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Snowden withdraws Russian asylum bid after Putin says he must 'stop harming' US This title strongly implies that he seeks to harm the US. Let the media maraudi

Snowden withdraws Russian asylum bid after Putin says he must 'stop harming' US This title strongly implies that he seeks to harm the US. Let the media marauding begin. I really don't feel that Snowden looked to harm the US, but rather hold the country he was serving accountable for what it was and still may be doing.

tome 13y ago
At the very least he was indifferent to harming the US government. Despite the opinions of many commentors on HN this is not the same thing as defending the interests of US citizens (or indeed citizens of the world).
- quackerhacker 13y ago
  When I read that title and the source, to me, it just looked like NBC trying rally the general public to defame Snowden's character and view him as having his own interests at heart. I agree with you that Snowden's actions was to reveal what the administration was doing and overreaching in its power. How do you protest our government's action without evidence, reputation, and without being dragged in the general media....it's not possible without looking like a conspiracy theorist. This is why I respect Snowden. He gave up everything... safety, great pay, family... for what he believes in.
brown9-2 13y ago
I still fail to see how revealing intelligence actions by the USG against other countries helps hold them accountable, especially when it is the same sort of thing every other country takes part in.
- quackerhacker 13y ago
  Other countries weren't built on our constitution and bill of rights. I understand why the surveillance was implemented under the Bush admin, since we were fighting an elusive collective (terrorism). What needs to be held accountable is the overreach into violating our civil privacy rights.
camus 13y ago
Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. Let's not shift the blame away from the guilties. And the guilties are those who abuse their power in the name of security, along with those who let it happen ( the entire executive branch and congress basically ). Or would you prefer not to know anything about it ? Obama says there are "checks and balances", there are none. Given the situation today , it's not difficult to imagine what the situation will be 10 years from now. And putting republicans in power wont make a difference. Frankly i dont know if there is any solution to that problem. Politicians never give up willing the power they steal from the people. Good luck america.
- laureny 13y ago
  > Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. We don't know that. And if we were to speculate, we could observe that there have been very few terrorist attacks on the US in the past ten years. I'm not trying to equate correlation and causation here, just pointing out that very few people on the planet are able to assess whether PRISM is beneficial or detrimental to the security of the US.
  - furyofantares 13y ago
    > And if we were to speculate, we could observe that there have been very few terrorist attacks on the US in the past ten years. Is that accurate? The list I found on Wikipedia indicates it is not but perhaps you have a better source of information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States
- mpyne 13y ago
  > Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. PRISM is nothing more than subpoena and warrant compliance in a digital age. Stuff like the mass collection of all internet traffic is far more concerning, but that isn't what PRISM does.

tome 13y ago

At the very least he was indifferent to harming the US government. Despite the opinions of many commentors on HN this is not the same thing as defending the interests of US citizens (or indeed citizens of the world).

quackerhacker 13y ago
When I read that title and the source, to me, it just looked like NBC trying rally the general public to defame Snowden's character and view him as having his own interests at heart. I agree with you that Snowden's actions was to reveal what the administration was doing and overreaching in its power. How do you protest our government's action without evidence, reputation, and without being dragged in the general media....it's not possible without looking like a conspiracy theorist. This is why I respect Snowden. He gave up everything... safety, great pay, family... for what he believes in.

brown9-2 13y ago

I still fail to see how revealing intelligence actions by the USG against other countries helps hold them accountable, especially when it is the same sort of thing every other country takes part in.

quackerhacker 13y ago
Other countries weren't built on our constitution and bill of rights. I understand why the surveillance was implemented under the Bush admin, since we were fighting an elusive collective (terrorism). What needs to be held accountable is the overreach into violating our civil privacy rights.

camus 13y ago

Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. Let's not shift the blame away from the guilties. And the guilties are those who abuse their power in the name of security, along with those who let it happen ( the entire executive branch and congress basically ). Or would you prefer not to know anything about it ? Obama says there are "checks and balances", there are none. Given the situation today , it's not difficult to imagine what the situation will be 10 years from now. And putting republicans in power wont make a difference. Frankly i dont know if there is any solution to that problem. Politicians never give up willing the power they steal from the people. Good luck america.

laureny 13y ago
> Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. We don't know that. And if we were to speculate, we could observe that there have been very few terrorist attacks on the US in the past ten years. I'm not trying to equate correlation and causation here, just pointing out that very few people on the planet are able to assess whether PRISM is beneficial or detrimental to the security of the US.
- furyofantares 13y ago
  > And if we were to speculate, we could observe that there have been very few terrorist attacks on the US in the past ten years. Is that accurate? The list I found on Wikipedia indicates it is not but perhaps you have a better source of information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States
mpyne 13y ago
> Prism has done more harm to the USA that anything Snowden did. PRISM is nothing more than subpoena and warrant compliance in a digital age. Stuff like the mass collection of all internet traffic is far more concerning, but that isn't what PRISM does.