Edward Snowden - granted Russian citizenship (p 4)

[inbetween]

Twisted and evil logic.

Why is it? In addition to what he did expose he also released millions of documents that had nothing to do with what he was exposing.

He then fled justice to a country that of course welcomed him because of his value. He took that and now he's almost surely been compromised by the KGB who will of extracted everything that he knows.

Other than us now knowing that GCHQ can find out what porn we watch, I don't see how this has benefited anyone.

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Why is it? In addition to what he did expose he also released millions of documents that had nothing to do with what he was exposing.

He then fled justice to a country that of course welcomed him because of his value. He took that and now he's almost surely been compromised by the KGB who will of extracted everything that he knows.

Other than us now knowing that GCHQ can find out what porn we watch, I don't see how this has benefited anyone.

"It would be like telling everyone where CIA rendition sites were back 10 years ago. Yeah they weren't legal but what happens if thanks to that disclosure terrorists turn up to a site and kill everyone?"

This specifically. I'm sure I don't have to tell you there is a long documented history of locking up innocent people without trials in camps and moving them around blacksites.

Blacksites have no moral justification. Why should intelligence agencies be able to set up a network of torture cells across the globe and move people of their choosing around with no legal oversight or accountability?

What justification is there for the NSA to target all phone calls made in the Bahamas?

The NSA is not involved in drug enforcement. The responsible agencies can target wire taps of specific individuals and crack encrypted messenger networks and achieve the same specific outcomes in drug enforcement.

The NSA Is Recording Every Cell Phone Call in the Bahamas

The National Security Agency is secretly intercepting, recording, and archiving the audio of virtually every cell phone conversation on the island nation of the Bahamas. According to documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the surveillance is part of a top-secret system –...

theintercept.com

 

[JRockBlues]

Nothing's going to change with this news but still a step in the right direction so far as I'm concerned.

 

[mat]

US Government colluding with Denmark to spy on EU leaders.

‘Not acceptable.’ France asks US, Denmark for clarity on spying allegations

French and German leaders speak out after claims that Denmark helped the US NSA spy on European officials.

www.politico.eu

But Snowden is the bad guy...

 

[JRockBlues]

A conversaion between Ed Snowden & Daniel Ellsberg recorded on 4th July

Audio link

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Twisted and evil logic.

I mostly agree with inbetween and strongly disagree with you.

Dumping a bunch of classified information into the media will disrupt legitimate covert operations and place individuals at risk.

At the same time, some of the covert activities might have been illegal. Dump the information to sympathetic actors who have clearance to view said materials - not to the public at large.

 

[mat]

MSN

www.msn.com

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

I mostly agree with inbetween and strongly disagree with you.

Dumping a bunch of classified information into the media will disrupt legitimate covert operations and place individuals at risk.

At the same time, some of the covert activities might have been illegal. Dump the information to sympathetic actors who have clearance to view said materials - not to the public at large.

Black sites for extraordinary rendition.
There are no legitimate operations running out of torture houses.

I honestly couldn't care less what happens to people operating out of them, the only sympathy I have is for their family members.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Black sites for extraordinary rendition.
There are no legitimate operations running out of torture houses.

I honestly couldn't care less what happens to people operating out of them, the only sympathy I have is for their family members.

Snowden's actions were reckless, illegal and unwarranted. He should be jailed and then tried for criminal actions if he ever sets foot on American soil again.

The role of the whistle blower is to expose wrong doing - but in the context of top secret government action - whistle blowers must recognize that they do not have full knowledge about the impact of disclosing this secret information - and thus, a responsible course of action would be to expose this information to all members of congress cleared to view the information (some subset of which will almost certainly be receptive to taking responsible measures to curtail said action - even if motivated only by potential political gain).

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Snowden's actions were reckless, illegal and unwarranted. He should be jailed and then tried for criminal actions if he ever sets foot on American soil again.

The role of the whistle blower is to expose wrong doing - but in the context of top secret government action - whistle blowers must recognize that they do not have full knowledge about the impact of disclosing this secret information - and thus, a responsible course of action would be to expose this information to all members of congress cleared to view the information (some subset of which will almost certainly be receptive to taking responsible measures to curtail said action - even if motivated only by potential political gain).

This is naive. Why run the risk that they would turn everything he had on the NSA's programs over to the intelligence services and throw him in the slammer?