Germany Spied on White House for Years

German weekly Der Spiegel has reported that it possesses information showing Germany’s foreign intelligence service conducted espionage against thousands of targets in the United States in recent years. One of these targets was the White House.

Politicians and officials of security agencies in Germany have consistently emphasized that the United States is an indispensable partner in the fight against international terrorism. Recently, Thomas de Maizière, Germany’s Interior Minister, stressed that cooperation between the two sides of the Atlantic is of extraordinary importance to Germany.

According to Der Spiegel, it appears that this cooperation between Germany and the US has not been as trustworthy as it seemed for a long time. The German foreign intelligence service conducted espionage against numerous targets in the United States for many years.

The weekly reported that it has reviewed documents and information showing that between 1998 and 2006, approximately 4,000 search keywords related to German espionage operations against American targets were monitored. Until now, only the German intelligence service’s espionage against the US National Security Agency (NSA) has apparently caused anger and frustration among Americans.

“Spying among Friends” Also Occurs!

The NSA itself monitored the mobile phone of Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, a fact that was revealed during Edward Snowden’s disclosures as a former colleague of US security agencies. At the time, Chancellor Merkel responded to this incident by saying: “Spying among friends must never happen under any circumstances.”

Der Spiegel reported that documents of German espionage against American institutions show that “spying among friends” has indeed taken place. The report suggests that just as the American intelligence agency spied on Germans, the German intelligence service saw no reason not to conduct espionage against American institutions.

In the list of American institutions where the German intelligence service maintained communications and collected classified information, in addition to the White House, the US Treasury Department and the State Department were also included. The White House, however, was at the top of all these espionage targets.

Important American Companies Were Also Targets of Espionage

Beyond these, Germany’s foreign intelligence service monitored the phones, faxes, and emails of American companies such as Lockheed Martin, NASA, the human rights organization “Human Rights Watch,” and numerous universities in various American states.

Communications of military institutions such as the Air Force, Navy, and American military intelligence agencies were also among the other targets of Germany’s foreign intelligence service.

In its report, Der Spiegel stated that the communications of more than 100 foreign embassies in America and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the Arab League office in the United States were targets of espionage by Germany’s foreign intelligence service.

Germany’s foreign intelligence service and its chief Bruno Kahl have refused to comment or take a position on Der Spiegel’s report.

Apparently, the US National Security Agency has established an investigative commission regarding the German foreign intelligence service’s espionage operations in America, and the commission’s report will soon be reviewed in the German Parliament.

The report states that the German coalition government gives little attention to the matter of the German intelligence agency’s espionage operations in America.

Source: DW