FORMER NSA AND CIA DIRECTOR AND FORMER HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN POOH POOH GERMAN CHNCELLOR MERKEL’S ANGER OVER THE NSA SPYING ON HER

Classified documents released by Edward Snowden show that NSA eavesdropped on the phone conversations of 35 world leaders

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are all furious that the NSA eavesdropped in on their telephone calls. Mexicans are furious that the NSA hacked the public e-mail account of former President Felipe Calderon.

The NSA collected information on 124.8 billion phone calls in a 30 day period earlier this year. And all this spying was not just on our enemies, but on American citizens and on our allies as well. The NSA intercepted more than 70 million phone calls in France alone in just one month.

Former House Intelligence Committee chairman Peter Hoekstra dismissed Merkel’s anger, saying, "You have to be really naive to believe that this does not go on and that countries that are U.S. allies — among them Germany and France — do not do the same type of intelligence gathering on their counterparts here. “[Merkel’s complaint] reminds me of the line in 'Casablanca' when Captain Renault closes down the nightclub and gives as his reason: 'I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here.' And then he is presented with his winnings."

Gen. Michael V. Hayden, former director of the NSA and the CIA, agreed with Hoekstra, saying that he was “Absolutely right!” "It's beyond my ability to comprehend that the [German, French, Brazilian and Mexican] governments did not know this was going on,” said Hayden. “What Snowden and his journalist-confederates have 'revealed' is simply a description of what nation-states do and have done for a long time,"

Hoekstra and Hayden dismissed the complaints of Merkel, Hollande and other leaders as “much ado about nothing.” Yeah, tell that to our allies and get them to believe it.