Merkel Spanks Obama

[Clinton Huxley]

Frau Merkel, She-Caesar of the European Empire, has telephonically spanked Obama in outrage at the NSA listening into her phone calls. You don't want to give a German an excuse to invade.....

[JimC]

Frau Merkel, She-Caesar of the European Empire, has telephonically spanked Obama in outrage at the NSA listening into her phone calls. You don't want to give a German an excuse to invade.....

And he loved every moment of it...

[Tero]

The agent and translator had to be given a week to recover from the spying. They were dying from boredom, and still waiting for the German verb at the end of the speech.

[Faithfree]

Pics or it didn't happen.

[klr]

The agent and translator had to be given a week to recover from the spying. They were dying from boredom, and still waiting for the German verb at the end of the speech.

[Tyrannical]

As Pink Floyd minus Roger Waters once sang, "Even our masters don't know the web we weave"

[tattuchu]

He should massage her shoulders. That'll make her feel better. Doesn't Obama know anything?

[laklak]

I pay good money for the video.

[subversive science]

...telephonically spanked Obama...

That must have left quite a bruise.

[klr]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24 ... one_calls/

Washington attempted to prevent a row over alleged surveillance escalating with Berlin by confirming that President Barack Obama had told Merkel that the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor" the chancellor's telephone conversations, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Translastion from weasel-speak into plain English (or German): "We've just stopped doing this, now that we've been rumbled, and we won't do it again"

[Azathoth]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24 ... one_calls/

Washington attempted to prevent a row over alleged surveillance escalating with Berlin by confirming that President Barack Obama had told Merkel that the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor" the chancellor's telephone conversations, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Translastion from weasel-speak into plain English (or German): "We've just stopped doing this, now that we've been rumbled, and we won't do will try not to get caught doing it again"

[klr]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10/24 ... one_calls/

Washington attempted to prevent a row over alleged surveillance escalating with Berlin by confirming that President Barack Obama had told Merkel that the US "is not monitoring and will not monitor" the chancellor's telephone conversations, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Translastion from weasel-speak into plain English (or German): "We've just stopped doing this, now that we've been rumbled, and we won't do will try not to get caught doing it again"

[JimC]

Way to keep your friends, America...

[Ian]

The Germans are not to be trusted.

[cronus]

The Germans are not to be trusted.

Transference...in action.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/o ... -us-allies

Obama left increasingly isolated as anger builds among key US allies

International anger over US government surveillance has combined with a backlash against its current Middle East policy to leave President Obama increasingly isolated from many of his key foreign allies, according to diplomats in Washington.

The furious call that German chancellor Angela Merkel made to the White House on Wednesday to ask if her phone had been tapped was the latest in a string of diplomatic rebukes by allies including France, Brazil and Mexico, all of which have distanced themselves from the US following revelations of spying by the National Security Agency.

But the collapse in trust of the US among its European and South American partners has been matched by an equally rapid deterioration in its relationships with key allies in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia this week joined Israel, Jordan and United Arab Emirates in signalling a shift in its relations with the US over its unhappiness at a perceived policy of rapprochement toward Iran and Syria.

Though the issues are largely unrelated, they have led to a flurry of diplomatic activity from Washington, which is anxious to avoid a more permanent rift in the network of alliances that has been central to its foreign policy since the second world war.

Secretary of state John Kerry has been meeting with Saudi and Israeli leaders in an effort to keep them involved in Middle East peace talks about Palestine and Syria, Obama met Wednesday with Pakistani prime minister Nawar Sharif to reassure him over separate anxiety over US drone attacks, and the White House has been privately trying to mend fences with world leaders on the surveillance issue.

"The [NSA] revelations have clearly caused tension in our relationships with some countries and we are dealing with that through diplomatic channels," said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday.

"These are very important relations both economically and for our security, and we will work to maintain the closest possible ties."

But the Guardian has spoken with several diplomats and foreign government officials – all of whom agreed to talk only on the condition of anonymity – who say the White House is still underestimating the anger felt over recent disclosures.

They argue that US officials are being deliberately disingenuous when they claim that all countries engage in similar forms of espionage, even against allies. While it is widely accepted that the US, Britain, France, Russia and China engage in counter-espionage, other countries do not have the tools to conduct surveillance on the scale of the NSA.

(continued, the moral decline...)