Free Republic

BRATISLAVA, August 29 (RIA Novosti) – The chairman of Russia’s lower house of parliament has likened fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden to the hero of Miguel de Cervantes’ novel. “You know, I compare him [Snowden] to Cervantes’ hero, Don Quixote,” State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Wednesday in an interview with Slovak television during an official visit to Bratislava. “He is very much like him in some way: also naïve to a certain degree, honorable and selfless,” Naryshkin said. “But unlike Don Quixote, who fought windmills, Snowden fights violations committed by the state machine,” he said. “Can he be...

MOSCOW, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Russia has not received extradition request for fugitive U.S. intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden from the United States, the Justice Ministry said Thursday. The ministry did receive a letter from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explaining some aspects of the U.S. position on the status of Snowden, the Interfax news agency quoted the ministry as saying in a statement. "This document did not contain requests for the extradition or deportation of this individual," the statement said. Russian business daily Kommersant reported earlier that Washington has sent an official document to Moscow requesting Snowden's extradition. U.S. ambassador...

The world we live in today is so different from what it was 40 years ago that the Watergate scandal seems like remote history. Yet here we are face to face with another surveillance and espionage drama - yes, that is exactly what former CIA agent and US National Security Agency operative Edward Snowden's expose is. It's a drama with a difference, though, because it is being played out on - and by - the media. Perhaps - and contrary to the common perception - the NSA's surveillance program is (is, because it has not been terminated) aimed at getting...