Edward Snowden (Guardian)Yahoo News reports
The source of the intelligence leaks that revealed the National Security Agency's massive domestic surveillance program last week was identified on Sunday by the Guardian and Washington Post as Edward Snowden, a soft-spoken 29-year-old former technical assistant for the CIA and current employee of NSA defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.
Snowden, a Hawaii resident who was interviewed by the U.K. newspaper in his hotel room in Hong Kong where he is hiding, said he has no regrets about going public—even if he never sees his family again.
"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things," Snowden said. "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under ... I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
In a statement, Booz Allen confirmed Snowden "has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months":
News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.The White House declined to comment on the identification of the NSA leaker, according to a press pool report.
Snowden said he decided to leave his family, girlfriend and a comfortable, $200,000-a-year salary behind, and flew to Hong Kong on May 20. He said he chose China because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent."
Now that's a helluva statement. China? What do you think about that?
Please leave a comment.
He was making such good sense, right up till the end. Perhaps the last bit is a recognition that the Chinese will only protect him if he sings the right tune.
ReplyDeleteStill, this is someone who--if he's for real--may go down in history as a hero.
Hasn't Hong Kong maintained a lot of their liberties even after China took over?
ReplyDeleteSomething similar happened way back with Robert Williams, the author of "Negros With Guns". When local law enforcement brought up charges of kidnapping against him after saving the very people he was accused of kidnapping from an angry mob, he ended up fleeing to Canada and eventually to Cuba, and at one point China.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to say whether he really believed what he advocated when broadcasting anti-American rants or if this was the price he had to pay for their protection.
When you read about the Jim Crow South, its suprising that more people that lived through it dont have a bad taste in their mouths about the "justice" meted out with the support of the Democrats in power at the time.
I think Greg hit the nail on the head: the Chinese will protect him, as a way of sticking a finger in our eye, but he has to do something for them. Hopefully that's only kissing their asses like this and not giving them every secret he knows, which would take him from whistleblower to traitor pretty damn quick.
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