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By releasing it to journalists he: * Removed the target from his back. At this point, all his value is "to be made of an example" not "a former operative with
by emilsedgh 7y ago
By releasing it to journalists he:
* Removed the target from his back. At this point, all his value is "to be made of an example" not "a former operative with incredibly sensitive information, potentially worth neutralizing"
* Recused himself from being a political player like Assange wanted to be.
Also, who says he is a good judge to make the right call for each document?
Journalists can do a far far better job of responsibly handling the material, with enough time, resources and expertise to investigate the material, even get in touch with the government, etc.
Doing it personally would've been incredibly irresponsible and actually a power-play for personal gain not whistle-blowing for the better.
- cm2187 7y agoIf he is not a good judge for what document supports wrong doing, then he is not a whistle blower in the first place. And I am not suggesting he is not. I have no doubt that he knew what a compromising document looked like.
- GVIrish 7y agoThing is, that by stealing and releasing documents he did not read (by his own admission) he could not have known what collateral damage he would've done to US and allied intelligence capabilities. One might argue that any damage to intelligence interests is superceded by the public's interests in learning about abuses, but had he made a more targeted leak collateral damage might not have been an issue. Trusting journalists to do the job is a cop out. He took the action of taking the documents, then foisted responsibility on someone else. And make no mistake, intelligence services spy on journalists and have compromised journalists. Snowden had no way of knowing whether other intelligence agencies could get to what he gave the various media outlets. Even some carelessness on their part could have revealed secrets to others.
- emilsedgh 7y agoI actually believe he read them all personally. It's just that he didn't make the judgement call to decide which one to release. It was Chelsea Manning who a did dump without reading them first.
- GVIrish 7y agoCheck out Snowden's inteview with John Oliver. Snowden outright admitted he hadn't read all the documents. He said he was 'familiar' with them.