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a group a very prominent germans
including I leading Green Party politician which I guess
you know that would be less surprising but also a former
I a senior leader on LLA Merkel's Christian Democrat Party which as you
know is
is Germany's right-wing party along with many as several other prominent members
a German
politics business sports signed a letter saying that
the United States a grant Edwards node and clemency
on Heiner Geissler who is the former general secretary of Merkel's Christian
Democrats 0 for 2
more said quote Snowden has done the Western world
a great service it's now up to us to help him
a this is obviously particularly in Germany there's a lot of support for
snowed in because Germany because
the legacy up soviet Soviet control
Eastern Europe eastern Germany in eastern europe generally
and the Broll that star the other spying apparatuses played in German history has
a particularly sensitive relationship
are to the notion surveillance and obviously the fact that Angela Merkel
cell phone
was being monitored has been tremendously offensive the germans
adjust the put context on LLA Merkel your
we talk about tapping on LLA Merkel cell phone
you're talking about somebody who is a
in opposition when she was an opposition leader to the Gerhard Schroeder
government which ran which was a charger Germany
during the invasion of Iraq schroeder said
under no circumstances will germany engage in the invasion of Iraq period
I'm gonna Merkel wrote an op-ed in the United States called schroeder does not
speak for all germans
where she supported the invasion and she backed bush now
that was it the when you consider how profoundly unpopular that position was
in
in in Germany that's also definitely at least a partial reflection of her GN you
in devotions the United States including two
the United States is you know what are the United States is worse the
ministrations ever know stupid
ideas ever so that you're talking about we capture cell phone so there is a lot
of region Germany
but I think it it points to a question that more more leaders and people in the
united states need to start saying
you know we were at a point now where John Kerry is that all are these
programs run on autopilot
president Obama has said all we need to start rethinking some these things
there's bills
I in the senate to rein in sir nenis a activities there's real bills
is the Feinstein bill which is not an actual reform
actually give the NSA more pic makes what they're doing that
isn't okay made it haha defies yes see codifies
so we'll that we always have to be very wary of that but there's other bills
I like like rush Holt bill house
that seriously would reform the system and even the fact that feinstein feels a
need to come out
wrapped the NSA little bit publicly and sponsor some type of codification tells
you something about where this issue is gone
meanwhile and look again all say it I i've and i've said from the beginning I
don't no I did not
I think to the extent to which this whole conversation is about
Edwards noted we have to look at the practical results what he is done
and the practical results what he's done is he is exposed a completely out of
control
apparatus that has consistently been this
honest about the core purposive why it's being used which is the fight terrorism
we know from
that fifty cases that the NSA always brings up as the fed's the program we
know according to ProPublica reporting
that only a handful those cases could even
you could even make any type arguments on the merits
we know that far beyond terrorism that the most these tapping
hacking and and surveillance programs have been obviously had much more to do
with gathering political intelligence which is fine that's a party
intelligence-gathering generally
but it not an excuse for the typeof massive systemic overreaches were
talking about
and I would also say it certainly Samoset clearly
to gauge again economic advantage
in ahead of trade negotiations and other things like that now
again you can come out and make the defense you say look maybe we should
have this extraordinary spying and surrounds capacity
and the purposive which is to help box your
Europe in a trade negotiation or the purpose of which is to find out
are what Dilma Rousseff is thinking about some national Brazilian industry
well you gotta come out to make that case up front
we're still getting the terrorism spin and clearly the scale the region these
things
has very little to do which is dealing with al Qaeda genuine terrorist threats
evert snowden as we always say this debate would not be happening without
him
simple and every single person now I think it's a common on all of us with
all the information we have whether we're lawmakers
commentators or citizens if you're
out saying these programs need to be crude tale that performed in rain again
then you have to be saying in the neck sends and Edward so did need to form a
clemency needs to be allowed to return home
period the white house's
ruled that out categorically
congressman right rogers & Michigan I is also a rule that out talking about
snowed in spying for the russians
still insinuating that sort of thing now look
get I don't know all information head to head that
they're they're taking his clemency thing from a simple statement which not
impair our
saying how I he believes what he did to should be proof to the international
community
that what he did was with for for for the in
book you with an attack on his country was know helen is that it's a genuine
belief
that this program is out of control
that it threatens civil liberties and also that they're serious economic or
consequences for i mean you look at
what dennis is done around Google and Yahoo that undermines
Google and Yahoo's competitive advantage when you start looking at a company like
Google and you can't distinguish between it and a Chinese search firm
because people have the same Association have these companies in some respects
urges Trojan horses
for mass data collection that undermines
US economic performance
in addition to all the serious civil liberties questions and he's done this
for us
and it's time for anybody who's talking about these issues
whose wants these programs to be changed
we have to be having a really serious conversation about how this guy's
protected
I mean he only has several months left in Germany
Russia rather we don't know where he goes next we don't know what the neck in
Asians and that the LR
I don't know if that the russians might be happy some new research
negotiations pick them up in the middle of the night flying back here from in a
maximum security prison
I don't know but we need to be on top of that issue
the the proof is in the pudding with what edwards known has done