I think this is still very relevant to the discussion. Because spying is a profession in which behavior tends to degrade to the lowest common denominator, it ma

I think this is still very relevant to the discussion. Because spying is a profession in which behavior tends to degrade to the lowest common denominator, it makes criticism of such actions very hard if your own domestic agencies engage in similar behavior. The domestic populance can only influence domestic policies, so it would be even more prudent to set criticism in that direction. Spying was excused as a necessity, so how would I condemn these actions in the first place? "Whataboutism" is an ethical argument but we are not talking about ethics in the context of spying at all.