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Snowden was an IT contractor, how does he know what the “US intelligence community” would and wouldn’t do? Not that he’s necessarily wrong, but it seems like a

Snowden was an IT contractor, how does he know what the “US intelligence community” would and wouldn’t do? Not that he’s necessarily wrong, but it seems like a leap to go from Snowden saying something he believes, to a certainty that “the US military can and will assassinate US citizens in the middle of manhattan”.

sneak 6y ago
Snowden was trained and directly employed by the CIA in 2006 before he changed jobs to working at IC contractor companies. After CIA training, he worked in Geneva under diplomatic cover, in 2007 to 2009.
- DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
  indeed he was a real prodigy Sharepoint administrator. I don't want to diminish the value of what he leaked but it's easy to claim he was aware of all the potential butthurt before others pointed it out as things unfolded. It is much more realistic that what happened was a true "Burn after reading moment" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabA320p9B0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabA320p9B0
  - sneak 6y ago
    I am fairly confident that CIA training for those who are going to be living and working under diplomatic cover in a foreign country extends well beyond how to wrangle Exchange and Sharepoint. He wrote about some of the things that happened in Geneva, I encourage you to read them. Even sysadmins for the CIA need to know some stuff about how the game works.
    - DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
      he was how old when he was in Geneve? 23? Doubt that any kind of training made him an experienced operative. He was still a kid and hardly the Jason Bourne people make him out to be. I'm not saying his leaks didn't provide huge value but it is more plausible that he wasn't fully aware of all the impact that he claims he had knowledge of back then today (or what people attribute him with).
      - sneak 6y ago
        I don't think someone needs to be Jason Bourne to have come to the conclusion in the 73 years of the CIA's operational history that they assassinate people who risk their large-scale projects' secrecy. This feels like a strawman to cling to the idea that being a US citizen means that the CIA won't assassinate you for being inconvenient, which has been literally and directly claimed, at least twice, by someone from the actual CIA. Indeed, the reason you even know the name Jason Bourne, or the reason those movies work, is because of the generation-long history and reputation of the US military intelligence services to break the law flagrantly in many countries with no meaningful consequences. We don't have to suspend disbelief to engage with the idea that there is a section of government with staff who can kill anyone they deem needs killing.
seppin 6y ago
> Snowden was an IT contractor, how does he know what the “US intelligence community” would and wouldn’t do? He doesn't. He loves to refer to himself as a spymaster instead of the sharepoint admin.

sneak 6y ago

Snowden was trained and directly employed by the CIA in 2006 before he changed jobs to working at IC contractor companies. After CIA training, he worked in Geneva under diplomatic cover, in 2007 to 2009.

DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
indeed he was a real prodigy Sharepoint administrator. I don't want to diminish the value of what he leaked but it's easy to claim he was aware of all the potential butthurt before others pointed it out as things unfolded. It is much more realistic that what happened was a true "Burn after reading moment" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabA320p9B0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pabA320p9B0
- sneak 6y ago
  I am fairly confident that CIA training for those who are going to be living and working under diplomatic cover in a foreign country extends well beyond how to wrangle Exchange and Sharepoint. He wrote about some of the things that happened in Geneva, I encourage you to read them. Even sysadmins for the CIA need to know some stuff about how the game works.
  - DyslexicAtheist 6y ago
    he was how old when he was in Geneve? 23? Doubt that any kind of training made him an experienced operative. He was still a kid and hardly the Jason Bourne people make him out to be. I'm not saying his leaks didn't provide huge value but it is more plausible that he wasn't fully aware of all the impact that he claims he had knowledge of back then today (or what people attribute him with).
    - sneak 6y ago
      I don't think someone needs to be Jason Bourne to have come to the conclusion in the 73 years of the CIA's operational history that they assassinate people who risk their large-scale projects' secrecy. This feels like a strawman to cling to the idea that being a US citizen means that the CIA won't assassinate you for being inconvenient, which has been literally and directly claimed, at least twice, by someone from the actual CIA. Indeed, the reason you even know the name Jason Bourne, or the reason those movies work, is because of the generation-long history and reputation of the US military intelligence services to break the law flagrantly in many countries with no meaningful consequences. We don't have to suspend disbelief to engage with the idea that there is a section of government with staff who can kill anyone they deem needs killing.

seppin 6y ago

> Snowden was an IT contractor, how does he know what the “US intelligence community” would and wouldn’t do? He doesn't. He loves to refer to himself as a spymaster instead of the sharepoint admin.