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| By Tobias Koch (OTRS) [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons |
BERLIN — About 18 months ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel was the wronged American ally whose cellphone number was among data sucked up by American intelligence as it kept watch on Europeans.
“Spying among friends — that is simply not done,” she said after the discovery in autumn 2013, to a sympathetic domestic audience.
Within the past two weeks, the tide has turned. Merkel is back in the spotlight over spying. This time it is Germany’s foreign intelligence service, known here as the BND, that is being accused of monitoring European companies and perhaps individuals. Further, the reports said it was done at the behest of the National Security Agency, the U.S. intelligence organization.
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