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Source of U.S. intel leak outs himself despite probe threat

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“This is someone who for whatever reason has chosen to violate a sacred trust for this country,”

Yeah, Clapper, because spying on your own people and foreigners using the internet certainly is not a violation of sacred trust or anything.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Clapper said ...

He said he was “profoundly offended” that a disgruntled intelligence officer was a source for the leak to the Post. “This is someone who for whatever reason has chosen to violate a sacred trust for this country,” he said.

I am sure a lot of people are profoundly offended by Clapper's "holy than than thou" attitude that he know whats best for the country and his belief that their right to operate in secrecy without public scrutiny is sacrosanct... it seems the US is happy to wage war in the name of "freedom" in other countries yet does nothing but constrict the same freedoms in its own backyard....

8 ( +11 / -4 )

Weird - He'd said he'd like asylum in a country with a tradition of deep liberalism such as Sweden, yet he outed himself in Hong Kong! Why did he not just go directly to Sweden?

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Edward Snowden, this guy's a hero with cojones of steel.

6 ( +11 / -5 )

"Obama has defended the data trawls, saying America was “going to have to make some choices between balancing privacy and security to protect against terror.'" Benjamin Franklin once said something like those who seek security over liberty usually wind up losing both.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

The Franklin quote is:

" Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

Snowden is a real patriot, defending the liberty of the people from the tyranny of the government.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Benjamin Franklin once said something like those who seek security over liberty usually wind up losing both.

It is not nearly so clear cut. You, I, everyone must compromise on one side or the other every day in most every decision we make.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Let me see if I get this straight....

He started in the Army to "fight for freedom" but got disillusioned because people there just wanted to kill Arabs. So he gets out after an injury and finds a new job.

With the CIA?????? Because people disillusioned with the government often get right back on that horse, apparently. There he gets....disillusioned. So he moves on.

To the freaking NSA??????????? Seriously? I don't think disillusioned means what he thinks it means. So he "outs" everyone and seeks out a place that has a "spirited community of political dissent."

CHINA??????????????? heh. Really?? The Guardian reports that he's in a hotel room ordering room service and he's worried the US government is going to send the Triads after him to knock him off. Seriously.

If you guys want to question the government, so be it. But, at the very least, question what these guys are saying as well. Stop giving them a free pass because they mention the word "freedom." George Bush followers did that as well.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

@JeavValJean. Thanks for the quote!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It doesn't add up at least until now, I agree. This guy Snowden is claiming to have the ability to perform certain actions and disclose certain information that no NSA contractor in Hawaii would possibly have access to. And why this didn't come out before the election when he supposedly didn't even vote for the president is incredible. It took 5 years to realize that Obama wasn’t going to stop it?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Any person who has a security clearance knows that he or she has an obligation to protect classified information and abide by the law.

That includes people like Obama and Clapper, right?

This is someone who for whatever reason has chosen to violate a sacred trust for this country.

Naah, this brave man is a hero, because he warned this country that its government has violated the sacred trust.

Obama has defended the data trawls, saying America was "going to have to make some choices between balancing privacy and security to protect against terror."

Actually Obama never let the American people make that choice!

Also very troubling is that the companies contracted to do the spying are Israeli. Do Americans (and the rest of the world) want to be spied on by Israel?

-10 ( +4 / -14 )

He is a true patriot. "to defend the country against all enemies, foreign and domestic". It seems like the government, manipulated by secret societies, is becoming the enemy of the citizens. Do not know who the enemy is these days.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

So many silly Americans here crying for this traitor!! The second the USA gets hit by terrorists the same Americans go and complain why the US govt. did not know about XYZ terrorist group etc.. Sorry folks! You cannot have it both ways! Sure stop spying against terrorists and hope they never attack us again? Keep on smoking your underwear!!

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

@Super

If you guys want to question the government, so be it. But, at the very least, question what these guys are saying as well. Stop giving them a free pass because they mention the word "freedom." George Bush followers did that as well.

Personally, I really didn't have a problem with the Patriot Act or that the NSA wanted to listen in on my calls, I understood why they were doing it and I was ok with it. I don't have anything to hide, but the Obama admin. has put this thing on steroids and totally morphed it into something more, spying on political opponents, passing off the personal information to the IRS and I remember a few years back when a then campaigning Obama said, that he wanted to be different from the Bush admin. was against wire tapping and all the other bla, bla, bla and championed to be THE most transparent President in US history! Holder going after news journalist and then every time Obama or Holder get caught, for some reason it was either NOT their fault or they have some deep-rooted memory lapse and don't know anything. Well, so much for that.

-6 ( +3 / -8 )

“Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -F.D.R (1941 The Four freedoms).

3 ( +4 / -1 )

His name is Edward Snowden

0 ( +0 / -0 )

He'd said he'd like asylum in a country with a tradition of deep liberalism such as Sweden, yet he outed himself in Hong Kong! Why did he not just go directly to Sweden?

=Didn't work for Julian Assange.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I think everyone should go The Guardian's website and see Snowden's interview. It's truly remarkable what he has done. Hope it leads to some much needed change in the way the governments around the world operate.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"Leaks of this nature do irreperable damage to our efforts to keep America safe and put in danger our loyal staff around the world."

could you comment on the specifics of what incidents these leaks have caused?

"Uh......ahh...that's classified."

1 ( +3 / -2 )

bass4funk: "Personally, I really didn't have a problem with the Patriot Act or that the NSA wanted to listen in on my calls, I understood why they were doing it and I was ok with it. I don't have anything to hide, but the Obama admin. has put this thing on steroids and totally morphed it into something more, spying on political opponents, passing off the personal information to the IRS and I remember a few years back when a then campaigning Obama said, that he wanted to be different from the Bush admin. "

So in other words you have no problem with what's being done except when you don't agree with the person doing it. Hmmm....

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He said he had gone public because he could not “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.”

As I have said elsewhere, the dilemma of a society like the U.S. trying to run a surveillance system like the one described is that it requires very highly skilled and intelligent people whose thinking and values may not be limited to the box that government authorities would prefer it to be. Certainly not in the age of Wikileaks and social networking.

This is one reason why I tend to respect the whistle-blower.

As for the Franklin quote and giving up an "essential liberty," I don't believe that anyone is entitled to confidential communications over public airspace unless they've taken measures to encrypt their own communications. That companies make attempts to keep communications secure and confidential is laudable and in their favor. But I don't delude myself into thinking that it's something I'm entitled to.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

So in other words you have no problem with what's being done except when you don't agree with the person doing it. Hmmm....

For the most part, bass4funk and I agree on just about everything. On this though, I strongly disagree. What the NSA is doing, is nothing less then spitting on the 4th amendment. It should never have happened. This guy is a hero, for exposing the vile corrupt actions of the Federal Government. Certainly, he should qualify for whistle-blower status. Regardless though, given the other revelations of the Federal Government, it is becoming more and more clear, that the Government, and its power need to be more vigorously restrained.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I don't believe that anyone is entitled to confidential communications over public airspace unless they've taken measures to encrypt their own communications.

Yabits, what part of "metadata" do you not understand? The government is NOT recording what you say; they ARE recording who you contact, when, and for how long. Encrypt all you'd like; it would not make a sliver of difference to the system.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Its the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Suggestions.

This government (and the previous) have shown that they cannot be trusted to obey the constitution. Get rid of them (ideally put them in jail too).

-8 ( +2 / -10 )

Be sure that everybody who already wrote the "a" + "s" + "n" in his comment is ..already screened and real identity and address identified (which is not difficult since FB, recently now, disclose your post location for every single post without asking any permission whatsoever ;)

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

This guy should just run for a position in the UN (United Nations) -That way he can protect himself from these eavesdropping criminals that are hell-bent to destroy him. Second best option would be a non-Globalist country like Iceland, Iran, Venezuela, Syria (in that order) that can actually offer some protection. Third best option is any large liberal US city with a crime problem (Detroit, Chicago etc) -the type the police will not even visit because they are afraid or getting shot.

Makes me sick to my stomach to see a American Hero and Patriot forced to leave this once great nation. I would expect a ton of crazy judicial and media accusations (claims) to follow also. When did it become a crime to report the truth? He should be protected under the whistle-blower laws and actually has a monetary right to a percentage of this secret illegal (un-Constitutional) program that should be scrapped.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

While I agree with some of Snowdens exposure it is not good to let EVERYONE know since those who do have something to hide will now take more measures to proceed with less detectable measures to advance their own agendas. Those who are doing terrorist activities will attempt to learn new methods to fly below the radar.

I can see US intelligence spying on people that have their activities flagged for monitoring due to extremely suspicious activities that could do severe damage to the country. But also don't see how any such program can moniter over 300million+ people when you only have about at most a few hundred thousand employees and an even smaller amount of those employees charged with monitoring internet and phone activity. So for the conspiracy theorists who believe the US government is monitoring right this moment, unless you've done something suspicious like send out bomb threats, threatened to kill a public official, or assassination, you shouldn't be worried about them monitoring you. There just isn't the manpower to single out every single US citizen and listen to every little thing they do online or phone calls.

Just make sure to protect your rights when needed, which is now.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

While I don't consider it a "sacred trust" - let's face it, God couldn't care less about the ridiculous secrets the various countries keep from each other - I DO consider it a violation of the trust the nation put in this guy and the company he works for - Booz Allen Hamilton. I hope he considered the effect such an action would have on his coworkers, but I doubt it. Contracts are about to be terminated and Booz Hamilton is probably going to be shut-out of any future security contract bids... at least for the foreseeable future. I wonder how many of his former co-workers would love to get him into a sound-proofed, locked room right now?

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Assange is probably fuming now.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The government is NOT recording what you say; they ARE recording who you contact, when, and for how long.

For one, the phone company is already recording that information and has been for years. It's their system, unless you want to make it into a total public-owned utility, which we then can, through laws, compel to prohibit the keeping of such records.

Would you be in favor of the government forcing a company not to keep its own records? How about prohibiting the government from asking the company for such records for any reason? Those questions, it appears to me, are at the top of the slippery slope that got us here.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Molenir: "Certainly, he should qualify for whistle-blower status. Regardless though, given the other revelations of the Federal Government, it is becoming more and more clear, that the Government, and its power need to be more vigorously restrained."

For a change we agree, although as an addendum I'd like to add that being more vigorously restrained is not at all limited to one party (and you never said it was -- I am just making the point, since your comment was in response to my comment about what bass4funk said). What's happening now has been happening for ages -- the technology is just a little better.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This guy is an idiot!! Traitor!!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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