Everyone Except Henry L. Stimson Spies On Everyone Else

For John, BLUF:  Glenn Greenwald, call your office.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Henry L Stimson?  Secretary of State for President Herbert Hoover.  Justifying closing down the Black Chamber.

From Reporter Andrea Germanos and Common Dreams we have "Germany's Spy Targets Included FBI, UNICEF, US Weapons Makers".

The sub-headline is "New reporting adds to controversy over intelligence agency's activities".

The lede plus two:

While Chancellor Angela Merkel claimed in 2013, "Spying among friends is never acceptable," a new media report alleges that the lengthening list of targets of Germany's intelligence agency included the FBI, the UN children's agency, and a German diplomat.

The German public radio station, RBB Inforadio, said Wednesday that the agency, the BND, also spied on French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, weapons maker Lockheed Martin, and the World Health Organization.

Reuters described the new reporting, which does not identify the source of the allegations, as "the latest twist in a growing scandal over the activities of Germany's BND stemming from revelations in 2013 by U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden."

I feel sorry for Chancellor Merkel, being caught out this way, but hypocrisy is a way of life at the highest levels of government.

Regards  —  Cliff