If a country is a US ally they should not be spied on. What the NSA is
doing has been going on for a long time and needs to stop. Unjustified
surveillance of the world's people is immoral and downright wrong. The
statement the US responded with to Merkel's accusation was very childish. Jay
Carney, the White House Press Secretary, said,"The United States is not monitoring
and will not monitor the communications of Chancellor Merkel." Basically,
the NSA was caught red handed and they are trying to not fully admit that they
spied on Merkel. This is the same way a child acts when he lies, not fully
telling the truth, but bending it. If the US wants to keep its superpower
status it needs to be truthful with its allies. Merkel said it
perfectly,"We need to have trust in our allies and partners, and this must
now be established once again. I repeat that spying among friends is not at all
acceptable against anyone, and that goes for every citizen in Germany." Although not as severe, it's the same concept when a friend is caught reading through another friends text messages. The friend loses trust in him and makes sure it doesn't happen again by putting a passcode on his phone. I also believe that Obama needs to take responsibility for this. He can't avoid this because he supposedly didn't know about it. He is the President of The United States. He runs the show and there should be no excuse for not knowing. As we can see in all these situations, the government is corrupt. It does not matter who you elect becuase most likely they will be a liar.
I agree that we should trust in our allies, but I don't think we should do so blindly. Though the NSA spying may seem intrusive, I do not personally oppose it because our allies should earn our trust.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I do not think allies should spy on allies because in doing so that strains the relationships they could make. Nations should work together to earn one anthers trust and they should not breach that trust so lightly over a few phone calls. That will lead these countries to question the United States and wonder what else they have been spying on. I agree responsibility should be taken and that there should be an apology to the international community as to promote trust and respect between all nations.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the US has overstepped their boundaries and this needs to end. The US seems to think they do not have to follow the same rules as everyone else and someone must be held accountable. I think it is becoming more and more clear that other countries are fed up with the way the US handles themselves and thinks they do not have to follow the same rules.
ReplyDeleteI think, as you note, the idea that Obama did not know about this is perhaps the hardest to believe of all. From what we read, it seems like the issue of surveillance of Germany had already come up, so it was likely that he had to have looked into it. I think you are right that it may have more to do with institutions than with particular people. Anyone who walks into the office will have a long tradition to deal with, and will immediately become responsible for programs and activities that they did not authorize. Some may counter that there is not any other way to do things and still have a secure society, but I wonder.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way that President Obama did not know that this program was not going on. Not only am I concerned that this program was going on, because it violated our privacy but also it may have negatively impacted our relationship with our Allies. That would be the worst thing to come out of this situation because, in an increasingly dangerous world, if another catastrophic event like 9/11 happens or an Iraq war, we may need our Allies trust, help and cooperation
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