US Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted the super power went “too far” in some of its surveillance activities, but added: “We have prevented airplanes from going down and buildings from being blown up because we have learned ahead of time of such plans. I assure you, no innocent people were affected in this process.”
Kerry explained that certain practices had occurred “on auto pilot” without the knowledge of senior officials in the Obama administration.
“In some cases, some of these actions have reached too far and we are going to try to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future” was the phrase that hit international headlines when he spoke at a conference in London through video link.
“The president and I have learned of some things that have been happening in many ways on an automatic pilot, because the technology is there and the ability is there.”
This was the first time a high-ranking US official has admitted excessive spying since ex-NSA agent Edward Snowden leaked confidential information concerning the USA’s spying programmes, and news surfaced suggesting that the US spied on 35 national leaders across the globe – many of which were top US allies, such as Germany’s Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande.
