Having accurately assessed the likely effects of the programme's exposure, it seems very dumb to proceed with it. What could the NSA learn that would outweigh having Germany decide that America wasn't actually a friendly, trustworthy country, as it has presumably now done? Don't ignore either that by recognizing the programme as a betrayal while proceeding with it, the NSA admits to being utterly amoral in a way that can't be walked back from. The only saving grace is that the programme started in 2003; you could almost plead collective insanity given what American foreign policy looked like at that time.