Europe Protests Too Much on Snowden Revelations

Europeans are outraged. At least that's how it appears from newspaper and Internet headlines about the latest revelation from American leaker Edward Snowden: that the U.S. National Security Agency spies extensively on its European allies. A closer examination suggests something more subtle.

The Snowden stories, published by the Guardianin the U.K. and Der Spiegel in Germany, make several revelations. First, that the NSA was spying on the European Union's delegations in Washington and at the United Nations. Second, that it was bugging several embassies, including those of France, Italy and Greece. Third, that the NSA was targeting crucial EU communications in Brussels. And fourth, that German telephone and Internet data were targeted far more than any other in Europe.