The Dangerous History of a Rogue Spy Agency

BND head office in Berlin.
Simon - Pierre Krautkrämer

The Dangerous History of a Rogue Spy Agency

Listen to the June 26, 2017 edition of the Trumpet Daily Radio Show.

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the bnd, spied on the United States government, its armed forces and even private companies for years, Speigel Online reported June 22. Yet this shocking piece of news received almost no attention in the U.S. news media.

The bnd was:

  • founded by ex-Nazis;
  • filled with Nazi war criminals;
  • run largely by ex-Nazis for the first decade or two of its operation;
  • helped Nazis on the run, including the infamous Adolf Eichmann, hide from justice;
  • Recruited Nazi war criminals like Klaus Barbie known as the “Butcher of Lyon”—as late as 1960;
  • broke German and international law by transferring large numbers of weapons—including tanks, helicopters and fighter jets—to Croat and Bosnian fighters during the 1990s;
  • spied on German journalists between 1992 and 2005;
  • in 2007, destroyed files detailing the Nazi past of the organization’s founders;
  • accused of covering up for or working with neo-Nazis in 2011;
  • has been spying on foreign journalists since 1999;
  • caught helping the nsa spy on other European countries, organizations and businesses.

Trumpet contributing editor Richard Palmer examines the bnd’s disturbing track record and explains why you should be concerned by the latest revelations.

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