JimFlat6:
By that argument, VW should not be culpable for any illegal activity. Last time Germany tried that moral standard british Lancasters had to bomb them at night and US b17s had to bomb them during the day.
We all know that Germany faces several popular moral quandaries. Be.Green, but get mad about getting caught cheating at emissions laws. Claim they aren't anti semitic but let in a million Arabs who likely are. The German govt monitors neo Nazis but will now be also publishing a. annotated version of mein kampf in January. They speak platitudes about being a responsible power but have no real military strength to back it up. They blabber about European unity and consensus but actually want to dictate policies. They whine about nsa spying on them while their own Bnd spys on their allies including the US according to Der Spiegel. As they stew in their own juices, no doubt they will only complain more.
The BND has always worked hand in hand with the CIA/NSA and who would be surprised by that other than the media (and apparently the majority of the population who never cared about BND and Co.), especially since the BND has been basically built up from scratch by the CIA.
The BND spied on activities of US companies or for example French companies, mostly because it was part of their collaboration with US intelligence but of course this doesn't change the fact that they did.
Europe is currently in a deep crisis, politically and emotionally. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to get better and the refugee crisis has worsened things a lot. Many blame the US for causing this crisis and the Russian media (and the so called Putin trolls, part of Russia's propaganda machine) have actually done an excellent job to affirm this belief. Do not forget that almost 8% of the German population has a Russian immigrant background. Most of these people are still watching/reading Russian media and they aren't too fond of the US. Same goes to the many muslims living in Germany, almost 6% of the population (Germany has actually more muslims than the UK).
This is valid for other European countries as well, especially France but others too.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Mini JCW (2015), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)