Comment by swombat
12 years ago
Yeah, it's not like the German people are at all sensitive about the topic of having a secret, unaccountable organisation spying on them.
12 years ago
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.
> for a NATO country to expel the US embassy would be a very dramatic act with uncertain consequences.
Absolutely, but when German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich says "those responsible must be held accountable." I would guess that he means that there will, must be consequences. Closing the embassy is a consequence of last resort, if there is continued intransigence.
Will that happen? that's up to the US government, and possibly not the elected part.
As we're learning here in the US, there's a big difference and gap between "the people" and the government.
But there isn't! You might all feel that your government is misrepresenting you, but until serious action is taken, nothing is going to change. What that serious action is, I have no idea. Other countries have dealt with oppressive regimes before, some better than others.
But that's the thing, the government has strayed so far from the people that a) it's obvious they aren't going to seriously consider the people's will other than window dressing, and therefore b) the only way this kind of thing will change is through revolution. And we're far from revolution, if ever. The gap is there.
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