Snowden threatens new U.S. leaks, asks numerous countries for asylum

Trust my judgement, please.

Thank you for such an informative article. I have been appalled at the number of comments in other articles claiming Snowden to be a hero for exposing our government and claiming the articles are slanted or biased. Your article is clearly all facts and I appreciate it. Frankly, I’m far less worried about my government knowing who I email and call than I am worried that the next terrorist attack will be missed because of Snowden’s espionage. How dare he feel that he can lie to get a job, steal all the top secret information he can, threaten to expose it all, and then feel mistreated at his visa being revoked.Since his leaks have aided terrorists, there was an article claiming the Taliban have changed to communication avenues not listed in his leaked materials, can he be charged with terrorism? I’d really like to see an article explaining the psychology behind his mind set, as well as an article on the far reaching effects of what he has done. I’m not sure the public get it.

The Founding Fathers created a transparent government. Politicians of today have spit on that concept. Way to honour your forefathers, fascists!

I’m sorry but the dude is screwed. Im glad he brought this revelation to the public, its an important topic for the people to discuss.

But Snowden should keep his eye out for drone strikes

Oh Yeah..Snowden’s a big hero allright!

Let’s observe a moment of silence for the death of Snowden’s moral cachet. Now he’s just another geek who becomes enraged when his delusional plans are thwarted. Patriot? Hardly. Immature nerd? Obviously.

NSA seems a NAZI SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Obama actions are more in line with Hitler, who spied on his citizens, order killing them, used media to defame the accused. To begin with let Obama follow international law , US laws on freedom then expect his subjects to follow Law.

The Goebbels employed by Obama are more capable that in Osama Bin Laden raid, US media could claim Osama was still sleeping when the first chopper crashed, and got up from the bed when navy seals broke open his bed room door.

What level of truth or honesty can be there in Obama’s administration. The best thing is to go IN trials of Assange, Snowden, Manning

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre rejected Snowden’s claim that he was marooned “since he is still a United States citizen and his country is willing to take him back.”

“As the State Department has already said, the U.S. government is prepared to issue individuals wanted on felony charges a one entry travel document to return home,” she said.

This is like giving someone a gun with one bullet and offering an opportunity to commit suicide. Snowden is facing treason charges for something most people in the world think was a human service. Why should he return to the U.S.? Madness to say that the U.S. is not trying to maroon him.

U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman Nanda Chitre rejected Snowden’s claim that he was marooned “since he is still a United States citizen and his country is willing to take him back.”

“As the State Department has already said, the U.S. government is prepared to issue individuals wanted on felony charges a one entry travel document to return home,” she said.

This is like giving someone a gun with one bullet and offering an opportunity to commit suicide. Snowden is facing treason charges for something most people in the world think was a human service. Why should he return to the U.S.? Madness to say that the U.S. is not trying to maroon him.

I continue to be amazed at how much the US government has to hide from its citizens and allies and their utter incompetence. Nixon’s “plumbers” were far better than these bozos. Who bugs an allies diplomats and than allows that fact to be kept somewhere where any one of thousands of contractors can get to it? Snowdon is just a nerd like me. Any real spy would have quietly walked away with everything the NSA has and kept collecting a paycheck from Uncle Sam.

The NSA is not just spying on us, they are allowing the professional spies to use their systems to spy on us. The Chinese must be thrilled.

Snowden is naive and is not streetwise. Does he think the United States is going to help him find asylum? What is remarkable is that he’s looking for asylum in countries whose spying on their citizens make the NSA look like a Twitter account.

A state secret is no longer what it is when revealed. Just keep Putin informed and let Obama on hot heels guessing. For Russia to harbor him, he must show himself a valuble asset.

What all of U people think? I bet that China and Russia have the same surveillance program just they r smarter and protect all information and they choose people to work with their governments much better. It seems that american citizens have nothing better to do just interfere with what USA government doing to protect them.

Perhaps North Korea would offer him a very special “asylum”

The deceiver cries deception? He who took the extralegal step of outing bemoans being the victim of an extralegal step of being outed? This is what happens to a mind so enamored of its unchallengeable possession of all the rightness it can no longer, if it ever could, distinguish between the right to do a thing and the right thing to do.

Snowden is a naive boy. I wish we would just move on. If he ever returns to the US then arrest him. Otherwise, who cares. I wouldn’t waste any more time tracking this fool.

The government is never what they seem to be. Those who bought the “Yes We Can” nonsense are obviously angered. But you know, paranoia is a Dem thing, just look at the proliferation of Enemy of the State entertainment under Dem government.

Snowdon never was a hero. You do not go and get a job at a government agency IN ORDER TO blow the whistle. That’s called going undercover. And although Snowdon might have some highfalutin ideals, right now it smacks of a desire for publicity, “Lookit lookit lookit me now.” The Cat in the Hat. Baby politics.

You sound shrill Mr. Snowdon. Be careful. Even your online pals may turn on you. You sound shrill and scared, and you are starting to articulate some weird discourse, like something you made up on a message board. And the audience may get bored.

We have militants to thank for the increased surveillance that we find ourselves in. Their tactics have led to the infringement of our privacy. I am certain we all feel very uncomfortable with this, but as citizens we are supposed to be protected by probable cause and other fourth amendment rules that are supposed to protect our rights. On the one hand, if you have nothing to hide, there should be no problem. On the other hand, snooping into private matters would make anyone uncomfortable. The problem here, is that now our security is compromised by your idealism and your naivete. As a contractor, you were bound not to disclose confidential information of your employer. If you felt uncomfortable with this, why did you take the job? We find ourselves in a sorry state of affairs, but as I stated earlier, we can thank the ongoing militancy and hatred for the US for this.

If there was a cause to Snowden’s initial objective, they were lost when he jumped the border and indiscriminately dumped classified information.

Left stateless??? That’s the price of treason little man – hopefully just the first installment. You are pathetic, even for a traitor.

I can’t wait to see what else Snowden has to share with the world. This man is risking his life to illuminate us to just how far the US government has departed from it’s own constitutional laws.

How dares Snowden threaten the USA with new disclosures?.. Didn’t Putin just tell him to stop harming his American partners? Oh yeah, I forgot, it’s all Obama’s fault…
A comedy of absurd!

gacha wrote: But you know, paranoia is a Dem thing,

Yeah, sure. Bush and Cheney didn’t have it. Paranoia is a Washington thing.

Snowden is now rest assured of safety by Putin who already set the red line not to hand him over to U.S. The remaining hassels lie with its Interior Ministry.

A bit surprise he targets 19 countries for asylum purpose, some of which were condemned by U.S. for poor human rights record.

But a wide net doesn’t mean you can catch any fish. I used to nail a big one with a dedicated rod.

Snowden hates President Obama and that makes say and do stupid things.Its really sad that one so young can harbor so much hate.One of the consequences is, he may forfeit his citizenship. And it would serve him right.

snowden is not breaking the security but he is unveiling the evil jewish lobby behind liberal america.

germany’s parties suggested giving shelter to snowden so do not accuse only russia and china and equador and the rest of the world

So far the US Has the people in the US, the Chinese, the Japanese, the whole EU, the G20, the G8 all riled up. Plus the British are probably upset because the gross incompetence in allowing a 29 year old low level contractor access to the crown jewels of the intelligence world. Good going, guys.

This is what the people of the US get for $80 billion a year.

Snowden is a idealogical fool. He fails to realize that to certain degee (some more, some less) most Americans know our government watching us and collecting various information. It may be unpleasant, undesirable, but it is the necessary evil that gives us hopefully the upper hand against our adversaries, scheming foriegn governments, terorists and criminals. Few people remember the days of party line telephones when a half dozen people shared a single phone line and privacy just did not exist for telephone users. 7,000,000,000 people on this planet and we are fixated on privacy? All this faux shock and indignation by the same people that want heads to roll if government agencies fail to catch terrorist before they act. Get used to the new world order. That government you don’t seem to trust is made up of American citizens no different than you or me. The Senators and Representatives in Washington approved the Patriot Act and you voted them into office. It is their job to oversee government agencies such as NSA. If the NSA overstepped it’s legal authority members of Congress ultimately share the blame for their failing to perform their madated duty of overseeing government agencies. Oversight of government is one of their primary duties.

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow: (July 1)

One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to the efforts of friends new and old, family, and others who I have never met and probably never will. I trusted them with my life and they returned that trust with a faith in me for which I will always be thankful.

On Thursday, President Obama declared before the world that he would not permit any diplomatic “wheeling and dealing” over my case. Yet now it is being reported that after promising not to do so, the President ordered his Vice President to pressure the leaders of nations from which I have requested protection to deny my asylum petitions.

This kind of deception from a world leader is not justice, and neither is the extralegal penalty of exile. These are the old, bad tools of political aggression. Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.

For decades the United States of America have been one of the strongest defenders of the human right to seek asylum. Sadly, this right, laid out and voted for by the U.S. in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is now being rejected by the current government of my country. The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon. Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.

In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.

I am unbowed in my convictions and impressed at the efforts taken by so many.

Edward Joseph Snowden

-(Hint) Snowden is not choosing a country based on their track record/humanitarian record, he is choosing a country that would be the least likely to hand him over to the U.S.
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-(Another Hint) Several of the countries on the asylum list are very good friends with the U.S. This signifies that Snowden may be getting desperate.
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Due to the info released regarding the U.S. tapping of allies, maybe Snowden believes that the friction between the E.U. and the U.S. may prevent the E.U. from taking actions.
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-Notice Russia isn’t taking any actions for two reasons:
1: They cannot aid Snowden because that would hurt their relations with their partner the U.S.
2: They cannot apprehend Snowden because Russia would receive a ton of criticism due to the political/media circumstances tied to Snowden.
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Other countries are hesitant to accept Snowden because he is a “politically-toxic” entity. Example, look at how Russia is stuck in the middle.
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I still cannot see what Snowden released that puts this country in danger, because most of the info is common sense.

-Most countries spy on each other.
-Most tech enthusiasts (and many news followers) were/are aware of the telecommunications monitoring for some time.
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I do not think that the agencies are abusing the information they are monitoring, and up to a point, some of that information is necessary to properly understand situations. However, my biggest concern is the storing of the data. The fact that the data is being stored means that there is a greater chance of it falling into the wrong hands. (Hackers,espionage,corruption,monetary gain by companies,blackmail). No institution is perfect, the only element separating ethical from non-ethical is the people of the agencies. (Ethics varies from person to person)
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As technology advances, the ability to access data becomes greater and greater.
-almost all Laptops/cellphones have cameras and speakers. (These can be acted remotely.
-Many devices now use face recognition tech. ( the smile to make the camera take a picture is one example.)
-Commercialization of drones.
-Use of infared.
-companies like Google,Amazon,Facebook collecting data.
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These are just technology trends, each brings its own use. Sadly though in our tech world what exactly is privacy anymore. It seems the only thing separating privacy from observation is protocols. (rather than physical limitations.
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I believe that the release of the data was necessary. Most of data revealed was common knowledge/suspicion based on indicators/actions, so all Snowden did was supply a name (PRISM) for those who pay attention. Sadly, not many people really pay attention/understand/care about the events and info in front of them.
For example, it is amazing what technology/information most businesses have on their workers. Though on the same level, I think that Snowden also over reacted.(was there any evidence that the agency ACTUALLY abused the info?)

In the end, I would say that this little scenario/event is a good refresher course for those who do not pay attention to the changing of tech/society trends.

nativearizonan @that’s the reason i dont accuse only american gonverment but americans genarally.Most people there agreed on nsa’s practices by watcing other countries’ trade mission and stuff like that .For you is something normal or patriotic but for us is an action similar to what nazi’s use to do.
so we call you nazi pigs (nsa – wars) arrogants(failed car industry)overdebted (china hold the plug) fraudsters (wall street) and last but not least homosapiens (guns-bulling).A trip to europe will convince you about what people believes about americans .

@nativearizonan “That government you don’t seem to trust is made up of American citizens no different than you or me. The Senators and Representatives in Washington approved the Patriot Act and you voted them into office.” If that was true it doesn’t speak well of the American voter.
The truth is the American people don’t get any real choice at all come election time. The mainstream media blacks out any candidate that doesn’t toe the line (Ron Paul for example) and you’re stuck with a blue or red flavor of the same burnt sludge.

He isn’t a “stateless person” at all. He remains a U.S. citizen. He passport has merely been invalidated. This is standard procedure for any accused felon on the run. I’m quite certain the State Department would be willing to provide him with travel documents for his return to the U.S. Where he belongs.

Snowden is a naive young man who lived too much of his life on the internet and fantasy novels. Real world actions have real world consequences, and I suspected that never resonated with him. Reality is now setting in and Snowden is scrambling.

Conscientious objectors of the past, like MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, all understood the consequences of their action and accepted it. They understood the objection to one law is not an excuse to break another. All three spent significant time in jail but was ultimately redeemed.

I don’t know how far the NSA has gone and to what extent they have abused our privacy, but I do know that Snowden is no hero. A hero would return, in defiance, and let a jury of his peers decide. A hero would make all this about the greater good, not about his personal welfare. No, he’s just a boy with his computer thinking life is just a game.

Snowden is a naive young man who lived too much of his life on the internet and fantasy novels. Real world actions have real world consequences, and I suspected that never resonated with him. Reality is now setting in and Snowden is scrambling.

Conscientious objectors of the past, like MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, all understood the consequences of their action and accepted it. They understood the objection to one law is not an excuse to break another. All three spent significant time in jail but was ultimately redeemed.

I don’t know how far the NSA has gone and to what extent they have abused our privacy, but I do know that Snowden is no hero. A hero would return, in defiance, and let a jury of his peers decide. A hero would make all this about the greater good, not about his personal welfare. No, he’s just a boy with his computer thinking life is just a game.