Comment by swombat
12 years ago
Typically, if a diplomat constantly breaks the laws of the nation they're sent to in this manner, they get kicked out, and if the sender country in question keeps sending this sort of diplomat, the embassy would eventually be closed.
I cannot imagine Germany closing the US Embassy.
Yeah, it's not like the German people are at all sensitive about the topic of having a secret, unaccountable organisation spying on them.
I certainly can't blame them for being upset. But for a NATO country to expel the US embassy would be a very dramatic act with uncertain consequences. There's a lot of fallout to accept there, and the impact would be broader than US-German relations.
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As we're learning here in the US, there's a big difference and gap between "the people" and the government.
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True. However I wonder if they could at least impose an embassy from which many forms of eavesdropping are not possible. i.e. US draws up floorplans and whatnot. The Germans modify those plans to make it into a giant Faraday cage will precisely defined inlets and outlets for water, gas, electricity, sewage, etc. Lastly all additions to the structure externally are to always inspected to make sure they don't contain eavesdropping equipment.
This would at least force all eavesdropping and surveillance performed to be the same kind of eavesdropping and surveillance doable from US soil. Furthermore, the Germans can try to perform some form of enforcement on what types of people can show up at the embassy to work.
With biometrics and sharing between countries, it's conceivable that one day you won't be able to cross official borders with two identities ever again. This means that you effectively force someone to choose only one identity forever. That identity can either be one of your secret government identities or it can be your real identity, but it can no longer be both at different times. Once you choose, you'r stuck with that decision
It certainly would make sense, since the US embassy in Berlin seems to be used for spying, too:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/cover-story-how-...
> "Research by SPIEGEL reporters in Berlin and Washington, talks with intelligence officials and the evaluation of internal documents of the US' National Security Agency and other information, most of which comes from the archive of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, lead to the conclusion that the US diplomatic mission in the German capital has not merely been promoting German-American friendship. On the contrary, it is a nest of espionage. From the roof of the embassy, a special unit of the CIA and NSA can apparently monitor a large part of cellphone communication in the government quarter."
http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/tid-34373/infrarotbi...
^ "US diplomats could be expelled from the country"... mind you, they're not at all talking about closing the embassy, but "just" expelling those under diplomatic immunity who were doing this (and persecuting those not under diplomatic immunity). It might just be to look good for the Germany population, they might be serious... here's hoping.
http://daserste.ndr.de/panorama/media/usbotschaft105_v-ardga...
^ infrared image of the embassy rooftop which I saw on German TV, in a discussion which surprised me by its serious tone and the absence of handwaving or belittling.
No, you could not. But now we are entertaining that notion.
That is the change that has occurred.
Fair point.
I would like to see something drastic and concrete happen, if it lead to reining in the wolves.