N.S.A. Dragnet Included Allies, Aid Groups and Business Elite
The best bit here is right in the first paragraph:
"and a European Union official involved in antitrust battles with American technology businesses."<p>Spying on foreign governments because you think they might present a threat to you in terms of war/foreign policy is generally defensible (although many on here would disagree with that), while using the apparatus of the state to support select private enterprise through espionage is not.<p>The US government has still not appreciated the full impact of the leaks or they would be far more concerned about cleaning things up fast as the economic consequences threaten to be huge.