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The most obvious approach would be to wait until someone's given you at least the tiniest hint that they could possibly be planning on attacking you before trea
by prof_hobart 13y ago
The most obvious approach would be to wait until someone's given you at least the tiniest hint that they could possibly be planning on attacking you before treating them as a potential enemy.
What kind of legitimate threat would the US government even be watching out for with the German Chancellor? Are they so paranoid that they think the Fourth Reich is just over the horizon, or did Merkel's statement that "Islam is part of us" tip them off that she might be running a terrorist sleeper cell?
- DanBC 13y ago> What kind of legitimate threat would the US government even be watching out for with the German Chancellor? Cancelling some important weapons contracts? ECHELON was used for industrial espionage.
- prof_hobart 13y agoHence my use of the word "legitimate". I'd like to think that even those who think that it's fine for the state to spy on everyone on the miniscule chance that they might be a terrorist, and even those who think that it's OK to spy on everyone just in case they are planning to commit a crime, would agree that the state shouldn't be spy on people for the purposes of commercial advantage. And what better way to encourage another country to trust you enough to buy military equipment from you than by spying on their government?