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> “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our
by cdubzzz 10y ago
> “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”
What an amazingly loaded statement that is. Russia is just a straight up "adversary" now? Infuriating.
- RockyMcNuts 10y agoWe're friends now…Russia will hand over Snowden shortly after Trump removes sanctions…we have always been at war with Eastasia.
- ivraatiems 10y ago> Russia is just a straight up "adversary" now? Infuriating. ...in this context, when were they not an adversary?
- messick 10y agoIf the OP is in his/her mid 20's, then "during their entire lifetime". Not to be all "kids these days" about it, but millions of people read about the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Empire in their World History class, instead of living through it. Just last week on HN I saw a comment to the effect of "I trust China over the US when it comes to political protest". That's the kind of thing people say when Tiananmen Square happened before they were born.
- ptaipale 10y ago> If the OP is in his/her mid 20's, then "during their entire lifetime". If they think so, then they haven't been following news too much. Russia has been invading its neighbouring countries (friendly to the USA) and organising unrest in some of them for a decade.
- nyolfen 10y agothere is no obvious reason for russia to be considered an "adversary" versus merely a competing regional power in the absence of the ideological conflict of the cold war
- angry_octet 10y agoTell that to the Ukranians, Georgians, Poles, Balts... Russia may have an economy the size of Italy's, but geopolitically they are still the bear, a gangster state that seeks to disrupt all order so that they can bully on a one-to-one basis.
- nyolfen 10y agotell that to the iraqis, libyans, afghanis... emphasis on regional power in my prior comment. my heart goes out to the ukrainian people but the actions of russia are not worth escalating over with a nuclear state on the part of the american people.
- angry_octet 10y agoIf you don't hang together you'll all hang separately.
- nilved 10y agoNo, not "now," they've been considered an adversary for a very long time.
- bgentry 10y agoNot to mention that he's stranded in Russia not by choice, but because the US State Dept revoked his passport while he was in transit.
- iaw 10y agoHow would you describe Russia? How would you describe Snowden's flight from prosecution in the US? Russia was an adversary before the Crimean annexation, shadow wars involving Iran and Syria make that clear.
- shalmanese 10y agoIt's also worth noting that the only reason Snowden is currently in Russia is due to actions by the US State Department. Snowden left Hong Kong with a plane ticket to Cuba by way of Moscow. While he was on the plane, the US State Department revoked his passport, forcing him to miss his connecting flight. To make it seem like it was in any way a deliberate choice on his part is rewriting history.
- drawnwren 10y agoIf both Russia and Cuba were ok with this, what is the reason he can't just get on a plane to Cuba now?
- starik36 10y agoBecause last time he was suspected to be on the place, President of Bolivia's plane was forced to land in Austria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales_grounding_incident
- shalmanese 10y agoThe Americans put pressure on Cuba to not admit Snowden: "Snowden failed to board an onward flight to Cuba the next day, the paper says, again citing Russian officials, because the US put intense pressure on Cuba, warning of "adverse consequences" if Snowden were allowed to board the plane. The Cubans subsequently informed Moscow that the regular Aeroflot flight would not be permitted to land in Havana if Snowden was aboard." http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/0826/Russian-media-report-How-Snowden-missed-his-flight-to-Cuba http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2013/0826/Russian...
- drawnwren 10y agoSo, Snowden is deliberately choosing not to go to Cuba because he will probably be deported to the US?
- dom0 10y agoI'm a bit unclear how this works. How can the US revoke the passport of a citizen? WTF? http://news.passportoffices.us/help/passport-denial-and-revocation/ http://news.passportoffices.us/help/passport-denial-and-revo... Passport was obtained illegally or fraudulently Non-Payment of child support Passport was misused or changed/altered Passport holder’s Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate of Citizenship is cancelled Certain drug trafficking convictions Those convicted of sex tourism Uhm. Okay...