What Stone it attempting to do is soften Snowden’s image so that there might be an upswelling of public sympathy, possibly leading to his return to the US without a stop-over at Gitmo. There has never been any question about his intelligence, the issue always has been whether the information he released compromised ongoing intelligence operations, exposed US field operatives and put lives of American citizens and allies at risk. That he violated the terms of his security agreement, which he swore an oath to uphold, is a given.
Snowden himself has been conducting his own image-softening campaign since he landed in the USSR ...I mean Russia. He claims he was motivated by patriotism and denies his leaks caused any significant damage because he personally filtered them before release. But he could not have accurately made that assessment unless he was intelligence-trained. As part of his propaganda, he consistently has exaggerated his own qualifications by making vague claims to having had such training, always avoiding concrete terms or otherwise offering details that would be either confirmable or refutable by the average citizen. Because if he lacked this training and experience, then the entire basis for his analytical claims (and altruistic motives) falls to pieces and he becomes just another disgruntled worker lashing out at his employer.
Snowden had no such training. Sure, he picked up a lot of Intel lingo and spook-speak, but that’s only natural, considering his work environment. People who work in clerical jobs in hospitals also tend to pick up a lot of medical jargon, but that’s hardly a fit substitute for a medical degree. He was an IT geek, nothing more. CIA/NSA also employs janitors and cafeteria workers, but the mere fact that they work within the intel community does not equip them to make decisions affecting national security.
And the only proof Snowden offers of his claims that he’s done no harm is that no intelligence officials have come forward to refute them. But he knew full well before he said it that that was never going to happen — under any circumstance — because as a matter of policy, the Intel community never publicly discusses operations, much less defends itself. Because whenever it is exposed, their first priority always Always ALWAYS is damage control. The simple fact of addressing Snowden’s claims could only worsen their exposure. And to refute his claims by offering concrete details as to what damage those leaks might have caused would only compromise operations even more. So despite Snowden’s claims to the contrary, their silence means exactly nothing.
But one unfortunate outcome of Snowden’s leaks we DO know about is that he gave ISIS a blueprint for tightening their online security. One of the documents he released addressed the specifics of their slapdash online security in great detail. As a consequence, ISIS revamped their entire communications network, going so far as set up a (traditional, tiered) 24/7 help line to aid their Jihadi brethren in making their online communiques more secure. After which, ISIS “went dark.” Where they used to nonchalantly post information in open-source social media, after, their operations essentially vanished from the ‘web. Thanks to Snowden. Which law enforcement officials count as a key reason the November, 2015 Paris night club attacks were so effective. Before, at the very least, there would have been an increase in nonspecific “chatter.” Which could have been enough to signal the French to increase their alert level. After, there was nothing. Not hint of a warning. Because of Snowden.
So if ISIS eventually manages to pull off a large-scale terror attack on US soil, you can list Edward Snowden as one of the indispensable assets contributing to their success.
Oh please everybody knows the Feds funds and arms ISIS. Did you forget about the Syrian Rebels are ISIS????
Have you seen the photos of McCain meeting up with ISIS leaders?
THAT IS WHO YOU BLAME FOR ANY ISIS ATTACK ANYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD!
Oh and Saudi Arabia too. After all it IS their Proxy Army. Much like the French Foreign Legion is France’s Proxy Army.
If you still don’t believe your eyes well, then see what top U.S. Intelligence three star General Mike Flynn who had been the top General over Intelligence until just recently.
See Robert “Tosh” Plumlee testimony. He was CIA Pilot for almost 50 years! As a matter of fact he testified in congress during Iran/Conta if you question his CIA credentials. Guess what Benghazi was a weapons cache staging ground for the “ISIS”.... I mean the Syrian Rebels....(sarcasm off)
See what Dr. Steve Pieczenik (the real life Jack Ryan) says.
All Snowden did was expose to the world the U.S. is violating the federal law, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. This is because he saw what they did to Thomas Drake and William Binney other NSA whistle blowers that tried to follow protocol.
Snowden did not expose any agent in the filed like Hillary did. He simply exposed a lawless government agency that think the federal laws, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution does not apply to them.