No substance to spy proposals

President Barack Obama's long-awaited speech on overhauling the United States' controversial intelligence community had little substance, says a Xinhua News Agency commentary.

Few were heartened by the speech, half of which was dedicated to defending rather than reflecting on the country's surveillance programs.

Some are unhappy with the ambiguity and the lack of details in the speech itself; others doubt whether the president's words will be matched with actions. All in all, the changes proposed by Obama are too weak to remedy the damage of the US' spying, which spared almost nobody, not even its close allies.