Gringo Bond With Love From Washington : Germany Catches US Spies 

By Countercurrents 

10 July, 2014
Countercurrents.org

Merkel said July 7, 2014 that if reports that a German intelligence employee spied for the US are proven true, it would be a "clear contradiction" of trust between the allies.

Speaking at a news conference in China , Merkel made her first public comments on the arrest last week of a man suspected of spying for the US .

The German newspaper Bild reported on July 7, 2014 that German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere wants to include the US among future German spy targets in response to the case.

German authorities are investigating a second spy case reportedly involving the US , a week after the arrest of a German intelligence employee cast a new shadow over relations between the two countries.

An AP report headlined “Germans probe 2nd spy case reportedly involving US” said:

“German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was at a loss to understand why the US would spy on his country.

"We speak to each other all the time, and nobody keeps their views secret," he said in an interview published on July 9, 2014 by the Saarbruecker Zeitung. "The attempt to use conspiratorial methods to find out about Germany 's position isn't just unseemly, it's unnecessary."

The White House has decided not to comment on the spy-incident.

The Berlin datelined report said:

The US ambassador in Germany John B. Emerson was at the German foreign ministry again on July 9, 2014 for a meeting with a senior official.

German prosecutors said on July 9, 2014 that police raided properties in the Berlin area on "initial suspicion of activity for an intelligence agency."

"We have investigations in two cases of suspected espionage, a very serious suspicion," government spokesman told reporters in Berlin .

The daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that the man being investigated worked at Germany 's defense ministry and is suspected of spying for the US .

News website Spiegel Online reported that the man worked in a department dealing with international security policy and had aroused the suspicion of Germany 's military counter-intelligence agency because of his close contacts to alleged US spies.

Last week, a German intelligence employee was arrested on suspicion of spying for foreign powers since 2012. German media have reported that he spied for the US and came to authorities' attention when he recently offered his services to Russian officials in Germany by email.

The AP report added:

The case has frayed relations between Berlin and Washington , which were already strained by reports last year that the US National Security Agency had targeted the German chancellor's cell phone and conducted mass surveillance of Internet traffic in Germany . Those allegations have resulted in a criminal investigation and the creation of a parliamentary panel tasked with probing the NSA's activities in Germany .

The US ambassador to Berlin was summoned to the German foreign ministry on last Friday after news of the first case broke.

The report by Frank Jordans said:

Lora Anne Viola, an assistant professor in American foreign policy at Berlin 's John F. Kennedy Institute, said the spy cases appeared to mark a low in US-German relations.

"I think it's going to be difficult to repair this with words alone," she said, adding that it was in Washington 's interest to reach out to Germany .

"Without partners, without Germany , it's very difficult for the US to act on the foreign stage," Viola said.

Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, an expert on Germany 's intelligence agencies, said the reaction in Berlin would likely have been muted at any other time. "They would have resolved this the way they've done since the 1950s, which is switch off the German spy and send his American handler home."

"But the NSA scandal is forcing the German government's hand," he said. "It's been trying for months to play down the scandal so this new case has blindsided them."

Schmidt-Eenboom said cooperation between the American and German intelligence agencies — particularly the CIA and its German counterpart the BND — was traditionally good.

"BND staff have always talked freely with their American counterparts, but to place a mole in a friendly agency, that's a new dimension. The German intelligence community is up in arms."

A Reuters report headlined “Anger mounts as Germany unearths second U.S. spy suspect” said:

German politicians reacted angrily to the news of a suspected US spy in the defense ministry.

Yasmin Fahimi, general secretary of the Social Democrats (SPD) who shares power with Merkel's conservatives, said Washington should remove any US embassy staff involved and cease spying on its ally.

Von der Leyen, who is from Merkel's party, said the NSA case had "shaken confidence" in the US and it had to be made clear to the intelligence community that "not everything that is possible is politically acceptable".

Merkel has already said the arrest of an official of the BND for spying for the US would, if confirmed, be a "serious case".

Merkel's spokesman acknowledged there were "deep differences of opinion" with the US on how to balance the need for security with civil rights though German officials stress they are heavily reliant on US intelligence.

The chancellor faces political fallout for not criticizing Obama sufficiently for alleged surveillance in Germany by the NSA.

Ties between Berlin and Washington have been strained by Snowden's allegations and the opposition Greens said it was now even more important that he testify in person, rather than by video link, before the parliamentary committee probing NSA activities.

The Berlin/Washington datelined report said:

US officials acknowledged to Reuters that the CIA had been involved in recruiting the BND official as an informant, and did not dispute German media reports that his initial recruitment occurred two years ago.

A US official said CIA director John Brennan would be in telephone contact with Klaus-Dieter Fritsche, the foreign intelligence coordinator in Merkel's office.

Brennan has also briefed leaders of both the US Senate and House Intelligence committees about the controversy.

US officials confirmed that neither Obama nor Merkel mentioned the BND official's arrest during their telephone discussion they held on July 3.

The officials did not dispute a New York Times report which said, at the time of the call, Obama had not been made aware of the CIA informant's arrest in Germany .

The BND agent arrested last week admitted to passing documents to a US contact. The document included details of a parliamentary committee's investigation of Edward Snowden's allegations of American spying in Germany .

The report by Thorsten Severin and Mark Hosenball said:

The new spy case, reported on July 9, 2014 is believed to be more serious than last week's, said Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily in an advance copy of July 10, 2014's edition.

The report added:

After the Snowden revelations, Berlin demanded Washington agree to a "no-spy agreement," but the United States was unwilling to make such a commitment.

An earlier AP report datelined Beijing , July 7, 2014 said:

Germany has been stepping up pressure on the US to clarify the situation.

The White House said the U.S. will work with Germany to resolve its concerns.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said the US is aware that a German citizen was arrested amid allegations he was purportedly working for the US , but he would not say whether the reports are accurate.

The report added:

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said if the allegations of U.S. involvement were true, the case could change the routine for the two countries in unspecified ways.

"Should the suspicions be confirmed that American intelligence agencies were involved, then that's also a political matter where one can't just go back to the daily routine," Steinmeier said during a visit to Mongolia .

"We will work hard to answer the outstanding questions and then decide how to react," he said.

Deputy German government spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz told reporters in Berlin that the US is one of Germany 's most important partners. "But that doesn't mean one has to accept without criticism whatever these partners do," she said.

The “German leader: US spy reports serious if true” headlined report by Gillian Wong said:

In Berlin , former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview with Der Spiegel, posted online on July 7, 2014 that the US would never sign a commitment with any other nation not to spy on them.

"The US will never sign a no-spy agreement (as demanded by Germany ) with any other countries, not with you, not with Britain or Canada ," said Clinton .

Other media reports including report by Spiegel Online said:

Germany may scrap its decades-old policy of not spying on key NATO allies in response to the latest US spy incident.

After the defeat of Nazis in World War II, the new authorities of West Germany adopted a policy of turning a blind eye to the intelligence activities of some of the victors, namely the US , Britain and France. However, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government may change that situation, interior minister Thomas de Maizière told Bild newspaper.

He said Germany urgently needs to acquire “360-degree view” on operations conducted on its soil, which means it must conduct surveillance of all foreign intelligence agents working in the country.

The newspaper says it has obtained a document detailing “concrete countermeasures” it plans to implement to that regard.

The arrested German reportedly contacted the US embassy and offered “cooperation,” after which he leaked at least 218 secret documents in exchange for cash payments amounting more than $34,000.

Ironically, one of the prime interests for the US that the double agent was meant to meet was Berlin 's parliamentary investigation into the alleged spying by the NSA on Chancellor Merkel and other German citizens.

German foreign minister Steinmeier said the relations between Germany and the US would change if the allegations are confirmed.

German president Joachim Gauck said if the allegations were to turn out to be true, “then it truly needs to be said: enough is enough.” He was talking to the ZDF broadcaster on July 5, 2014.

Merkel's government is facing criticism over the restrained response it demonstrated after the revelation of NSA snooping on Germany , and the new scandal gives critics more ammunition.

“To respond to these allegations with the motto 'now we're going to spy back on you' is just absurd, and a sign of the government's helplessness,” commented Konstantin von Notz, a member of the parliamentary investigation committee into the NSA activity. “Either these surveillance activities are illegal and we do something to curb them, or not.”

Hillary Clinton's comment on no-spying deal came shortly after the German defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, made a personal appeal to Clinton, who was visiting Berlin .

"For God's sake, take a hard line with your secret services," the minister said. "Good friends don't spy on one another."

The German foreign minister has demanded an immediate clarification of the situation from Washington .

During a visit to Mongolia he said prompt clarification of the details in the case were in the “US's own interest.”

Merkel on July 6, 2014 expressed surprise and disappointment over the possible involvement of US intelligence in the BND espionage scandal, according to German businessmen, accompanying her on her trip to China .

"If the suspicion of espionage is confirmed, that would be an outrageous attack on our parliamentary freedom," said Thomas Oppermann, the parliamentary leader of the SPD party, a coalition partner of Merkel's Christian Democrats.

Opposition parties have called for caution in future cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies.

"All cooperation of the German security authorities with friendly services needs to be reviewed,” Green Party leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt told Spiegel Online.

While most of the criticism is focused on the US , some believe it's the German leadership's inability to react properly to the NSA tapping leaks that's led to the yet another spying scandal.

Merkel's opponents have repeatedly blamed her for too mild a response to the NSA global surveillance revelations.

“That's a result of Merkel's transatlantic hypocrisy,” co-chair of the Left Party Katja Kipping said, Der Tagesspiegel reported.

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