Post date: Jun 19, 2013 12:52:43 PM
U.S. President Barack Obama says the Prism surveillance programme applies very narrowly to specific leads on terrorism and that reports the U.S. was ready for war in Syria were exaggerated.
BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 19, 2013) (GERMAN POOL) - The United States has struck the right balance between the need to gather intelligence and safeguarding civil liberties, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday (June 19), following criticism over U.S. Internet surveillance programmes.
"This is a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us, being able to protect our people and all of it is done under the oversight of the courts," Obama said at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Obama also said reports that the United States was ready to go to war in Syria were exaggerated and he reiterated his view that the Damascus government had used chemical weapons and could not regain legitimacy.
"Some of the stories that have been out there publicly have gotten a little overcranked in terms of the idea that somehow the United States is preparing to go all in and participate in another war. What we want to do is end a war," Obama said.
"We're confident that in fact the (Syrian) government has used chemical weapons. The Russians are sceptical," he added.
Differences between Russia and the West mean an international conference onSyria is now unlikely before August.