NSA spying claims: Things you need to know
It’s not as sexy as a spy novel, but things are heating up after the latest reports of espionage by the U.S. National Security Agency.
International leaders say they’re outraged, and the Obama administration says it’s investigating.
Here are five key questions to keep in mind:
1. Are U.S. President Barack Obama’s hands clean in this?
It’s not really clear.
The Wall Street Journal reported that an internal review of U.S. surveillance programs that started this summer revealed the NSA had tapped the phones of about 35 world leaders and that the White House ordered a halt to some of it.
That would suggest the President did not know about the programs for the nearly five years he has been in office.
The White House says the President did not know specifically about the tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone, but hasn’t said anything about what he knew regarding spying on any other world leaders.
2. What does it say about Obama as a leader if he didn’t know?
Officials say it’s understandable that Obama wouldn’t know about specific wiretapping of leaders because the NSA has so many surveillance programs and he would not be briefed on all of them.
But if, as reported, some of the programs date back to the Bush administration, one would think Obama would have been briefed on this when he took office.
That raises questions about whether Obama knew and is shaving the truth or his own intelligence community kept him in the dark. Neither answer is satisfying.
3. What has Obama done about it?
That’s a key question.
In a USA Today op-ed published last week, Obama’s homeland security and counterterrorism adviser Lisa Monaco conceded that recent “disclosures have created significant challenges in our relationships.” To address them, the President has ordered a “review (of) our surveillance capabilities, including with our foreign partners,” she wrote.
As accusations mount and the issue becomes increasingly thorny diplomatically, it’s unclear what Obama has said and done behind closed doors.
The Wall Street Journal’s report, which cites unidentified U.S. officials, did not specify who gave the shutdown order or the date it was issued.
Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported Sunday that Obama learned of an operation to monitor Merkel from the head of the NSA and allowed it to continue — a claim the NSA has denied.
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