Friday, July 12, 2013

The United Stasi of America

Smart headline in yesterday's Süddeutsche Zeitung.

It ran 'The United Stasi of America'.

The Stasi was the derogatory term used for the GDR State Securtiy Service.

It's dificult to understand all the fuss. For many years it has been generally accepted that all the main security services knows the business or has the ability to know the business of every citizen and all Western security services work in tandem.

Yesterday's SD article is a great piece of journalism by a man who isnow 82.

Have the US Catholic bishops, have the Irish bishops had anything to say on the Snowden affair? What have they said about the Bradley Manning affair?

The UN described Manning's treatment as 'inhuman'.

And it seems all quiet from church leaders. It would be highly unlikely there will be a sacramental ban on CIA, MI5, Mossad, BND personnel.

3 comments:

Póló said...

Church leaders are no longer speaking truth to power, if they ever did.

On a procedural point, could you give links to articles you quote from even if they are in German. There is always Google translate to get the flavour, for those of us with little or no German.

Michael Commane said...

The article in the Süddeutsche Zeitung referred to appeared in the Thursday, July 11 issue and was a translation of Daniel Ellsberg's piece. So no doubt it is in English somewhere. Interesting that there seems not to be a word about it in the Irish media.
The SZ has an app for the iPad. Its website is WWW.SÜDDEUTSCH.DE

Michael Commane said...

Apologies, web address is: WWW.SÜDDEUTSCHE.DE and not as given above.

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