms to countries at war and ways of circumventing their own policy restrictions by selling the munitions to Poland.
In the case of Israel, a leaked CIA report sourced to signals intelligence alleges that Mossad, Israel's primary intelligence agency, has been encouraging protests against the country's new government. The Israeli prime minister's office has vehemently denied the allegations, calling the report "false and unfounded."
Germany, too, is once again the focus of America's intelligence agencies, according to Germany's public broadcast's ARD and its magazine "Kontraste." According to this report, Washington spied on a meeting between German officials and a Chinese delegation.
The meeting is said to have taken place on February 20 this year. Officials from Germany's Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius wanted to debate with the Chinese military about relaxing the relationship between the two countries.
The documents state that they are based on a "Signals Intelligence Report." "Signals intelligence" is the interception of telephone calls, e-mails and other electronic communications.
The Pentagon seen from an airplane over Washington D.C., the United States, February 19, 2020. /Xinhua
One of the most crucial interception tools the U.S. government uses is Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA for short. The program allows the National Security Agency (NSA) to intercept communications of non-U.S. citizens running on U.S.-owned platforms such as Google, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Apple. The U.S. government also accesses foreign telecommunications networks, and special planes, drones, and satellites collect signals.
It can therefore be assumed that U.S. intelligence obtained the information through espionage measures such as intercepting e-mails or hacking the IT systems of Germany's Ministry of Defense in Berlin. However, what is particularly incredulous about the alleged U.S. spying is that, according to Kontraste, the U.S. embassy was even officially informed by the German side of the meeting with Beijing's delegation. Yet, Washington felt the urge to listen in anyways.
However, what is even more disappointing than the actual actions taken against Germany and China here, is the fact that U.S. intelligence agencies continue to unabashedly spy on Germany's government, its ministries, and its leaders – a so-called friend and ally – yet again.
After all, we must not forget that there has been a history in Berlin with U.S. intelligence. Almost ten years ago, as part of the NSA affair, it became known that the U.S. had wiretapped Germany on a large scale. It included monitoring of Germany's then-chancellor Angela Merkel. In fact, the NSA had the chancellery bugged and listened to various phone calls Merkel conducted.
"Spying among friends is unacceptable," former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during a visit to Washington at the time. Former U.S. President Barack Obama seemed to occur and subsequently claimed that these activities would be halted – which, as we now know, was a lie. Because make no mistake: Operations of these magnitudes do not happen without either the commander-in-chief's direct order or, at the very least, his okay.
The reoccurrence of these realities is not only disappointing, it leaves a mark on the supposed friend, and the Pentagon Leaks clearly show that Washington has not learned from its past mistakes but, and this is even worse, has now been effectively convicted of lying.
And just like the previous time, these operations will continue. Shall the world accept it helplessly as a new normality or take legal measures finally?
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