New NSA Revelations: Eavesdropping on 320 prominent Germans

Barack Obama has kept his word. In January, the U.S. president promised not to listen in on Angela Merkel s phone calls any longer.

!hat he concealed" A#ter Merkel was remo$ed #rom the listening list, the %SA began listening in more intensely on the &hancellor s circle 'o# ad$isors(.)!e ha$e orders not to allow any loss o# in#ormation, a#ter the &hancellor s communications were no longer being directly monitored,) a senior U.S. intelligence o##icial in *ermany told Bild am Sonntag +BamS,. -hey were to now target Merkel s closest con#idants . including Interior Minister -homas de Mai/i0re +&1U,.

In the wiretapped con$ersations between Merkel and de Mai/i0re, %SA analysts were able to e2perience in real time how close their actual relationship o# trust was. On se$eral occasions, be#ore making important decisions, the &hancellor would call her most important minister #or ad$ice" )!hat should I think3) -his unusual Merkel.O.-one astonished U.S. intelligence o##icials.

And de Mai/i0re was a target o# interest to Americans #or another reason last year as well. -he then.Minister o# 1e#ence was regarded a promising candidate #or the Secretary *eneral o# %A-O post, which will not be #orthcoming without the consent o# the United States. )!e wanted to know i# he really is a reliable partner #or us,) said the U.S. intelligence source in 4usti#ying the ea$esdropping on de Mai/i0re. !hen asked to comment, de Mai/i0re declined.

!hen BamS called to 5uestion the %SA in 6ort Meade, Maryland on 6riday, they were trans#erred to the !hite 7ouse. &aitlin 7ayden, %ational Security Ad$isor to 8resident Obama, said o# the new in#ormation about ea$esdropping in *ermany" )-he U.S. go$ernment has made it clear that the United States collects intelligence in#ormation the same way it is collected by all states.) A denial sounds di##erent than this.

-homas de Mai/i0re is only one o# many prominent names on the %SA s wiretapping list. According to in#ormation supplied to BamS, there are more than 9:; people in *ermany being secretly monitored, mainly political decision.makers, but also some #rom industry.

According to the sources, one e2ample o# the '%SA s( industrial espionage o# 1A< companies is SA8, based in !alldor#, Baden.!=rttemberg. >urope s largest so#tware producer competes with U.S. giants like Oracle. A SA8 spokesman said" )!e don t comment on 'reports like( that.)

Obama s %ational Security Ad$isor 7ayden said" )-he United States does not collect intelligence in#ormation #or U.S. companies +..., to gain competiti$e ad$antage.) -he intelligence acti$ities are )aligned with the national security needs o# our country.)

BamS #urther learned on Sunday that the %SA currently has :?@ employees stationed in *ermany. -he comprehensi$e spy program has been running since A??B. Since then the Americans began systematically spying on their *erman allies. Supposedly they ha$e e$idence that *erman intelligence ser$ices were, in turn, in$estigating the Canks.

6ollowing the recent #uss about Merkel s wiretapped phone, senior U.S. intelligence o##icials complained about *ermany s ambi$alence" on one hand, *erman intelligence agencies, such as the 6ederal Intelligence Ser$ice +B%1, and the 6ederal O##ice #or 8rotection o# the &onstitution +B6D, pri$ately ask their U.S. counterparts to pro$ide them with in#ormation #rom the wiretaps. On the other hand, *erman leaders rant publicly against the )interception mania) o# the Americans.

Obama ad$iser 7ayden told Bild am Sonntag" )As our intelligence agencies continue to gather in#ormation about the intentions o# go$ernments +..., all o$er the world, and do so in the same way as the intelligence ser$ices o# any other country, we will not apologi/e that our ser$ices may work more e##ecti$ely. )

*i$en past and current %SA ea$esdropping, 'it seems that( *erman counterintelligence 'the %SA( gets away with anything. -he *erman chie# o# 7omeland security, 7ans.*eorg MaaEen, acknowledged in 'the business newspaper( 7andelsblatt" 7is intelligence authorities don t e$en know #or sure that the &hancellor had been bugged.