How could President Obama not have known about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) eavesdropping program aimed at the leaders of some of America’s closest allies? It seems unfathomable that the President of the United States was unaware for most of the five years of his Presidency that the NSA as spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel leaders other countries, including Mexico and Brazil. But, apparently that is the story that the NSA is spinning today.
According to one official, President Obama was not in the loop on the NSA’s eavesdropping on the German leader:
The officials quoted by The Wall Street Journal said it was understandable that Obama did not know about the phone tapping of Merkel and other leaders for nearly five years of his presidency. Because the NSA has so many eavesdropping programs, it would not have listed all of them for the president, according to the officials.
“The president doesn’t sign off on this stuff,” one official was quoted as saying. But the official said that policy was under review, the Journal reported.
How could the President not “sign off on this stuff,” at least in a general way? There are certainly more questions that answers to what our nation’s spy agencies are doing. Was the President ever made aware of the eavesdropping programs on foreign leaders in general? If so, when? While he may or may not have known about specific targets, could it be possible that the NSA, without the President’s authority, took it upon themselves to spy on the leaders of these countries, particularly Chancellor Merkel? Or, more plausible, did the President “sign off on the stuff” with no specific names attached, thus giving him plausible deniability when asked if he “knew” about the Merkel eavesdropping? President Obama is a trained lawyer after all. He knows how to say something without actually saying anything. Last, but not least, if the NSA could so brazenly spy on foreign leaders abroad, what does that mean for the privacy of American citizens here at home?
Although German magazine Bild am Sonntag reported that President Obama had been briefed by NSA Director Keith Alexander about the agency’s surveillance of Merkel in 2010, the agency on Sunday denied those allegations:
NSA spokeswoman Vanee’ Vines told CNN: “Gen. Alexander did not discuss with President Obama in 2010 an alleged foreign intelligence operation involving German Chancellor Merkel, nor has he ever discussed alleged operations involving Chancellor Merkel. News reports claiming otherwise are not true.”
Whether or not the allegations that President Obama had been briefed in 2010 are true or not, there is absolutely no way that the NSA could confirm that the President knew about the eavesdropping program aimed at Merkel three years ago. That would not only contradict the Administration’s line on this, but would also further erode the trust (whatever may be left) that our allies have in us. It certainly looks like former Vice President Dick Cheney may be right when he said that our friends don’t trust us and our enemies don’t fear us.
If President Obama was truly out of the loop on this — meaning that he did not know or authorize the surveillance of Chancellor Merkel, either generally or specifically — then those at the NSA who authorized this eavesdropping should be fired immediately. That would be a positive step in beginning to rebuild the trust of America’s allies in our government. That would also send a message to the American people that rogue surveillance by the National Security Agency — both at home and abroad — will not be tolerated. I don’t expect either to happen because that would require President Obama to admit that someone in his Administration did something wrong. But, there’s always hoping.