The Obama Administration found itself on the defensive Thursday as it tried to contain the fallout from reports that the U.S. government had been listening in on cell phone conversations of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
When those reports first broke Wednesday, and the news was already stirring controversy in Germany, White House press secretary Jay Carney said that “the United States is not monitoring and will not monitor the communications of the chancellor.”
Notably, he did not say anything about what the government might have been doing in the past. And on Thursday, he refused to get into any specifics.
“I’m just not going to, in this case or other cases, get into specific allegations,” he said, but did make clear that the administration would continue “reviewing the way that we gather intelligence,” in response both to this latest alleged surveillance as well as the revelations over the summer by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Meanwhile, in a private meeting Thursday, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle confronted U.S. Ambassador John Emerson about the spying. Merkel had also called President Obama Wednesday to question him about the issue.
The spying has taken center stage as European Union leaders met for a summit in Brussels Thursday, with officials from other countries in the region expressing concern about the allegations.
French President Francois Hollande has been especially critical after reports emerged that millions of French phone calls had been targeted by U.S. surveillance. The Italian weekly magazine L’Espresso has also reported similar spying in its country, which drew a rebuke from that country’s prime minister.
The tension over the alleged spying could derail a trade agreement, and threatens to overtake the other items on the EU agenda this week. Hollande and other leaders want the EU to address American spying during their meetings.
But even though the issue has taken center stage, there is some question as to how much of a shock these developments are to world leaders. BBC News reported former American Secretary of State Madeleine Albright saying that “countries spy on each other,” and that she had been targeted by France during her tenure.
