US considering changes after allies complain about spying
Print Edition
The White House is considering ending its eavesdropping on friendly foreign leaders, a senior administration official said, as the US confronts a flood of revelations about its spying practices.
The administration is trying to tamp down damage from the months-long spying scandal, including the most recent disclosure that the National Security Agency monitored the communications of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A final decision about listening in on allies has not been made, the official said.
The White House also faces complaints at home about the NSA collecting millions of Americans’ phone records and sweeping up Internet traffic and email. The House Intelligence Committee was to examine tightening the rules on those anti-terror programs in a hearing later yesterday.
Asked about the reports of eavesdropping on world leaders, President Barack Obama said in a television interview that the US government is conducting “a complete review of how our intelligence operates outside the country.”
Obama declined to discuss specifics or say when he learned about the spying operations.
“What we’ve seen over the last several years is their capacities continue to develop and expand, and that’s why I’m initiating now a review to make sure that what they’re able to do doesn’t necessarily mean what they should be doing,” he said on the new TV network Fusion.
Yesterday, the leader of the House, Speaker John Boehner, said there should be a thorough review, bearing in mind the responsibility to keep Americans safe from terrorism and the nation’s obligations to allies.
“We have to find the right balance here,” said Boehner, a Republican, “And clearly, we’re imbalanced.”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, called on Monday for a “total review of all intelligence programs” following the Merkel allegations. In a statement, the Democrat said the White House had informed her that “collection on our allies will not continue.”
The administration official said that statement was not accurate, but added that some unspecified changes already had been made and more were being considered, including terminating the collection of communications from friendly heads of state.
The official was not authorized to discuss the review and insisted on anonymity. Reports based on new leaks from former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden indicate that the NSA listened in on Merkel and 34 other foreign leaders.
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