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The article you linked just quotes Snowden about the reason for discharge; there is no actual verification for the claim. The U.S. Army has declined to comment
by linkregister 10y ago
The article you linked just quotes Snowden about the reason for discharge; there is no actual verification for the claim. The U.S. Army has declined to comment, claiming it violates privacy statutes to release Snowden's medical records.
The reason for his discharge isn't publicly known with high certainty. The only public source is Snowden's statement.
(Some background; the 18X, Special Forces option, allows a recruit to be contractually guaranteed a Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS) slot. Beforehand, he attends a 14-week combined boot camp/infantry training, and then a 4-week course to prepare him for SFAS. Someone being discharged at the 5-month mark would have, given the fastest training schedule possible, been in SFAS at time of discharge.)
- Natsu 10y agoDo we have any particular reason to doubt him on that one? It should be hard to hide something like double broken legs from parachute training from the others who served with him and his family, friends, and colleagues would surely notice whether or not something big like that ever happened to him. This doesn't seem like such a difficult thing to fact check if one is willing to do the legwork of talking to known associates from that time.
- tanderson92 10y agoNot to mention it's such a trivial thing to lie about when you know that your credibility is on the line. You can bet that the NSA checked on this and would have discredited him if he lied at all about his story. Heck, they had to even lie about some of his history to try to discredit him.
- Natsu 10y agoYes, exactly. A few people to say "I served with him, this [happened/never happened]." That's also a really severe injury, don't they have to report things like that to someone? They probably can't comment on his medical privacy, but I have to wonder if there aren't safety records of some kind from OSHA or whoever?
- linkregister 10y agoIf the injury occurred during SFAS then there would be no fellow trainees to corroborate the story. Though SFAS has elements of teamwork, large portions of it are individual. Literally the only people to be aware of what happened would be medical or administrative personnel who would be bound by privacy laws.
- tanderson92 10y agoOr you know, anybody who knew him around that time and remembers him not having broken legs.... But hey, who needs actual falsification to doubt Snowden's story. Let's just malign him because he is uncorroborated and cannot prove his story while in exile. (By the way, it is possible to medically determine if someone's legs were broken as they claim. Source: medical doctor) And Barton Gellman at the WaPo confirms it was bilateral tibia stress fractures: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160916/16594835541/house-intelligence-committees-list-snowdens-lies-almost-entirely-false.shtml?_format=lite https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160916/16594835541/house...
- linkregister 10y agoWe have no reason in particular to doubt him, or care at all for that matter. I don't think it can be used as ammunition against the article. Just one unsubstantiated claim against another unsubstantiated claim.
- tanderson92 10y agoYou have no reason to doubt him, and yet you are content to let the article malign him on this point without contest. Strange. Oh and by the way, I see no actual evidence that Snowden even "washed out" other than his own resume and history....