The thrust of this article seems to hinge on the apparent contradiction of Gen. Keith Alexander saying that Snowden leaks jeopardize lives while at the same tim

The thrust of this article seems to hinge on the apparent contradiction of Gen. Keith Alexander saying that Snowden leaks jeopardize lives while at the same time the published revelation (sourced from the NSA) that there exists secret NSA operation to monitor communications in Iraq. It seems that this mischaracterizes what Gen. Alexander says in the linked article. In that article he says that there is a possibility that some of the information Snowden may or may not have leaked to the press (and which might be published in the future) could cost people their lives. Not that any secret information about NSA operations will cost people their lives. So, a bit cynical perhaps as he's basically saying only the NSA can make the judgement call about what information is "safe" to leak (thus avoiding accountability,) but this isn't really a contradiction. A larger issue one might take with Alexander's words is that Snowden only sent the information to media organizations; it's up to them what and how much to publish. The NSA could attempt to protect lives that are at stake by offering feedback to these news organizations about Snowden leak stories before they're published to let them know which specific parts, if published, might endanger lives.