WASHINGTON ¨C According to a now well-established media narrative, German outrage over National Security Agency spying has historical roots. Today¡¯s uproar reflects yesterday¡¯s bitter experience of domestic surveillance under Nazi and, more recently, East German Communist rule, we are told.
¡°It is not just about a wiretapped phone ¡ª it is a reminder of the fragility of free societies,¡± wrote Dagmar Hovestadt, spokeswoman for an agency that preserves the Stasi archives in Berlin.
Even a country without Germany¡¯s past might be upset to learn the NSA was tapping the phone of its elected leader.
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