U.S. State Department Blames The NSA For Causing Diplomatic Tensions With Our Allies

View of the Department of State in Washington, DC. (Kevin Lamarque/courtesy Reuters)

The NSA And The State Dept. Go To War ... With Each Other -- Yochi Dreazen, The Cable/Foreign Policy

New revelations that the U.S. has been eavesdropping on world leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel aren't simply straining Washington's relationship with Berlin. They're also sparking an increasingly public fight between the State Department and the NSA, with the nation's spies and the nation's diplomats trading shots about who's responsible for the mess.

"This is a pretty serious embarrassment for the U.S., and as top officials try to protect their agencies and their reputations, they are not sticking with their talking points," a former senior U.S. official told The Cable.

Secretary of State John Kerry touched off the furor when he said some of the NSA's overseas surveillance efforts -- which also included tapping into tens of millions of calls in France and Spain -- had been carried out without the Obama administration's knowledge or explicit approval. The remarks highlighted what appears to the White House's emerging strategy for dealing with widespread public fury over the programs: blame it on the NSA.

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My Comment: I guess U.S. State department officials are getting flustered on always explaining the NSA's surveillance programs to our allies after each intelligence leak and revelation.