‘It keeps the French safe’: US lawmakers defend spying - USA - EUROPE - FRANCE 24

‘It keeps the French safe’: US lawmakers defend spying - USA - EUROPE - FRANCE 24:

US Republican lawmakers took to the airwaves over the weekend, defending US spying operations in France and Germany after a week of mounting official and public outrage over the wide scope of the National Security Agency’s surveillance programme.

Defending Washington’s spying operations in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Republican Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House subcommittee on counterterrorism and intelligence, said Europeans should be grateful for US spying operations because they keep them safe.

King also said that US President Barack Obama should stop apologising to his European allies.

"The reality is the NSA [National Security Agency] has saved thousands of lives, not just in the United States but also in France and Germany and throughout Europe. The French are some ones to talk; the fact is, they've carried out spying operations against the United States, both the government and industry. As far as Germany, that's where the Hamburg plot began, which led to 9/11,” said King, referring to the cell of Islamist radicals based in the German city of Hamburg, which included 9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta.