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| Evildoer or Champion of Freedom -- or Charlatan [The Guardian] |
This Blog Post was published in 2013, early in 0bama's second term.
We are republishing it since Snowden's name is back in the news and
arm-chair patriots are calling for his trial, imprisonment, and even his
execution for his perceived Treason.
We challenge that in that we, as a long-term Intelligence Community
operator/manager understand what he did, and why he did it, and commend
Mr Snowden for exposing illegal and criminal actions by NSA senior officers,
whose operations targeting American citizens, and later, President Trump, were
exposed, leading to a major reformation of the Intelligence Community -
a work in progress.
Click here for related story. [Huffington Post]
It appears the Washington Post's Editorial Board and its Newsroom are duking it out!
The Editors are condemning Snowden as a Traitor, an Evildoer, the son of Satan!
The Newsroom is covering Snowden as Champion of Freedom; a clone of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers.
The Post [with the New York Times] was first in line to publish the Top Secret Pentagon Papers in 1971 because:
"The Public Has the Right to Know" -- about the Vietnam War and Intelligence and, all that stuff.
In the end, it seemed all the Media were in agreement that publishing Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers served a positive purpose -- not that it got us out of Vietnam any faster [far too much money to be made by Lady Bird Johnson's shipping company]; but, it did give Congress and the literate portion of the US public an insight into what the war was all about
[after nearly 50 years,we're still not sure, but it made great press at the time].
Today's Post Editorial section is chock full of anti-Snowden commentary, and, they challenge Snowden's departure from the US to avoid prosecution.
Why, How Dare He!
He should have taken his case to Congress, and they would have taken care of him, right?
Have you tried to contact a Congressperson lately?
Have you tried to enter the Capitol Building lately?
Good luck with that idea!
The difference between leakers Ellsberg and Snowden is that Snowden did not have a Republican in office concerned about negative press coverage. Instead, the had the Uber-Leaker himself, Barack Obama, whose office leaked more Top Secret information on Methods and Sources than all other Presidents combined.
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| Evildoer Manning [US Army photo] |
But, Snowden likely also watched PFC Manning's legal process, where he was stripped naked and kept in solitary confinement for months on end -- with little interest from Congress or the Media. He is now on trial for a string of charges that would make former terrorist Bill Ayers [and former Obama business partner] shake in his boots.
[Interestingly, not one of the NCOs or Officers in Manning's Chain of Command was court-martialed, or even reprimanded for failing to monitor a young PFC, or wonder why this kid was granted a Top Secret clearance with unlimited access!]
After all, Snowden had committed his leaks in the Obama Administration!
How dare he!
Only Obama has been allowed to openly leak highly sensitive Top Secret intelligence without penalty -- or even slight criticism, or even comment by the Media.
So, Mr Snowden likely concluded he would receive the same, if not harsher treatment that PFC Manning had suffered.
Or, following the incident in Florida in which Boston Bomber friend [Ibragim Todashev] was being interviewed, and suddenly, gunfire broke out, and the police and FBI agents surrounding the individual "feared for their lives" from this unarmed individual, and riddled his body with bullets.
You really have to be careful around groups of heavily-armed law enforcement guys; when they "fear for their lives", the shooting may not stop for half an hour, and heaven only knows where they'll be shooting -- after they kill you.
So now, Mr Snowden is in exile in the Moscow airport, waiting for some country to offer him safe harbor.
He figured he'd be on safe ground traversing Moscow to Ecuador, Venezuela, or even Cuba.
He figured he'd be on safe ground traversing Moscow to Ecuador, Venezuela, or even Cuba.
But, he hadn't counted on Messrs Obama and Putin being best buds.
You didn't know?
You didn't know?
Seems they cut a deal a while back to send Russian troops to the US to serve as FEMA/DHS enforcers. So now, when Mr Obama announces his next Executive Order declaring a National Emergency, don't be surprised when that uniformed DHS soldier speaks to you with a Russian accent.
Oops!
Did we go to war with Russia and didn't realize it, and now they're in charge.
Well, with the Sequester and all, who can afford bullets. Besides, DHS bought them all last year, and a war fought without conflict is far less messy.
Welcome Comrade Obama.
But, to clarify, lest we be accused of sympathizing with Snowden or Manning, or even Ellsbert.
We are very much against the leaking of actual classified information, and believe that better security measures should have been in place to protect these documents.
Now, go watch Red Dawn [the original version] again and get ready for a very challenging future..
