Edward Snowden (1983 - )
Tue Jun 21, 1983
Image: Edward Snowden speaks about the NSA leaks in an interview with reporter Glenn Greenwald at the hotel The Mira Hong Kong. [Wikipedia]
Edward Snowden, born on this day in 1983, is an American whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the NSA in 2013 when he was working as a CIA employee, exposing multiple governments' widespread surveillance programs.
Snowden's disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments, prompting a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy.
In 2013, the United States Department of Justice unsealed charges against Snowden of two counts of violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and theft of government property, revoking his passport. Two days later, he flew into a Moscow Airport, where Russian authorities noted that his U.S. passport had been canceled, and he could not leave the airport terminal for over one month.
Russia later granted Snowden the right of asylum with an initial visa for residence for one year, and he continues to reside there on extension today.
"Being called a traitor by Dick Cheney is the highest honor you can give to an American."
- Edward Snowden
- Date: 1983-06-21
- Learn More: en.wikipedia.org, www.theguardian.com.
- Tags: #Birthdays.
- Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org
This means he has more information than just a CIA agent.
How so? All I did was point out that espionage verifiably exists and that it is the most logical explanation for Snowden to flee to Russia, given the fact that no US intelligence worker would be welcomed there unless they were leveraging their knowledge.
Snowden “sharing his knowledge of the U.S.'s mass surveillance program”, had a negative impact on US citizens view of government, which has always been a goal of Russian espionage and psyop campaigns. You’re just reinforcing what I’ve already said.
Russia has Trump running the US as president. You think they can’t afford to expose Snowden to achieve their goals?
Just because Snowden shared his knowledge with journalists doesn’t mean he went to them first let alone exclusively.
None of your points hold up to scrutiny.
Snowden travelled from China (another enemy of US that’s working with Russia) to Russia with the end goal of going to Ecuador. All the US did was cancel his passport.
Russia could’ve treated Snowden the same as they do with anyone else who doesn’t have a passport. But for obvious reasons, they don’t.
Right, so again, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. You're putting forward the theory that Snowden leaked classified materials to journalists because he was a secret Russian agent, then traveled to Russia to share further information, but only after making himself a target of the United States government. And he was lucky enough to travel there just before his passport was canceled. And the only evidence you have to support this speculation is that Russia, an enemy of the U.S., granted asylum to someone the U.S. wanted to prosecute.
Compare that to Snowden's official story; he flew to Hong Kong because they had autonomy from the U.S. and China (especially before the 2019 crackdowns on protesters) and strong pro-democracy beliefs, where he gave journalists information in order to blow the whistle on the largest domestic spying program in a American history. He then attempted to travel to Ecuador while avoiding countries that would extradite him, but his passport was canceled in Russia, and he was forced to seek asylum there. This story, by the way, has not been contradicted by anyone in the government.
So, if you want to believe the conspiracy theories, that your call, but it's not the simplest explanation. The simplest explanation is the one that's already been given, and until anyone with any credibility can contradict it, I will continue to believe it.
Your extraordinary claim that Russia isn’t treating Snowden the same as they do any other US citizen is “just because”. That is an extraordinary claim with a laughable explanation.
Lucky enough to travel to Russia? You’re acting like he has no control over what flights he takes. Again without any explanation or even common sense.
Acting like he went to China (a rival to the US) because China is just super trustworthy. Again, a laughable explanation completely out of touch with reality. But hey, if Snowden said it it must be true.
Your conspiracy theories don’t hold up to any scrutiny.
Snowden was a spy. He fled to countries that commit the most espionage against the US because he was a spy. Those countries did NOT treat him like US intelligence agent even though he was, because he was a spy.
No, my claim is they're not treating him badly because treating him badly would help the U.S. government. If Alexei Navalny had come to the U.S., don't you think we would have granted him Asylum?
Again, Snowden went to Hong Kong. I don't have the time or interest to explain Hong Kong's history as a British Colony or the, "one country, two systems," principal, but the short explanation is that Hong Kong is a semi-autonomous region with a pro-democracy government that often clashes with the PRC.
He really wasn't. He had one assignment in Geneva, where he mostly did cybersecurity work. He had one field mission to recruit a Swiss Banker, and he was not good at it. Calling him a spy is like calling a medical examiner a cop; they work together, but they're not the same job.
Also, if you think Snowden was a Russian spy, don't you think anyone in the government would be eager to prove that? But the opposite happened. The FBI concluded that Snowden probably worked alone. NSA chief Michael Rogers came to the same conclusion. No one thinks he was a Russian spy except a small group of intelligence pundits and hacks.
Is Alexei Navalny a member of multiple Russian intelligence agencies? Nope.
Does the US have a history of locking up anyone from athletes, reporters, teachers, etc? Nope.
So there is no reason to believe he would have the same outcome as Snowden.
Why do you think you know the inner workings of intelligence agencies? I shouldn’t have to tell you that they are known for sharing as little as possible. It is their job.
He’s literally on the run to escape espionage charges…
Both the US and UK have very clearly accused him of being a spy…
Chelsea Manning was charged under the Espionage Act as well. Was she a Russian spy?
Here are the charges against Snowden from 2013:
Point to the part that indicates Russia, or any other government, as being implicated in any way. I don't know what to tell you, man; you swallowed this propaganda really hard, and now you're mad at the guy who tried to warn you that your government was spying on you.
Chelsea Manning plead guilty to espionage charge. This means she admitted she was a spy.
Whether or not she was spying for Russia hasn’t been determined to my knowledge.
Espionage is spying.
Snowden faces espionage (spying) charges which you have already acknowledged.
Proving whether or not he was spying for Russia is near impossible due to the nature of the crime so it is not a requirement of being charged with spying. This is why it wouldn’t be stated in your reference.
Instead, we have verified he committed espionage and that the stance of both the US and UK is that he was a spy.
So it comes down to who was he spying for?
Your conspiracy theory is that he ruined his life out of the kindness of his heart and it is just a coincidence that he ended up in Russia. Despite the fact that he chose to get on a plane headed there knowing his passport would be cancelled.
I think it is much more logical to infer that his motivation for spying was to serve the agenda of Russia. Because the consequences of his decisions are inline with Russian intelligence goals and he made deliberate choices that resulted in him receiving sanctuary in Russia.
As far as propaganda, your arguments have mirrored statements Russia has made on Snowden.
Oh yeah? Which statements are those? Because I know of one statement Putin made on Snowden, and it does not line up with what I've said. So please show me these statements that totally exist and weren't pulled out of your ass.
Basically nothing you said is correct. No one, even the most deranged right-wing war hawk, believes Chelsea Manning was a spy or working for Russia. Being charged with espionage does not mean you are a spy. That's not true from a literal or legal perspective.
At this point, you've gone past swallowing Fox News propaganda and begun fabricating your own. Get a grip dude.
You’re obviously trying to make a strawman argument about Chelsea Manning working for Russia because I never mentioned it as a possibility.
Or maybe your reading comprehension is just really bad because this is the definition of espionage:
You’ve proven you are willing to either lie or speak with confidence about things you don’t even know the definition of.
Here is a quote from Obama:
He points out that Russia is not treating Snowden the same as they do with anyone else. Which is what I’ve said also. This is called common sense not conspiracy, but you probably don’t know the definition of either.
I like how you quoted around the part that didn't support your argument.
Anyway, I think I'm done here. I was paying attention in 2013, so I actually followed the reporting on the Snowden leaks. You clearly didn't, but staked the position, "Putin = bad, therefore Snowden = Bad," without knowing what the fuck you're talking about, and now you're talking out your ass to try and back that position.
You desperately want to prove that Snowden is a spy because he was charged under the Espionage Act, but had you been paying attention during the Obama administration, you'd know he was the first President to bring espionage charges against leakers and whistleblowers instead of spies; he actually used it more than every other president combined. But you're blissfully unaware of this, just like you're unaware of the differences between Hong Kong and mainland China, or that Snowden didn't intend to stay in Russia, or that Chelsea Manning was never suspected of being a spy.
I mean, Jesus Chirst, you're quoting Obama talking about Snowden traveling without proper documentation without acknowledging that Obama canceled the documentation so he would be forced to stay in Russia. And you think that's proof that he's being treated differently than a normal American? Normal Americans don't get their passports canceled mid-flight.
Also, do you know how long it took Snowden to leave the airport? Let's be honest, of course you don't, but I do: 40 days. He lived in an airport for 40 days before he even got temporary asylum. That's definitely how you treat one of your valued spies, huh?
Anyway, this is a waste of my time. I can't keep listening to you make shit up and then desperately search for a cherry-picked, misinterpreted fact to justify it. Next time, just admit you're wrong, or at the very least, stop talking.
You asked me to share statements that Russia made that you mirrored. So I did.
Nice try changing the subject instead of acknowledging that you’re parroting Kremlin talking points.
Remember when he said he supported Kamala Harris when he was accused of election interference in the US?
You were done when you revealed that you don’t even know the meaning of espionage.
Your whole argument is: -“Snowden threw away his life because he is such a nice guy.”
-“Snowden chose flights that land in Russia but it’s Americas fault he’s there!”
-“How could Snowden possibly know that his passport would be cancelled after committing espionage and fleeing the country.”
You’ve been repeating Russian propaganda this whole time. I wanted to see if you would call Hong Kong China or repeat Chinese propaganda too.
Again, Chelsea Manning plead guilty to espionage (being a spy). You’re trying to reject reality and replace it with your revisionism.
“hOw CoUlD sNoWdEn KnOw HiS pAsSpOrT wOuLd Be CaNcElEd AfTeR cOmItTiNg EsPiOnAgE aNd FlEeInG tHe CoUnTrY?!”
Normal Americans don’t commit espionage and flee the country and then expect their passports to stay valid. This has to be the dumbest of all your arguments.
Like you couldn’t possibly forecast that a country would cancel a passport over espionage. I’m crying laughing at how stupid that is.
Lmao, you’re going with “spies can’t sleep in airports”! I bet you think dogs can’t look up also…
This is called reading not listening. Maybe you’re hearing yourself struggle to sound out each word.
Looks like you don’t have any response to the facts.
I like how you pretend this is a waste of time so you have an excuse to not respond. But if that were true you just wouldn’t respond.
So your copy and paste reply is proof you can’t admit you are wrong.
Remember that time you were wrong about Snowden but you couldn’t admit it so you just kept reposting the same comment?
That was funny