Our world is increasingly more and more 'messed' up. (best word I can use at the moment). Snowdon (like others have) is just taking the veil off so that we see what is really going on. I should note that all these countries, well any country for that matter, must know that the US (and other countries as well) are bugging everyone. Why? Because knowledge is power. Neither should we forget Eisenhower's words...."beware of the military industrial complex" and that applies not only to the US but other countries also. Military arms and war (or preparing for it) is a massive money maker for some people. But who pays in the end? The average person in all countries. They pay for it with their money and sometimes with their lives and it's all propagated by people in power who often don't get so much as a scratch on them.
Snowdon just wanted to show how bad it is and how the new technology is making spying on everyone something that has become easier and easier. But the boys in the "military industrial complex" didn't want this thrust out so boldly and bluntly.
Humankind hasn't changed much and I doubt it every will. From the first time one caveman looked across a valley and decided to take what some other caveman owned, we have been greedy and fighting and killing. We just keep perfecting it more and more.
Snowdon........hero or traitor? Well I would chose another words........man of the world, citizen of the world, man with a conscience. The only thing he is really guilty of, is being honest.
One man's traitor, is another man's patriot.
The thing about the US is if you count all the military bases and installations etc in the world (those known) which are US it adds up to about 283. How many military bases etc of other countries are in N. America? None. Food for thought.
To destroy people's privacy and basic liberties is a slippery slope.
Snowden amongst his knowledge described a CIA experience in Geneva as "formative," stating that the CIA deliberately got a Swiss banker drunk and encouraged him to drive home. When the latter was arrested, a CIA operative offered to intervene and later recruited the banker. Reminds me of the Godfather Part 2 and the senator.
Snowden existence of PRISM, a clandestine electronic surveillance program that allegedly allows the NSA to access e-mail, web searches, and other Internet traffic in realtime. That's everyone's and anyone's email. Is it any different from breaking into your home and ripping open your enveloped snail mail? No.
Snowden's identity was made public by The Guardian at his request on June 9. He explained his reasoning for forgoing anonymity: "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong."
Drones may be new but they have had the technology to see everything from satellites for a long long time and see it all more than the government has ever told us. That is one of the reasons that proves the Iraq war and the garbage about weapons of mass destruction was a total lie.
George Orwell was right.............his timing was just a bit off.
Snowdon and what may have happened in Canada are two different things.....in reality.
He will be universally vilified.
Well I wouldn't necessarily say that. Many countries are happy to have heard his information and many other people believe he did the right thing (me included). If people from all countries did the same thing then maybe those who run the world covertly and use the average person eventually for their cannon fodder would find that their games are no longer usable. The US of course is really ticked off....but if it had been some other person from some other country who told what there country was doing to the US then the US would consider him a hero. It's all about 'perspective'.
As far as him getting himself behind the 8 Ball.........I'm sure he knew it and his life has changed and for a very long time.
What surprises me from the first time I read about him is any country out there has to know to some degree that the US spies on everyone (as other large countries with the capabilities also do) and it's only getting bigger and bigger. Our emails are monitored, or phones the same, we have cameras all around us, we can be tracked through many different means and there is new technology to keep Big Brother's eyes on us 24/7. The truly Free person these days is someone without a license or credit card and without an address, just roaming from one place to another with no attachments to anything or anyone.
Since he is a "hero" to so many countries, why have absolutely none of them stepped up for him?
Simple..............the repercussions of power from the US.
Heroes do not run and hide.
Stupid heroes do not run and hide. Only those who want to become a statistic stand up to be shot. History is made of heroes who have run and hidden and the US itself was helped founded by many of them.
Countries have their 'secrets' but spying on other countries or their people.......is out of the country. Do you feel those people have a right to know? Was that an intention of a democratic society, or a fascist society? Should people feel they have a certain amount of privacy, or have we got to a point that we now relinquish everything to our 'rulers'? The US government has given itself power it is not entitled to by the Constitution and there is no oversight to protect the people. Dictatorial governments and those running the show behind the scenes have always started this way, a little bit at a time, until people wonder where their privacy went. The average person are those who lay their life on the line for the covert operations and lies government spew. The people........have a right to know what is happening in THEIR country, to THEM..........and if the government won't tell them then let someone with a conscience step up to the plate.
