Snooping

Published in Braunschweiger Zeitung
(Germany) on 23 March 2014
by Friedemann Diederichs (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Holly Bickerton. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
It's not just German Chancellor Angela Merkel who knows that the NSA has its feelers, like a global kraken, in all areas of political and private life. China's leadership and the technology giant Huawei were also the target of the U.S. intelligence agency, as has now come to light.

This piece of news in itself is not sensational; experts have long suspected that Beijing is also conducting intensive cyberespionage on U.S. defense and industrial sectors. It is rather unsavory, though, that Edward Snowden's most recent revelations have come just as America's first lady is on a trip to China and has been telling students there how important freedom of the Internet is.

This is what Michelle Obama naturally didn't mention: That the NSA has directly accessed the servers of large U.S. companies as it siphons off data and is probably still doing so, that her husband let the Department of Justice listen in on journalists' work-related and private conversations just to expose a whistle-blower, and that not one single journalist was allowed to fly on Air Force One on her trip to China, where questions or interviews were unwelcome in any case. America's first lady may initiate fashion trends and enjoy teaching people about healthy eating, but neither she nor her husband is a suitably credible ambassador for freedom of the media or freedom of opinion.


Die große Schnüffelei
Dass die NSA als globaler Krake die Fühler in alle Bereiche des politischen und privaten Lebens steckt, weiß mittlerweile nicht nur Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. Auch Chinas Führung und der Technologie-Gigant Huawei waren, wie nun bekannt wurde, das Ziel der US-Geheimdienstbehörde. Diese Nachricht ist an sich nicht sensationell – Experten vermuten übrigens seit langem, dass Peking ebenfalls intensiv Cyber-Spionage vor allem im US-Rüstungs- und Industriebereich betreibt. Pikant ist allerdings, dass die jüngsten Enthüllungen Edward Snowdens ausgerechnet zu einem Zeitpunkt kommen, wo Amerikas First Lady in China weilt und dort Studenten darüber belehrt, wie wichtig die Freiheit des Internets sei.
Was Michelle Obama natürlich nicht erwähnte: Dass sich die NSA beim Datenabschöpfen direkt in die Server großer US-Konzerne einschaltete und dies möglicherweise weiter tut. Dass ihr Gatte duldete, dass das Justizministerium die Dienst- und Privatgespräche von Nachrichten-Korrespondenten bespitzelte, nur um einen „Whistleblower“ auffliegen zu lassen. Und dass auf ihrer China-Reise kein einziger Journalist in der „Air Force One“ mitfliegen durfte und Fragen oder Interviews diesmal sowieso nicht gewünscht werden. Amerikas First Lady mag modisch Akzente setzen und gerne andere über gesunde Ernährung belehren – aber als glaubwürdige Botschafterin für Medien- und Meinungsfreiheit taugen weder sie noch ihr Ehemann.
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