Breaking : Merkel phone tapping probe dropped

Following the rumours late last year that the investigation would be dropped the investigation has now been dropped .... quelle surprise.
There's little detail as yet because the news has just broken but more may be revealed later , I can only assume the negatives far outweigh the positives of outing the US administration as paranoid and willing to spy on its allies in the courts.

We Europeans love our American overlords and trust they only did it for our own safety and protection .

"The Chief Federal Prosecutor has closed the investigation over suspected spying on a mobile phone used by the chancellor by US intelligence services ... because the allegation cannot be proven in a legally sound way under criminal law," it said in a statement.
uk.news.yahoo.com...

a reply to: gortex

We Europeans love our American overlords and trust they only did it for our own safety and protection .

amen to that.

because the allegation cannot be proven in a legally sound way under criminal law

What can one say after this ? legally sound way...


edit:

reading this made me feel like someone just threw a fistful of sand in my face, and while I was trying to find my bearings...sucker punched me in my face.

In the distance...you can hear Nelson's ha-ha fading out.

More likely dropped because everyone is doing it to everyone. So if you move forward with it, then the same allegations will be proven against you as well. It was all politics.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Spying using diplomats and planted agents is one thing but tapping a persons private mobile phone is a criminal offence as some newspaper journalists have discovered to their cost over here , this is not politics it's paranoia.

a reply to: gortex

Add this bit of bad behaviour onto the idea of putting american missiles again onto british soil and I have had absolutely enough of american politicians spying it over Brits and Europeans - without Europe and its mass markets how well exactly does America get on with the rest of the world? Also exactly who governs America its seems to be a second state for israel just as the UK seems to be the 51st state of the USA.

I am sorry Angela M has given up on this, however I suspect not only will german intelligence be far more careful, I doubt she will forget this because betrayals of trust suck big time. No one is obviously above being tapped but its worse when its an ally - although not all supposed allies are trustworthy in the slightest. Some things you have difficulty re-establishing trust over.

Tapping like this begs the question how much commercial advantage have american businesses gained over the years by this type of spying on EU and UK businesses?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Spying using diplomats and planted agents is one thing but tapping a persons private mobile phone is a criminal offence as some newspaper journalists have discovered to their cost over here , this is not politics it's paranoia.

What government follows the laws? You think the US government is the only one doing it?

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

So you're saying that...German secret service is listening in on Obama's phone conversations ?

originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

So you're saying that...German secret service is listening in on Obama's phone conversations ?

They are listening in on everyone they can, and if the opportunity came up, they would. You disagree? If they aren't it's because the US was simply better at stopping than Germany was.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

If they aren't it's because the US was simply better at stopping than Germany was.

yes...the hell with morality and ethics. It's a competition...

They are listening in on everyone they can

You are assuming this because your govt does it. The only proof about global surveillance comes back to your funky alphabet agencies. You keep comforting yourself that everybody is doing it. It's easier to swallow it that way.

originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly

yes...the hell with morality and ethics. It's a competition...

Whether it is wrong or not has no bearing on how many countries do it.

You are assuming this because your govt does it. The only proof about global surveillance comes back to your funky alphabet agencies. You keep comforting yourself that everybody is doing it. It's easier to swallow it that way.

Ah yes, so your claim is that the only government caught in corruption or scandals is the US govt.? No other gvt. does anything wrong?

Get a clue my friend. They all have their hand in some pies. This was never going anywhere because then Germany's wrongdoings would be exposed. This was all politics from day 1 and was never meant to go anywhere.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Your argument sounds like `because we're doing it then everyone is` ... do you have evidence for that ?

There is a distinction between spying and invasion of privacy , this is a case of the latter , a mobile phone is a personal phone.

I don't condone mass surveillance or tapping other friendly leaders phones , I'm surprised you do.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Ah yes, so your claim is that the only government caught in corruption or scandals is the US govt.? No other gvt. does anything wrong?

"anything wrong"....

weren't we discussing illegal wiretapping ? We can speculate on how many are doing it and in what volume...but it's all speculation. Overwhelming majority of countries don't even have the tech means to performs that kind of global surveillance.

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Your argument sounds like `because we're doing it then everyone is` ... do you have evidence for that ?

There is a distinction between spying and invasion of privacy , this is a case of the latter , a mobile phone is a personal phone.

I don't condone mass surveillance or tapping other friendly leaders phones , I'm surprised you do.

I am surprised your reading comprehension is that poor. Can you show me where I condoned it?

originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Ah yes, so your claim is that the only government caught in corruption or scandals is the US govt.? No other gvt. does anything wrong?

"anything wrong"....

weren't we discussing illegal wiretapping ? We can speculate on how many are doing it and in what volume...but it's all speculation. Overwhelming majority of countries don't even have the tech means to performs that kind of global surveillance.

Oh so when German wrongdoings are made public they can just say "but it's not wiretapping" and it suddenly is fine? The fact is ALL governments are engaged in wrongdoing, and if the Germans went ahead with this then it's very likely their wrongdoings would be leaked. They know this, which is why this was never going anywhere.

a reply to: gortex

I think Putin once said or was it Lavrov the foreign minister.

That Germany still has foreign troops on its soil and doesn't have the freedom to decide its own fate.

Sounds crazy until you see Germany follow US policy that is bad for Germany. Go figure.

originally posted by: MarioOnTheFly
a reply to: OccamsRazor04

So you're saying that...German secret service is listening in on Obama's phone conversations ?

Lol

You got him there

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Can you show me where I condoned it?

The defense of your governments actions implies you don't have a problem with it because the others must be doing it too , even though there is no evidence for that assumption.

You seem unable or unwilling to see the distinction between spying and invasion of privacy , tapping anyone's mobile phone IS an invasion of privacy , tapping the mobile phone of the leader of a friendly country is not only invasion of privacy but also breach of trust.

originally posted by: gortex

The defense of your governments actions

So you can't answer my post and instead deflect. How about you show me where I defended my governments actions and said there was no wrongdoing.

This is why it's so hard to engage in intelligent debate on ATS.

My statement was this was obviously going nowhere because EVERY government has their share of wrongdoing (somehow the word wrongdoing means nothing is wrong to the OP). Anyone who thinks their government is perfect and does nothing wrong needs to lose the kool-aid, they are all corrupt, just in different ways.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

Anyone who thinks their government is perfect and does nothing wrong needs to lose the kool-aid, they are all corrupt, just in different ways.

Again...you are equating your govt illegal wiretapping (which is proven) with speculations on other countries govts wrongdoings...which you can't even name, let alone prove.

a reply to: OccamsRazor04

How about you show me where I defended my governments actions and said there was no wrongdoing.

And you accuse me of poor comprehension , explicit defense is not the only form of defense

This is why it's so hard to engage in intelligent debate on ATS.

That along with some feeling they need to insult other members for no reason.
How about you show that this is not isolated to the US and other countries do it too , tap other leaders mobile phones that is.