On July 24, 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama addressed tens of thousands of Germans on the avenue that leads from the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
In a pointed reference to the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush, he promised a new era of "allies who will listen to each other, who will learn from each other, who will, above all, trust each other."
One German present among the hugely enthusiastic crowd said the occasion reminded him of Berlin's famous "Love Parade." No U.S. politician since John F. Kennedy had so captured Europeans' imagination.
Five years on, in the words of the song, it's a case of "After the Love Has Gone." The U.S. ambassador in Berlin has been summoned to the foreign ministry over reports in Der Spiegel that the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel's official cellphone.
His counterpart in Paris received a similar summons earlier this week after revelations in Le Monde.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/europe-us-surveillance/
In a pointed reference to the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush, he promised a new era of "allies who will listen to each other, who will learn from each other, who will, above all, trust each other."
One German present among the hugely enthusiastic crowd said the occasion reminded him of Berlin's famous "Love Parade." No U.S. politician since John F. Kennedy had so captured Europeans' imagination.
Five years on, in the words of the song, it's a case of "After the Love Has Gone." The U.S. ambassador in Berlin has been summoned to the foreign ministry over reports in Der Spiegel that the U.S. National Security Administration (NSA) monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel's official cellphone.
His counterpart in Paris received a similar summons earlier this week after revelations in Le Monde.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/24/world/europe/europe-us-surveillance/