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Even if Snowden gets this assurance from the Norweigans, how can he be sure they're not lying? E.g. the US tells Norway they should say "yeah sure we won't arr
by csense 11y ago
Even if Snowden gets this assurance from the Norweigans, how can he be sure they're not lying?
E.g. the US tells Norway they should say "yeah sure we won't arrest and extradite you," then go back on their word and arrest him as soon as he enters the country. The US makes some under-the-table bribes or threats to be sure Norway goes along with this scheme.
Something along the lines of "It sure would be a shame if we tanked your economy by making it illegal for US businesses to operate in Norway...those juicy Internet taps Snowden claims we have, well we can't confirm or deny them, but we might or might not know certain delicate things that were said in private by Norwegian politicians, and we might or might not know about certain financial relationships between certain wealthy Norweigans and high-ranking politicians, and it sure would be a shame if the things we might or might not know became public and had unfortunate consequences for your party's political position...now let's talk about how you're going to handle this Snowden situation..."
Also as other posters have pointed out, the US could simply send a CIA team to kidnap or murder him. Norwegian counterintelligence is presumably a lot weaker than Russia's, and their politicians presumably a lot more afraid of the US, so it's probably a lot less risky for the US to run an op like that in Norway than in Russia.
- vegardx 10y agoFirst of all because extradition is handled in the courts, not the parliament. And given how popular he is in most of Europe it would surprise me if any politician want to touch it. Helping the US would ensure political suicide. And come on, snatch and grab inside a sovereign state, that is a close ally and with all the media attention his has. You don't really need to be an intelligence service to notice a guy like Snowden suddenly disappearing. Ask Israel how much we like it when foreign states interfere within our borders. They are still more or less out in the cold after they executed the wrong guy. A Norwegian citizen, within Norwegian borders. You just don't do that.