Well it seems the Germans are completely unclear on the concept:
Germany denied on Monday that its intelligence officials obtained a copy of Saddam Hussein's defense plan for Baghdad and passed it on to U.S. commanders a month before the 2003 Iraq invasion.
The allegation that two German spies operating in the Iraqi capital before the war provided key military information to the United States -- at a time when the Berlin government was voicing strong public opposition to a U.S. invasion -- appeared on Monday in an article in The New York Times.
The report suggested that German intelligence officials offered much more significant assistance to the United States than their government has publicly acknowledged.
But German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm and the BND foreign intelligence agency both issued strong denials.
"The allegation that two BND agents had Saddam Hussein's plan for defending the Iraqi capital and, one month prior to the start of the war, passed it on to the United States -- as described in The New York Times today -- is false," Wilhelm told a regular government news conference.
There is a furor that the Germans passed on some Iraqi plans? You'd think the Germans were caught secretly deploying a division to the war. On top of the outrage over some allegations the Germans shared intelligence information with us during the war, I have to seriously question why we consider Germany an ally. Because the Germans have a seriously different definition, apparently.
I try very hard not to despair about the future of our European alliance. And the attidude of the Germans especially really hurt after being such a good friend so long. But I guess they just needed us. They better hope they've guessed they won't need our help again. I'm not so sure Americans would be willing to fight for these ingrates any time soon. If the continent is dying, could we save those willing to be saved and say to hell with the rest?
