Is anybody at NSA spying on our enemies?

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

I hope that they didn't tell President Obama this one:

"The National Security Agency spied on the future Pope Francis before and during the Vatican conclave at which he was chosen to succeed Benedict XVI, it was claimed on Wednesday.

The American spy agency monitored telephone calls made to and from the residence in Rome where the then Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio stayed during the conclave, the secret election at which cardinals chose him as pontiff on March 13.

The claims were made by Panorama, an Italian weekly news magazine, which said that the NSA monitored the telephone calls of many bishops and cardinals at the Vatican in the lead-up to the conclave, which was held amid tight security in the Sistine Chapel.

The information gleaned was then reportedly divided into four categories -- "leadership intentions", "threats to financial system", "foreign policy objectives" and "human rights". At that time, Benedict XVI was Pope, suggesting that the Vatican may also have been monitored during the last few weeks of his papacy."

So we were spying on President Pena-Nieto of Mexico before he became president. And now we were listening to Archbishop Jorge Mario before he became Pope Francis.

I really don't get this! Are we doing one leader a day over at NSA? Are we just checking boxes from A to Z?

I have a question: Were they listening to our enemies - such as Castro in Cuba and Maduro in Venezuela or Morales in Bolivia?

All I hear is that we were spying on our allies.

Don't get me wrong. Spying is part of the game and that's OK with me.

I repeat my question: Were we listening to our enemies? I would feel a lot better about the NSA if I hear that they were listening to our enemies as much as friends.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here & follow me on Twitter @ scantojr.