> I fear that they might abuse their power or use it to destabilize the West
Totally warranted, look at what happens during cold war, and the conflicts between nations with different ideologies. The mutual-untrustness cannot be reduced in any degree.
>eager to say that the US Congress and the CIA can't be trusted.
This is a truth universally accepted, no? I mean maybe not by some actual, genuine believers in totalitarianism but surely there aren't many of those? Surely?
You never trust people with power. You trust a system of checks and balances precisely because of this. You could even found a nation on that and expect continued support of it.
> That's the thing, they can't really defend themselves in the court of public opinion.
If if they were able, how could they possibly win people over? They've violated our trust, privacy, and (arguably) our legal rights. Even if they're literally keeping the nation from being taken over by China or Russia, they're also the bad guys. I can accept that it's possible I'm better off with them than without them... but I hate them, because they abuse me.
>> it might include abusing/compromising/eroding mechanisms intended for protecting people against violent attacks, as well as other aspects of national security.
>Its really concerning especially because Democratic nations seem to be especially susceptible. Europe and the United States should be condemning these attacks.
Once the American people stand up to their own government's foreign election & democratic interference, we have no basis to talk about other countries doing what we've done in mass forever. USA is the biggest threat to democracy worldwide.
> you will live the consequences of "the enemies of the West" from a mostly economic perspective.
Did we already forget about political interference by "enemies of the West"? I mean, not just brazen election / referendum interference, but driving political narratives to stoke up internal conflicts? That is usually achieved by funding political extremists, but controlling the feed algorithm will work even better.
This isn't just a US problem either, other western countries have also been affected.
At least our own governments have some accountability to us. Foreign governments don't even have that, so I'm ok with them being the first ones to give up the tools of influence. Of course I would prefer if such tools did not exist at all, but it will be a while until we get there.
> America stands in the way of them reaching their objective, which is to force everybody to comply with sharia law.
That just can't be.
Coming from a supposedly educated man who was also granted enormous power is immensely frightening. It's just not possible, circumstances like these will ultimately lead to the destruction of the country.
>>> He spoke more about the erosion of international trust because of American surveillance activities.
The irony here is that the US is one of the most hacked countries on the planet. And where do you think those attacks originate? Yup, you guessed it. . . Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
One should not give trust when one has not earned it.
I don't think so. When there isn't a Universal Truth to turn to, we should not consider people who disagree with authority to be a threat to the security of the nation.
Totally warranted, look at what happens during cold war, and the conflicts between nations with different ideologies. The mutual-untrustness cannot be reduced in any degree.
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