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Claiming that Snowden has aided al Qaeda et al is as ridiculous as the notion that if you smoke cannabis you're funding terrorists!

by D9u 13y ago

threeseed 13y ago
Of course Snowden has assisted al Qaeda. It's ridiculous to argue otherwise. The free release of information will always help the "good" and "bad" sides. Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.
- astrodust 13y ago
  The lengths that Osama Bin Ladin had gone to, completely avoiding electronic communication, speaks to how much is already known or presumed about the NSA's capabilities. Snowden just told the everyman what the shadowy figures already knew.
- cinquemb 13y ago
  But in all honesty, the whole "aiding terrorists" line of reasoning for national security™ is but a mere distraction for the general population used on state adversaries as they pop up in ad-hoc fashion, because when the state does it, the distracted population doesn't care: "Supporters of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing “due process rights” as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending."[0] [0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-found-with-u-s-contracts-in-afghanistan.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-fo...
- acdha 13y ago
  > Of course Snowden has assisted al Qaeda. It's ridiculous to argue otherwise. That's definitely the official party line but there's no reason to believe it's true. For a decade before his death there was a constant stream of news stories talking about how he and other top al Qaeda leaders used disposable phones, had trusted family members hand-courier messages, used code/slang to make messages harder to understand, changed locations frequently, etc. because they knew that the US had the ability to intercept their messages, as did anyone who had read a newspaper or watched a movie made in the last few decades. The only news in the Snowden leaks was that these capabilities were being used on such a wide scale and that the NSA was willing to weaken everyone's security to make such large-scale wiretapping earlier. That came as a surprise to many in the tech industry because it was both risky and unnecessary for traditional targeted intercepts but it shouldn't have been for anyone who'd been paying attention in the 90s when things like the Clipper chip or other mandated government key access schemes.
a3n 13y ago
If your cannabis was grown in Mexico or the California Redwood forests then it's very possible that the money you spent went to drug cartel terrorists. And yes, hanging corpses from overpasses sounds like terrorism to me. If your cannabis was grown by a nice American farmer then you're good. Hard to know how you can know that, though.
- WalterSear 13y ago
  It's very easy, actually - the quality difference is substantial. If it's shit, don't buy it.

Claiming that Snowden has aided al Qaeda et al is as ridiculous as the notion that if you smoke cannabis you're funding terrorists!

by D9u 13y ago

Claiming that Snowden has aided al Qaeda et al is as ridiculous as the notion that if you smoke cannabis you're funding terrorists!

threeseed 13y ago

Of course Snowden has assisted al Qaeda. It's ridiculous to argue otherwise. The free release of information will always help the "good" and "bad" sides. Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

astrodust 13y ago
The lengths that Osama Bin Ladin had gone to, completely avoiding electronic communication, speaks to how much is already known or presumed about the NSA's capabilities. Snowden just told the everyman what the shadowy figures already knew.
cinquemb 13y ago
But in all honesty, the whole "aiding terrorists" line of reasoning for national security™ is but a mere distraction for the general population used on state adversaries as they pop up in ad-hoc fashion, because when the state does it, the distracted population doesn't care: "Supporters of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan have been getting U.S. military contracts, and American officials are citing “due process rights” as a reason not to cancel the agreements, according to an independent agency monitoring spending."[0] [0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-found-with-u-s-contracts-in-afghanistan.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/al-qaeda-backers-fo...
acdha 13y ago
> Of course Snowden has assisted al Qaeda. It's ridiculous to argue otherwise. That's definitely the official party line but there's no reason to believe it's true. For a decade before his death there was a constant stream of news stories talking about how he and other top al Qaeda leaders used disposable phones, had trusted family members hand-courier messages, used code/slang to make messages harder to understand, changed locations frequently, etc. because they knew that the US had the ability to intercept their messages, as did anyone who had read a newspaper or watched a movie made in the last few decades. The only news in the Snowden leaks was that these capabilities were being used on such a wide scale and that the NSA was willing to weaken everyone's security to make such large-scale wiretapping earlier. That came as a surprise to many in the tech industry because it was both risky and unnecessary for traditional targeted intercepts but it shouldn't have been for anyone who'd been paying attention in the 90s when things like the Clipper chip or other mandated government key access schemes.

a3n 13y ago

If your cannabis was grown in Mexico or the California Redwood forests then it's very possible that the money you spent went to drug cartel terrorists. And yes, hanging corpses from overpasses sounds like terrorism to me. If your cannabis was grown by a nice American farmer then you're good. Hard to know how you can know that, though.

WalterSear 13y ago
It's very easy, actually - the quality difference is substantial. If it's shit, don't buy it.