Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance

GUARDIAN ^ | Sunday 9 June 2013 14.27 EDT | Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong

[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."

[Irenic]

Thanks for the link. I didn’t vote for Ron Paul but I like much that he stood for. I think the Republicans could learn more from looking at Ron Paul than from pretending that immigration and the like will make them gather more supporters. Ron Paul attracted people from all political walks and I think it would be wise for the Republicans to try and look at that. In the end, I think it is about more freedom and not more legislation. The Constitution is still a winning bet, it’s just that good.

[Tainan]

How many more “contractors” work for the NSA?

I have no idea. Dozens? Hundreds? A few? A lot? Don't know.
Just about every gov't group has work that is contracted out to non-governmental companies - private contractors. Its real big bidness.

And do we “vett “ them all?

Who is "we"?
Each private contractor is responsible for following go'vt procedure for employee background checks and meeting security requirements. This is usually checked and followed through by... another private group who has the contract for this vetting.
Ain't life grand?
(a lot this vetting gets checked by the USAF Security Service...a real hot shot group)

This is tip of the ice berg stuff. It looks like this guy, amateur that he may be, is no dummy.
He looks to be good at his job. He also has the 'deer in the headlight' look.
As far as the PRC and him - I'd say no. They will, IMO, follow the course of Wu Wei (woo way) - action by no action. They're popping popcorn and watching the show. No real reason for them to jump in on this. This is the USAs' problem.

[InterceptPoint]

One of the really interesting aspects of this story is that it has spawned "Stange Bedfellows" in spades. I really don't know what to make of it. But reading yesterdays comments on FR made it quite obvious - Good guys from the Right are now Bad Guys and some of the Loonies from the Left are now the Good Guys. Amazing.

For example, look at this from Politico:

Glenn Beck, Michael Moore call Edward Snowden a hero

[ponygirl]

Which is why he is going to China. A drone attack would be an act of war.

[ponygirl]

Amen!

[PaleoBob]

I agree...he sounds like another Manning.

---

And he says things like “I can search out anything on anybody” but offers no real specifics about whose records he searched or what the criteria was, what was he looking for, etc.

You and I have Google. We can search anything on anybody too.

I’m looking for a crime or a violation and so far I can only see Snowden violating the terms of his security clearance.

[PaleoBob]

Well the phone book doesn’t cross reference all the numbers that are connected with any other number, or the time of call, or the duration of call, does it? Or who knows what all else?

---

But prosecutors and cops do have resources that cross-reference phone numbers with addresses and such. And with cell phones they can pick up locations and other metadata from tower logs. If the very existence of these records is a violation of the law then maybe Verizon shouldn’t be keeping them in the first place.

I’m not seeing a crime or a violation other than Snowden violating the terms of his security clearance. Conversely, nothing Obama says persuades me of anything.

Mass repositories of data are value-neutral. Like guns. It’s who uses them and for what purpose that matters. Who is using the data? For what purpose? Snowden provides nothing.

[JTHomes]

RNC needs to start a whistleblower defense fund.

The RNC and most republicans are circling the wagons around the NSA. They have no more interest in defending liberty than the democrats. They're all out there talking about how Snowden broke the law by disclosing this...NSA is protecting us from terrorists...they're not taking action against citizens, only bad guys...blah blah blah. They're so distracted gathering data on everybody that they're too busy to investigate or choose to ignore warnings from Russia about the Boston bomber. I'm sure it is very convenient for NSA to have all that data, but it is not allowed by the constitution.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

They are searching and seizing records on who we call, what we do online, where we do these things (GPS). Clearly unconstitutional. No credible argument can be made otherwise.

[PieterCasparzen]

Been watching closely the global financial manipulation and intermingling of US defense industries (national security) since the 1990s. It has gotten very very dangerous...

We are headed down a slippery slope that has become a avalanche.! Not sure our country will survive at this point.

Well, which do you want first, the good news or the bad news ?

Bad news: the slippery slope goes back to the 1800's. European finance has a MUCH MUCH MUCH bigger influence in 19th century America than "history" classes of every American student in public (and most private) schools teach. Things like the slave trade. The civil war. The gold rush. Financial panics. I guarantee you that you would be surprised to find out what really was going on in the 1800's, everything behind the scenes, that is. Fake, fake, fake...

Fast forward to WWI. Fake, fake, fake.

Bolshevik revolution. Fake, fake, fake.

Well, all this is not fake in the sense that it happened. But it's our history that's fake, since it leaves out who financed things, and who engineered things.

Unfortunately, the little bits of truthful accounts you can find out in internet land do have a lot of mistakes in them. So you have to filter all that and simply take the basic facts.

Take the US defense industries for example. Wall Street made utterly enormous power plays in gaining influence inside the top levels of the US government before, during and after WWI. And did you know - the same key people were often key power figures advising and leading the US government - in WWII ? Bernard Baruch was one of the most influential. War Industries Board in WWI - who makes what, how much, what price, what's available. Statist control. Directed by Wall Street. Nice.... fat profits.... no pesky competition. Still a key advisor to FDR ! Woo-hoo ! Wall Street forever !

Defense industries - and their real bosses - those who are the financiers, those who control the boards of directors, have always had great influence. By the beginning of the 20th century, Wall Street was influencing elections enough to have de facto control over what is essentially a puppet President. Old money in the US has always made Congressmen.

Also... going WAY back hundreds of years, the super-wealthy banking elites have always dominated the espionage business. They are the ones whispering international secrets in the King's ears, and providing the financing for his adventures. The elites long ago realized the power of information, and in America, from it's outset, you see the same type of machinations.

What we see today is a simple continuation. The Carlyle Group owns Booz Allen. Carlyle was tied in with defense elites from the get go in 1987 and immediately took on ex-Presidents and Prime Ministers, etc. as advisors and partners. It's a favorite of George HW Bush, a partner. Carlyle also deals in offshore financial entities. So Carlyle and Booz are the ultimate insiders. Think CIA, think offshore. Flexibility.

The good news...

Globalists want America and Britain to be the countries where their own headquarters are. So if you live in those countries, and you're rich, and you go with whatever they say, you'll have a comfy life. During every war, the globalists have certain areas set aside that aren't targeted for destruction.

If you're poor, you're still expected to go along with everything, you'll just also have to live in relative squalor and like it. If the globalists have a war - you'll be participating, either as a combatant or a hapless victim. If you're poor and very smart, and you want to serve the financial oligarch masters, you can still climb your way up if you're willing to do whatever it takes. Kind of like normal free enterprise, but ruthless.

The only way to throw off the shackles of the globalists is economic; banding together, owning things, and influencing things.

[caww]

Just to keep you in the pipeline....Snowden is on the move or has been move.....

Edward J. Snowden, was apparently still in Hong Kong at 12:30 p.m. Monday at the Mira Hotel, an on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbor, said Monday evening that he had stayed at the hotel but checked out at that time.

Hong Kong journalists identified the room where the video was recorded as being in the W hotel in Kowloon, near a station of the city’s airport express train. They found journalists for The Guardian checking out of that hotel at lunchtime on Monday.

[semantic]

You're incredible - well, maybe not, since your type is always ever present when tyranny stalks the land.

Claus von Stauffenberg was executed for the attempted assassination of Hitler. Since Hitler was the legal head of the German state, this of course was treason.

History judges otherwise.

[b4its2late]

Michelle Bachman says he should be in jail for the rest of his life.

[READINABLUESTATE]

He’s a hero:
68%
He’s a traitor:
14%
I haven’t made up my mind yet:
18%
Total: 2450

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/edward-snowden-a-hero-or-traitor-poll-2013-6#ixzz2VpRebjwA

[mommab2003]

Do you think this NSA program was what Woodward discusses at the 7:50 mark in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU-aJSs_RBc

[PieterCasparzen]

Thanks.

So good that the cat is starting to get out of the bag on new world order’s big brother.

How deluded I was not long ago. There is no purpose to all this but selectively spying on Americans who the powers that be feel is dangerous to them.

Too dang many conservatives still don’t see that the powers that be are globalists. The “conservative” side has been _defined_ by the conservative intelligentsia, backed by big money.

And it’s darn hard to admit that it is the very same big money that defined the liberal and the far left.

Conservatives still don’t understand the IRS scandal - IRS was targeting this:

1) too close to Christian principles
2) banding together of the people, real people.

Tea Party’s “infraction” was to start their own movement, instead of joining one of globalism’s synthetic movements.

Be a conservative, a liberal, a neocon, a libertarian, a Christian, a communist, a socialist, etc. You can join any cause you want, any group that globalism has control over, by controlling its leadership.

But you can’t just go and start a freelance movement of your own, unless it’s aligned with what globalism wants, then you’re like a local franchise, they’ll let you go at it, gung ho. Want to work for women’s “rights”, save the rainforest ? No problem.

In my state, NJ, the political powers that be have joined into the various Tea Party groups and created chaos; I don’t know who’s who, it’s nuts, a mess.

Globalism just can not tolerate people forming groups that start talking about God-given principles, without the oversight of globalist minions.

[PieterCasparzen]

Claus von Stauffenberg was executed for the attempted assassination of Hitler. Since Hitler was the legal head of the German state, this of course was treason.

BINGO !

[PieterCasparzen]

Glenn Beck, Michael Moore call Edward Snowden a hero

The big money powers that be are racing to get their own "outsiders" in there to frame the argument.

Beck always railed about communism and the left, but never delved into the obvious question - why does big capitalism support communism ?

[PieterCasparzen]

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

BINGO !

What these feeds do is: take the full detail from everyone's phone bill, add some more detail that's not on the bill, and send it to the Federal government.

If the Fed gov't wants my phone bill for 1 month, they need to go get a search warrant. So they should be getting 1+ billion search warrants every month.

They have no right to confiscate everyone's phone bill every month - no matter what they do with it, even if nothing. What they do with it is immaterial.

George Washington would turn over in his grave.

People need to wake up. It's better to admit you were wrong than continue to be wrong.

Great post, IMHO.

[snarkytart]

NSA contractors go through the same process to get their top secret security clearance with a full scope poly (this is required to work for NSA as an employee or contractor) as a NSA government employee.
A company like Booze Allen will sponsor an employee to get their clearance (put up the money), put them in the pipeline it’s called, and the feds conduct all the background research, federal agents are the ones who visit neighbors, do the interview, and give the polygraph. This clearance can only be obtained through the federal government. If you pass all the financial, background, and poly stuff you are then briefed and take an oath right in the NSA HQs building an FT. Meade. There is no private company doing any vetting.

[Tau Food]

Aren't they actually getting the phone records from the phone company rather than from you?

And, didn't they first get a warrant (a court order) from a court before they got the phone records?

Doesn't the issue become whether it is "unreasonable" for the government to get the records of phone calls from the phone companies and, if so, that the court is wrong to order the production of the phone company's records?

Are these really your records or the phone company's records? Would it be illegal for the phone company to create a public database of these records?