Posted on 06/09/2013 11:41:17 AM PDT by sunmars
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America's most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world's most secretive organisations – the NSA.
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Maybe that's why he did it.
One is directed to inform the chain of command, or if the chain of command is compromised, the IG or a congressman with direct oversight authority.
If, as seems obvious in this case, the depth and breadth of the illegal activity is actively being covered up by oversight elements at all levels of government...
Snowden will probably have company in self-imposed-exile soon.
The drips and leaks recently haven't all come from him.
Was the NSA data used by this administration for partisan political purposes?
Think about that.
He stated in the tape he had “ lists of all operatives undercover and not undercover”. That my friend is his bargaining chip, he probably made multiple copies and they are hidden with a true trusted individuals knowing their locales.
He thought this out, trust me...
I hope the US grants him immunity to expose abuses in the system
The system is in place because the Govt wants it in place. Why would they offer him immunity to expose abuses? They see those abuses as tools.
Yes. Police work.
What Obama has done is take authorities eyes off of the real terrorists.
Since 1960 the overwhelming majority of terrorist acts, like 98%, have been committed by men between the age of 15 and 55 years of age who are ALL Muslim.
BHO2 has, instead, turned the surveillance around and focused on conservative Christians and Jews while at the same time facilitating the entry of Muslims into the U.S.A.
BHO2 must leave, now.
He’s a nutcase and I hope he shares a cell with Manning.
Not that there are more than 5 of those.
__________________________
I am not sure one can tell who is trustworthy there.
My initial reaction to such cases would be to call this guy a traitor. However, the enormity and scale of this intrusion on the privacy of American citizens and the fact that it comes as a revelation not only to us but even to many of our elected representatives indicates to me that this needs a public hearing and dialogue.
“Yes, Police work.” (in Boston bombing case)
Those are the words Rand Paul used this morning on Fox. (might be a hint at what 3rd party Snowden supported).
The Guardian is left wing in the traditional sense - leftist values. That puts them immeasurably ahead of the American mainstream media who are left wing in the sense of being in the tank for Obama with no interest in facts or values. I’m please to see that the Guardian still has real journalists. As for the leaker, I hope that if he is married, is wife is ready to hear the worst innuendo that can be constructed from facts (with some of those invented). Is there a beautiful woman he has called/texted enough times to raise questions? Has he visited a questionable website ever? Any financial irregularities, real or close enough that a little added fiction can make him seem corrupt. This guy is about to experience the power of the US government wielded by pure evil. He has my sympathy - and my admiration.
Actually, that is my biggest worry with 0bama. Give him that brickwall and he goes full on dictator. I keep saying it ....he is a community organizer and there is about half this country that has been bamboozled by this guy. He's issuing Executive Orders like silly now, give him a Republican Congress to demonize and we just might have our tree of liberty getting watered. It is my humble opinion, we need 0bama out of office before 2014 elections.
Obama killed the law. Now one only has to obey the laws they agree with.
“Yes but you can impeach any government official. Including the heads of the IRS, Dep’t of Education, any of them. come on Repubs, get at it!”
I wish they would. We need to see some high level prosecutions and impeachment, if only to see where the trail leads.
But they won’t. They’ll rattle the swords and make us think that they have us covered. DC has become a cabal of elites where they protect each other and send us the bill. I hope I’m 100% wrong on this.
The dude that spilled the beans appears to have something that many in DC lack, a strong belief in a system that where the citizens should have rights protected. They’ll turn him into an ogre.
Congress doesn’t,t follow the law.
How the Israelis do it seems to keep internal terrorism down. But I guess that means “profiling”, which is supposedly a bigger evil that terrorism.
Here’s why I believe it’s orchestrated by the Obama WH.
You recall the attempted terrorist attack in NYC on May 1, 2010?
It’s the one that prior to the attempted bombing the Obama WH and all of it’s agencies including the IRS, the entire dem. party, all left wing organizations, and the entire left wing news media began orchestrating news stories of how the TEA Party was just a bunch of right wing extremist, racist, ultra violent, Tim McVeigh wanna bees out to overthrow the govt of the US.
With the attempted bombing on May 1 all the left jumped for joy that their talking points about the TEA Party were correct because the bomb was a fertilizer bomb just like Tim McVeigh used.
There is one of three possibilities.
1. The dems and their operatives orchestrated the talking points/news for the attack to blame it on the TEA Party.
2. The terrorist simply picked up on the dems talking points and planned the attack based on the dems talking points.
3. It’s all just a big coincidence the terrorist attack matched the dems talking points.
All just a big coincidence? Not likely, so that leaves us with #1 dems planned the attack to blame the TEA Party or #2 terrorist simply picked up on the dems talking point/news and planned the attack.
Let’s look at the “spontaneous” lie with Benghazi.
It’s nothing more than “the terrorist are so in tune with the news the terrorist can pick up on a news story and plan a terrorist attack around it in a matter of minutes”. Choice #2 and the “spontaneous” lie are for all practical purposes one and the same.
That leaves us with choice #1.
The dems planned the attack to blame the TEA Party, then they planned the attack in Benghazi to create the “spontaneous” lie to try and make people believe the terrorist are simply picking up on the news and planning attacks around the news.
Notice how many people, both right and left, are now saying the NSA gathering phone records are necessary to fight terrorism?
This convenient scandal is creating a lie that the Obama adm. is fighting terrorism when in fact they are collaborating with the terrorist.
I’ve noticed for quite some time that “core Constitutional principles” seem to be lacking in everyone involved in government, even Republicans.
Even if the government turned over tomorrow, and was 100% GOP, the problems of Big Government would still be with us.
None of this adds up in my mind. Unless he has a sizeable inheritance behind him, for how long can a 29 year old expect to remain holed up in a Hong Kong hotel?
My initial reaction to such cases would be to call this guy a traitor. However, the enormity and scale of this intrusion on the privacy of American citizens and the fact that it comes as a revelation not only to us but even to many of our elected representatives indicates to me that this needs a public hearing and dialogue.
Hard to argue with any of that.
As to the political beliefs of Snowden I would point out that my experience is that Libs tend to stretch the truth to make their point. Or, as is the case with Obama and many in his Administration, they just lie to your face. The Right Wingers, Libertarians and we Freepers may be mistaken at times but you are generally going to get the straight scoop from them. I for one am not going to take everything that Snowden tells us at face value. Let's see how it plays out.
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