Under pressure after two blistering critiques of his administration’s electronic surveillance activities, Barack Obama received some support from an unlikely source yesterday.
“I envy Obama because he can spy on his allies without any consequences,” Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, said. Surveillance by the National Security Agency was “not a cause for joy”, the former KGB official added, “but it is not a cause for repentance either.”
As Mr Obama takes his Hawaii Christmas break to think about a 300-page review of the NSA from a group of outside experts he appointed, the US president is well aware that there are considerable consequences from spying on allies.