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> Nobody is going to jail for saving hundreds of lives Given that Edward Snowden isn't a free man, I doubt this.. where is the "media outcry" there?

by Chris2048 3y ago

rootusrootus 3y ago
He is a free man, he is a citizen of Russia living in Russia. We can speculate on whether he would have been successfully prosecuted and would still be in prison today had he not left the US, but he is definitely not in jail.
- Chris2048 3y ago
  An American living in exile in Russia isn't free.
edmundsauto 3y ago
I wasn't aware of any direct connection between Snowden's leaks and lives saved. I have seen vague-ish claims from intel communities that he cost lives, but not the other way around. Anything concrete about how he saved lives?
- Chris2048 3y ago
  It isn't necessary. "How someone who breaks the rules for the sake of greater good" is the relevant metric, whether it pertains to life, health or liberty. Plus, a life in the gulag is pretty much a life lost.
  - edmundsauto 3y ago
    Sorry, I thought in your previous comment you were drawing a connection with Snowden due to the "lives saved" quotation you included. With Snowden, it is a lot more complicated - many people don't believe he did the world a service, and is in fact a traitor. (Not to mention, he's living in a Russian apartment which although not my preferred lifestyle, it is still far from being a gulag.)
    - Chris2048 3y ago
      > many people don't believe he did the world a service, and is in fact a traitor. I'm not sure what to respond. Ok, why do people believe that, label him this - what are their arguments? I think the point here is how authorities act, and what they are allowed to get away with. PRISM, apparently, is something they are allowed to get away way. Where are the "traitors" spying on Americans? Or are those all unquestionably "heros"? > he's living in a Russian apartment True, because he managed to escape, and probably is looking over his shoulder a lot in the meanwhile. On the other hand, if he ended up in US custody, we might know very little until "found dead in his cell", which would no doubt be yet another unaccountable accident.

> Nobody is going to jail for saving hundreds of lives Given that Edward Snowden isn't a free man, I doubt this.. where is the "media outcry" there?

rootusrootus 3y ago

He is a free man, he is a citizen of Russia living in Russia. We can speculate on whether he would have been successfully prosecuted and would still be in prison today had he not left the US, but he is definitely not in jail.

Chris2048 3y ago
An American living in exile in Russia isn't free.

edmundsauto 3y ago

I wasn't aware of any direct connection between Snowden's leaks and lives saved. I have seen vague-ish claims from intel communities that he cost lives, but not the other way around. Anything concrete about how he saved lives?

Chris2048 3y ago
It isn't necessary. "How someone who breaks the rules for the sake of greater good" is the relevant metric, whether it pertains to life, health or liberty. Plus, a life in the gulag is pretty much a life lost.
- edmundsauto 3y ago
  Sorry, I thought in your previous comment you were drawing a connection with Snowden due to the "lives saved" quotation you included. With Snowden, it is a lot more complicated - many people don't believe he did the world a service, and is in fact a traitor. (Not to mention, he's living in a Russian apartment which although not my preferred lifestyle, it is still far from being a gulag.)
  - Chris2048 3y ago
    > many people don't believe he did the world a service, and is in fact a traitor. I'm not sure what to respond. Ok, why do people believe that, label him this - what are their arguments? I think the point here is how authorities act, and what they are allowed to get away with. PRISM, apparently, is something they are allowed to get away way. Where are the "traitors" spying on Americans? Or are those all unquestionably "heros"? > he's living in a Russian apartment True, because he managed to escape, and probably is looking over his shoulder a lot in the meanwhile. On the other hand, if he ended up in US custody, we might know very little until "found dead in his cell", which would no doubt be yet another unaccountable accident.