Snowden's True Motives?
It would be nice to think that Snowden released the information he did to let the American people understand the situation regarding their government and their privacy. This issue brings up significant questions about the role of a democracy and the constitutionality of its intelligence gatherings. You can convince me that Snowden did this as a patriotic duty as an American to other Americans ("Patriot Snowden").
However, his latest batch of releases focus on the US's spying on enemies and our allies (bugging embassies and such). To me, this appears to be less about informing Americans about their government than it is simply exposing the USA and harming the country. This is common espionage that's been practiced for decades by many countries, friend and foe. The release of this information only appears to harm the US. ("Traitor Snowden")
Agree or disagree? Is this "Patriot Snowden" telling Americans what they need to know about their misguided government, or is this simply "Traitor Snowden" undermining the interests of the USA?
7 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 27.1 ms ] threadClearly that is not the case and it's about time that things like this come out. Maybe nothing will come of it but either way I'm not really on the side that believes we're any more endangered with this information coming out. That's just what the gov't is saying to make us look at him as a traitor.
I don't know about endangered, but we are now having to field all kinds of demands from our allies, wanting to know what was bugged, assurances that they won't be bugged in the future, reputation damage, etc.
We have to deal with the hypocrisy issue as well. It would appear that we've been doing all of those things that we've been accusing China of doing. We've lost all credibility here.
Also, American Internet companies are having to deal with a backlash of the government's actions on information routed through American companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook. That in itself is an economic harm. Some companies / governments will now make an effort to not route their data through US-offered services in order to avoid the US government's signals intelligence efforts.
IMO, Snowden is right by showing that US government has no bounds and they will exploit anyone and everyone. I don't want to personally attack you but I can't help seeing utter amount of selfishness in your words. You want to put the rights and privacy of the entire world at stake for your interests. I'm sure this will come and bite in your own ass one day. If you deem espionage to be a common practice, then why not see Snowden's case as just another "common" espionage act?
Do you know your history? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson,_Jr. Traitor or Hero?
I'm a former Soldier. One of the most destructive things that ever existed in the military is the attitude that people should just shut-up and follow orders. In a true, disciplined environment, Soldiers don't question routine, normal things. They just get the job done. But when it comes to morally ambiguous (and your example is by no means morally ambiguous) situations, you have to use your judgment. Sometimes superiors give bad orders because they overlooked something, when this happens, they will often correct themselves when someone questions the wisdom of what they are doing. Sometimes, however, superiors give bad orders because they don't really care what the right thing to do is. Sometimes leaders think that the regulations and laws governing the military don't apply to them. In these situations, there really isn't a good option for Soldiers to take. In Hugh Thompson's case, he ultimately won his battle. Some Soldiers won't be as lucky.
I have a theory that originally he did just start out aiming to bring public attention to an illegal/secret NSA wiretapping program. However, I believe that a combination of rhetoric against him by US politicians, and the anti-American influence of WikiLeaks has made changed the nature of his comments.