Remember the hue and outcry when the news broke that the National Security Agency had been monitoring the cell phone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel?
For weeks, official Germany wallowed in aggressive indignation. Berlin evicted the top CIA official in the country after two German government staffers were accused of spying for America.
An NSA committee was formed in parliament. Chancellor Merkel insisted that “spying between friends — that’s just not done.”
But now the spying device seems to be on the other foot…er, ear.
This month Der Spiegel reported that the same nation whose chancellor was shocked, shocked to learn America was spying on her countrymen has been spying on its largest trading partner for nearly four decade, Turkey.
You heard that right: Germany has been spying on Turkey. And now it’s Turkey’s turn for self-righteous condemnation.
Now, no one would claim Germany and Turkey are as friendly as America and Germany. But Turkey is an ally in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — and Germany is home to several million Turks.
There’s even an American angle.
Apparently, Berlin’s Federal Intelligence Service has not only snooped on Turkey, it also eavesdropped on at least one call from Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013, and on another from Hillary Clinton in 2012.
Let’s be honest: Most countries send spies to gather intel on other countries, even allies. It’s part of the job. And we learned from 9/11 how vital good intelligence is to keeping us safe.
The Germans have put forward some reasons for their spying on Turkey, and they are persuasive: Turkey is close by; it borders countries that have been a source of terror and it serves as a land bridge to Europe for terrorists from the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the direction of its new president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will take the country is also unclear.
In the wake of 9/11, all we heard from the political and pundit class was how US intelligence services failed to connect the dots.
The reality of national security is we do ourselves no favors when we don’t let them collect the dots — even if some of that information comes from friends.