It Smells like a Scandal

Former National Security Agency (NSA) senior official Thomas Drake is raising some pretty severe accusations against the German Federal Intelligence Service. It is possible that their cooperation with the American spies and eavesdroppers is considerably closer than had been known up to now. The Germans also have a keen knowledge of the activities of U.S. informants. The German Federal Intelligence Service allegedly profits from American surveillance, and it is diligently handing over data to them. This is reason enough for parliamentary investigators to probe even the German spies. Is the German Federal Intelligence Service becoming an arm of the NSA?

That will have to wait for now. In any case, the fact that a German intelligence agent was arrested because he supposedly spied on the parliamentary body puts the entire agency in a pretty bad light. In light of this situation, German-American relations are about to be tested once again. But even if a lot of [Thomas] Drake allegations sound alarming, it is still too early to blow the whole thing up into a scandal.

After all, it is normal for the intelligence agencies of allies to be in cahoots with each other — just like it is normal for the Germans to give the Americans information regarding the whereabouts of dangerous terrorists. The local authorities and citizens alike can delight in the fact that the Americans gave them leads on the Sauerland Group. Data streams to and from Waziristan, and Iraq and Syria have to be monitored.

However, we have to ask ourselves whether or not the German Federal Intelligence Service is actually going against the constitution. A committee now must answer questions as to whether or not the agency has taken on a life of its own and whether or not it needs to be more controlled. If the agency actually had knowledge of American surveillance programs such as PRISM and denied it, there have to be consequences for this. It is quite possible that the true intelligence scandal might still lie ahead for Germany.