Posted on 07/29/2013 7:22:22 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
The traitor to our country and NSA, Edward Snowden, is now making the rounds of the major Communist countries; China and Russia, with either Ecuador or Venezuela or possible Cuba being a final destination. Who knows, it may be someplace no one ever thought about.
For all of you who labeled him a hero, I must excuse your ignorance on national security issues. If you haven’t worked in the intelligence community, you have no idea the damage that this sniveling coward has done to the intelligence community’s efforts and endangered your life and those of your loved ones.. When both the Russian and Chinese governments are sheltering him, he must have a mother lode of information.
When he initially left the United States, his exodus to Hong Kong was labeled by those sympathetic to him as a hero fleeing possible torment by this government. But, why to Hong Kong, controlled by the Chinese? If he had indeed been a true NSA whistleblower, such as Bill Binnie, Russ Tice or Tom Drake..(they’re racking up, aren’t they?)….he would still be in the US. While I don’t condone the actions of the three named, I have to give them their due for not running away.
While in Hong Kong, no doubt visited and interrogated by Chinese intelligence, he is now as of this writing, in Moscow, where he will be similarly interrogated. These are not the actions of a whistleblower, but of one who is not only sympathetic to Communist countries but may well be working for an organization who is friendly to one or both of these countries. Whatever the real reason is for his defection, the United States doesn’t fare well under any circumstance.
The damage to our intelligence community and national security is immeasurable. The only thing we have gleaned from this is our security policy is lacking: miserably. Unfortunately, we’ll be paying a heavy price.
Our defense department and intelligence community, thanks to the efforts of the Obama administration are already weakened. Thanks to the politically correct programs enacted: women in combat, revocation of ’don’t ask, don’t tell’ , attacks on religious freedom, restrictions on engaging the enemy in combat, and so on..we’re on very shaky ground.
Snowden was obviously working with someone else; he had to have help, considering the path he took to our enemies. He probably would have given the information to the Taliban if he wasn’t scared they might kill him just for the heck of it using religious grounds as a reason.
His visit to Moscow is especially troubling. Vladimir Putin at this point is the only leader in the world that actually acts like one. Obama certainly doesn’t; he’s too busy bowing and scraping to every other leader in the world. Putin is taking full advantage of our latest intelligence fiasco; whether or not his government had a hand in the operation still remains to be seen.
However, in his quest to bring back a better, more powerful Soviet Union, he will take all he can get from any Y Generationer who is more interested in himself and not the larger picture. By taking in Snowden, Putin is telling us that he is smarter than we are, more powerful and our days as a superpower are limited.
Vladimir Putin was affected deeply by the break-up of the Soviet Union. It was the United States who brought his country to its knees and it has eaten at him. He’s the type of man that holds a grudge. His work in the KGB and then as head of the same under the new name: Federal Security Service (FSB) demonstrates that this man is devoted to the Marxist/Russian Communist theology.
His mission to widen the influence of Russia throughout the world is in full force. There are new oil and gas supply agreements with countries throughout Europe, and supplying Japan with gas from Sakhalin Island. New military cooperation agreements with not only old Soviet republics and the Mid-East but widening into South America and Central America put us into a secondary player role. These military cooperation agreements include not just weapons, aircraft and naval vessels, but in some cases, Russian military personnel.
This man is no fool. He is cold and calculating. By allowing Snowden into Russia, he is not only getting his hands on some very important intelligence information, he will use whatever he can to bring us to our knees, not only in our national security, but anyway he can. He is thumbing his nose at us and enjoying every minute of it. Snowden may be welcomed right now, but when he can no longer give continued valuable information, he’ll be discarded.
But by that time, the damage is done to our country.
This country must get serious about its national security. We must stop using our defense department and military as a venue for implementing social policy. Security clearances must be tightened, investigations of candidates for clearances must be more thorough. There must be concerted effort throughout DOD as a whole; not just NSA.
Of course, you also must have an administration that is serious about our national security.
And the Snowden affair is what you get when you don’t have one.
Putin cares for his pocket and power, and so he has to care about Russia since it's his money/power source. You needn't be afraid of Socialism from Russia. Russia is run by practical people nowdays.
Putin is a good gambler and negotiator, I think he's better in this than most other current world leaders, so he deserves some respect.
But he's no way a liberty champion. He doesn't know how to rule in a way different from the authoritarian one. Similarly, he's afraid of public politics.
Thanks for the perspective.
Seems a reasonable accessment.
<.....”Snowden went somewhere where Obama cannot send operatives or drones, simple as that.....>
Oh really.... You might want to rethink your post:
“Moscow Subway To Use Devices To Read Data On Phones”...
.... stations will soon be equipped with devices that can read the data on the mobile telephones of passengers. ....according to experts, the devices can be used more widely ‘to follow all passengers without exception’.
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-moscow-metro-phones/25059582.html
then why didn’t they get Tsarneov bros or that moslem shrink
Because they didn’t want to.
<....”We are witnessing the convergence of the Left, the Global Fascists and Islam against the Christians and Jews.
That is where the battle lines have always been drawn. Between Daylight vs Dark, Truth vs Lies, Good vs Evil.
In the end God will prevail, but between now and then there is a great battle with will be fought. Are we near to that? We won’t know exactly until it happens.”.......>
That’s exactly right....thank you!
As most know I’ve been tracking hard and strong the developments in Egypt ....one thing which became remarkably and distinctly evident, time and time again, was exactly what you stated above........the dark side will generally conceal itself for quite a while but when the battles begin the ‘masks’ drop quickly and you see evil for what it is...and the lies are revealed.
Putin has become an Enigma himself now......presenting of late what everyone wants to see in a leader regardless of his politics...he’s steadfast, strong and decisive but now with the “softer side” being presented as well.....
I’d say look at Putin always with one eye clearly on his other hand....he is one shifty character.
Agree and basically right on concerning Putin....
Interesting you mentioning he’s afraid of ‘public’ politics...that would explain some of the struggling I’ve seen at times. But he IS putting on a good show and it’s the perception he’s appealing to....in that respect he has the world’s attention for the most part.
Great thread...enjoying the comments as well....easy to see some are still denying what Snowden has done but understandable why they think as they do......people like the underdog when it comes to anything regarding our government.
Some of the historically Russian allies date back to before the Communists. Before the Russian Revolution. ie. Serbia & others (which in my opinion should have always been an ally of the US, but for the Russian Connection). That connection made sense before the Commies because of the excesses of German domination. The Russians under the Czars steeped in the breech and pushed back the Germans in the Balkans.
At the end of WWII, FDR at the Yalta Accord precipitated a black mark for the US that sentenced 2 generations of Chezks, Pols and Serbs to Communist rule. A tragedy and a loss for the US.
why didn’t they want to
When Putin prefers to manipulate elections, inspite of having enough public sympathy to win, though he'll probably need a second round, this says a lot, doesn't it?
He accepts no risk in this. But when he needs to risk good relations with Euro leaders with cutting gas deliveries to Ukraine he does it.
See post #2 at:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2619313/posts
—
Thanks! Very interesting post - I had not heard that quote before.
The quote was from an obscure book by a french writer. I have, since finding it, done a little history on Diderot. He was bright, but plagued with problems. Perceptive for his time and had some of the monarchs of the time supporting him.
But the part of the quote I found most accurate was the part I put in red text.
I wasn't going to bother. Those of you who think he isn't can have a thread chatting to each other how much you love losing all of your freedoms.
I wasn’t going to bother. Those of you who think he isn’t can have a thread chatting to each other how much you love losing all of your freedoms.
+++++++++++++++
Nope. Not interested in losing all my freedoms. And I recognize that Snowden has raised some important 1st and 4th Amendment issues.
But unlike the big Snowden fans here on FR I don’t accept everything he has told us as sacred truth. And I don’t know how much damage he has done to our national security - that’s not easily determined from the outside looking in. But don’t presume that the damage is minor. It could easily be severe. It could easily cost lives in the future.
There is nothing wrong with advocating for freedom from government monitoring and the illegal use of government data for political purposes. But I don’t think that fact equates to Snowden the hero. We see the good part that resulted from his disclosure but not the bad. Don’t forget that among the Snowden fans you will certainly see the FR libertarians but you wil also see the far left anti-defense wackos as well. Different motives but both are strong advocates for their positions. Strange bedfellows in spades.
So let’s both be patient. Snowden may yet turn out to be the hero. But that’s far from a done deal at this point.
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