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Edward Snowden was not, nor as far as I know did he ever claim to be, a journalist. He was at best a whistleblower, although given where he now lives and the c

Edward Snowden was not, nor as far as I know did he ever claim to be, a journalist. He was at best a whistleblower, although given where he now lives and the citizenship he holds, it's clear that nothing he says or does can be trusted.

potatototoo99 4y ago
You mean in exile?
- twoodfin 4y ago
  Edward Snowden has not been exiled in any non-misleading use of the term. He had many opportunities to return to the United States, and could do so today if his current hosts allowed it.
  - not_a_shill 4y ago
    Are you kidding me? You honest to God would trust the US government if you were in his situation?
    - 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
      I would have used legal avenues afforded to whistleblowers. > Contrary to his public claims that he notified numerous NSA officials about what he believed to be illegal intelligence collection, the Committee found no evidence that Snowden took any official effort to express concerns about U.S. intelligence activities - legal, moral, or otherwise - to any oversight officials within the U.S. government, despite numerous avenues for him to do so. Snowden was aware of these avenues. His only attempt to contact an NSA attorney revolved around a question about the legal precedence of executive orders, and his only contact to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Inspector General (IG) revolved around his disagreements with his managers about training and retention of information technology specialists. > Despite Snowden's later public claim that he would have faced retribution for voicing concerns about intelligence activities, the Committee found that laws and regulations in effect at the time of Snowden's actions afforded him protection. The Committee routinely receives disclosures from IC contractors pursuant to the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 (IC WPA). If Snowden had been worried about possible retaliation for voicing concerns about NSA activities, he could have made a disclosure to the Committee. He did not. https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_snowden_review_-_unclass_summary_-_final.pdf https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_snowden_r...
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - not_a_shill 4y ago
        I want evidence that this would actually work. Something like at least once comparable incident.
      - goodpoint 4y ago
        And you believe this stuff?
        2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
        Tell me why I shouldn't. What evidence do you have that refutes their findings?
        goodpoint 4y ago
        Are you kidding me? One of most powerful organizations in the world specialized on handling secrets and you want evidence? They violate the US constitution and you expect them to hand out evidence? There has been previous episodes of people (proved and documented) of people attempting to speak up and being silenced, imprisoned etc. Any person threatening to go to the press can be arrested for treason. And if you look at similar organizations starting from 100 years ago you'll see the same patterns again and again: people who try to speak up are silenced in a way or another.
        2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
        Yes, I want evidence. I'm open to any evidence that casts doubt on any of the claims in their report. Otherwise, you are asserting that a bipartisan intelligence committee of elected officials are all lying.
  - randcraw 4y ago
    Yes, assuming he was willing to spend the rest of his life in a US prison, if not Khashoggied en-route.
    - twoodfin 4y ago
      Right, but that’s not definitionally distinct from an accused murderer who skips the country. No one would use the term “exiled” in that case, even if they believe the accusation unjust. The only reason to use “exiled” is to imply that Snowden is in Russia (or at least outside of the US) by someone’s choice other than his own. That’s what’s misleading about it.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  Being forced to seek asylum in Russia after multiple attempts to go elsewhere that were thwarted by the US (at the risk of major diplomatic incidents) makes you suspicious actually.
  - HideousKojima 4y ago
    I mean it's like people completely forgot that the plane of a head of state was grounded by US allies in Europe because they suspected he might be smuggling Edward Snowden on board.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
goodpoint 4y ago
Reading this kind of garbage comments on HN is disappointing.
- loufe 4y ago
  There are likely a lot of social-media agents in the comments. This, like any hot button political issue brings out lots of shills. Check this comment thread, the amount of downvoted comments speaks volumes about the quality of the community voting and the apparent importance of this site for political agents. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34803779 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34803779
  - goodpoint 4y ago
    The Internet is full of bots and paid commenters but if you look at statistics on americans being interview regarding Snowden you'll find that a whole lot are buying into the propaganda. It's just an easy thing to do and it's socially acceptable, especially in very nationalistic country.

potatototoo99 4y ago

You mean in exile?

twoodfin 4y ago
Edward Snowden has not been exiled in any non-misleading use of the term. He had many opportunities to return to the United States, and could do so today if his current hosts allowed it.
- not_a_shill 4y ago
  Are you kidding me? You honest to God would trust the US government if you were in his situation?
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
    I would have used legal avenues afforded to whistleblowers. > Contrary to his public claims that he notified numerous NSA officials about what he believed to be illegal intelligence collection, the Committee found no evidence that Snowden took any official effort to express concerns about U.S. intelligence activities - legal, moral, or otherwise - to any oversight officials within the U.S. government, despite numerous avenues for him to do so. Snowden was aware of these avenues. His only attempt to contact an NSA attorney revolved around a question about the legal precedence of executive orders, and his only contact to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Inspector General (IG) revolved around his disagreements with his managers about training and retention of information technology specialists. > Despite Snowden's later public claim that he would have faced retribution for voicing concerns about intelligence activities, the Committee found that laws and regulations in effect at the time of Snowden's actions afforded him protection. The Committee routinely receives disclosures from IC contractors pursuant to the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 (IC WPA). If Snowden had been worried about possible retaliation for voicing concerns about NSA activities, he could have made a disclosure to the Committee. He did not. https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_snowden_review_-_unclass_summary_-_final.pdf https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hpsci_snowden_r...
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - not_a_shill 4y ago
      I want evidence that this would actually work. Something like at least once comparable incident.
    - goodpoint 4y ago
      And you believe this stuff?
      - 2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
        Tell me why I shouldn't. What evidence do you have that refutes their findings?
        goodpoint 4y ago
        Are you kidding me? One of most powerful organizations in the world specialized on handling secrets and you want evidence? They violate the US constitution and you expect them to hand out evidence? There has been previous episodes of people (proved and documented) of people attempting to speak up and being silenced, imprisoned etc. Any person threatening to go to the press can be arrested for treason. And if you look at similar organizations starting from 100 years ago you'll see the same patterns again and again: people who try to speak up are silenced in a way or another.
        2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
        Yes, I want evidence. I'm open to any evidence that casts doubt on any of the claims in their report. Otherwise, you are asserting that a bipartisan intelligence committee of elected officials are all lying.
- randcraw 4y ago
  Yes, assuming he was willing to spend the rest of his life in a US prison, if not Khashoggied en-route.
  - twoodfin 4y ago
    Right, but that’s not definitionally distinct from an accused murderer who skips the country. No one would use the term “exiled” in that case, even if they believe the accusation unjust. The only reason to use “exiled” is to imply that Snowden is in Russia (or at least outside of the US) by someone’s choice other than his own. That’s what’s misleading about it.
pessimizer 4y ago
Being forced to seek asylum in Russia after multiple attempts to go elsewhere that were thwarted by the US (at the risk of major diplomatic incidents) makes you suspicious actually.
- HideousKojima 4y ago
  I mean it's like people completely forgot that the plane of a head of state was grounded by US allies in Europe because they suspected he might be smuggling Edward Snowden on board.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

goodpoint 4y ago

Reading this kind of garbage comments on HN is disappointing.

loufe 4y ago
There are likely a lot of social-media agents in the comments. This, like any hot button political issue brings out lots of shills. Check this comment thread, the amount of downvoted comments speaks volumes about the quality of the community voting and the apparent importance of this site for political agents. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34803779 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34803779
- goodpoint 4y ago
  The Internet is full of bots and paid commenters but if you look at statistics on americans being interview regarding Snowden you'll find that a whole lot are buying into the propaganda. It's just an easy thing to do and it's socially acceptable, especially in very nationalistic country.