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He's not still complaining about his passport, is he? Did Assange tell him to say that too? A passport means that the host nation is comfortable with the perso
by mpyne 13y ago
He's not still complaining about his passport, is he? Did Assange tell him to say that too?
A passport means that the host nation is comfortable with the person traveling abroad. For what should be obvious reasons the U.S. would rather he be back home (to stand trial). Even if you disagree with everything the NSA has done or will do, he technically broke the law. If the U.S. considers itself to observe the rule of law, then they have to pursue him as much as they'd pursue anyone else.
The U.S. has stripped persons of their citizenship for things as mundane as fraud, so this is hardly a made-up case for Snowden.
In fact, it's so not made up that there are existing procedures for when a passport may be revoked [1] [2]. Note that despite the foia_reading_room in the URL of [1], it is simply the U.S. Attorney's Manual, which is accessible directly from http://www.justice.gov/usao/index.html http://www.justice.gov/usao/index.html .
[1] http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/15mcrm.htm#9-15.640 http://www.justice.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/tit...
[2] http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html
Edit: Also, since when did a conversation without an exchange of consideration or an agreement to perform certain actions become "wheeling and dealing"? This is the kind of stuff that has turned me off from Assange a long time ago; he's just as willing to distort as a government, as long as it suits his purpose.
- arbuge 13y agoCareful there. Revoking a passport is not the same as stripping a person of their citizenship. The press release itself seems to create some confusion here - Snowden is not stateless because he is still a US citizen, even though he doesn't currently have a passport. Revoking a passport is routine when felony charges are filed. Citizenship on the other hand is much harder to remove, even if the US government had any interest in doing so (it doesn't in this case - it wants him back home). Naturalized citizens can be stripped of citizenship in extreme cases when they're found to have lied on their citizenship applications. I'm not aware of any circumstance in which natural-born citizens can have their citizenship removed without them voluntarily renouncing it first.
- mpyne 13y agoRight. My point was only that the more extreme action (of stripping citizenship) has also occurred. Stripping someone of citizenship would tend to imply revoking of their passport, as it is indeed much more severe.
- iskander 13y ago>The U.S. has stripped persons of their citizenship for things as mundane as fraud, so this is hardly a made-up case for Snowden. For naturalization fraud. That is, if the original basis for citizenship was found to be invalid. Aside from that, it's nearly impossible to "strip" someone of their citizenship, I don't think it's a power that even authoritarian presidencies like Bush & Obama claim to have.