President Obama Asks That Germans Give US “The Benefit Of The Doubt” On NSA Spying

In a press conference, German ChancellorAngela Merkel and President Obama both spoke favorably of American intelligence work.

In 2013, news that the United States National Security Agency (NSA)had tapped Merkels phone caused a sensation. The United States promised to knock it off. Merkel, at the time, was less than pleased: Friends dont spy on each other, she said.

Now, things appear calmer between the two nations. Heres Merkel earlier today discussing the need for collaboration with the United States:

There are still different assessments on individual issues there, but if we look at the sheer dimension of the terrorist threats, we are more than aware of the fact that we need to work together very closely.

And here is Merkel praising the effectiveness of the United States intelligence apparatus:

The institutions of the United States of American have provided us and still continue to provide us with a lot of very important, very significant information that are also important to our security.

President Obama, also had comments on the work of the NSA and his other intelligence organs:

What I would ask would be that the German people recognize that the United States has always been on the forefront of trying to promote civil liberties, that we have traditions of due process that we respect, that we have been a consistent partner of yours in the course of the last 70 years and certainly the last 25 years in reinforcing the values we share.So, occasionally, I would like the Germans to give us the benefit of the doubt, given our history, as opposed to assuming the worst.

A call for civility! 2015 surely is a new year.

I think this all indicates that the larger cooling of interest, and anger concerning the large-scale spying efforts of the NSA extends past the borders of the United States, reaching other nations.

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President Obama Asks That Germans Give US “The Benefit Of The Doubt” On NSA Spying