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White House spokeswoman and Presidential Advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco issued a response to the petition that Edward Snowden receive immunity from any laws he may have broken and be allowed to return to the USA as a free man. Her statement reasserted the Administration's position that Snowden is a criminal, running away from the consequences of his actions and should return to the USA to stand trial (and inevitably serve out the rest of his life in solitary confinement).
The full text of the response:
Thanks for signing a petition about Edward Snowden. This is an issue that many Americans feel strongly about. Because his actions have had serious consequences for our national security, we took this matter to Lisa Monaco, the President's Advisor on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism. Here's what she had to say:
Since taking office, President Obama has worked with Congress to secure appropriate reforms that balance the protection of civil liberties with the ability of national security professionals to secure information vital to keep Americans safe.
As the President said in announcing recent intelligence reforms, "We have to make some important decisions about how to protect ourselves and sustain our leadership in the world, while upholding the civil liberties and privacy protections that our ideals and our Constitution require."
Instead of constructively addressing these issues, Mr. Snowden's dangerous decision to steal and disclose classified information had severe consequences for the security of our country and the people who work day in and day out to protect it.
If he felt his actions were consistent with civil disobedience, then he should do what those who have taken issue with their own government do: Challenge it, speak out, engage in a constructive act of protest, and -- importantly -- accept the consequences of his actions. He should come home to the United States, and be judged by a jury of his peers -- not hide behind the cover of an authoritarian regime. Right now, he's running away from the consequences of his actions.
We live in a dangerous world. We continue to face grave security threats like terrorism, cyber-attacks, and nuclear proliferation that our intelligence community must have all the lawful tools it needs to address. The balance between our security and the civil liberties that our ideals and our Constitution require deserves robust debate and those who are willing to engage in it here at home.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by liquibyte on Wednesday July 29 2015, @04:21AM
Correct me if I'm wrong here but didn't he try to go through proper channels and was ignored or rebuffed?
Civil disobedience requires being disobedient to a law that, while unjust, is legal. The disobedience here was against an out of control government bent on collecting information on every single person within the borders of the United States and therefore highly illegal. Unconstitutional is another word for illegal, remember that. Since the perview of the NSA is under the auspices of the executive branch, should we not be calling for the impeachment of all of those involved in this illegal activity.
We also continue to face spineless politicians that say one thing and do another and yet are never held accountable for their actions even in the face of blatantly and overtly breaking the law. Fuck these people. Every single one of them deserves prison for the rest of their lives. I have no idea the level of narcissism required to double speak like this and still go home to your family at night, look them in the eyes and act like there isn't a huge malignancy rotting our country from the top down. When the true economic crash comes, I hope all their neighbours realize what these people did to cause it all and take appropriate action to eliminate them from the gene-pool. Scumbags every one.
(Score: 2) by CirclesInSand on Wednesday July 29 2015, @11:27AM
"Going through the right channels" is what you do when your CO is stealing staples.
It is not what you do to deal with secret (against the suffering of military incarceration) institutionalized abuse of a country by its military, despite the clear constitutional violations present.
The proper response is the press and the better discretion of the country's citizens. It's our opinion that matters, not the military.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 29 2015, @02:44PM
"abuse of a country by its military"
Let me be clear about one thing here: It is NOT the military which is collecting all of this information on Tom, Jane, and Baby Jessica. The military doesn't give one small damn about any of them. It is GOVERNMENT which is collecting the data. The GOVERNMENT is afraid of the people. The GOVERNMENT is afraid of the consequences of it's overbearing attitudes around the world.
There have been some military figures associated with all this governmental spook bullshit, like Alexander, and Gates. But, the NSA is not part of the military, the CIA is not part of the military, the FBI is not part of the military - in fact NONE OF THESE AGENCIES INVOLVED IN DATA COLLECTION ARE PART OF THE MILITARY.
Please, do NOT spread the rumor that the military is part of all this idiocy.
I don't believe that the military even has any real part in the rather despicably spying on our allies. I mean, WTF would any field grade officer give a damn what kind of music Merkel likes? Or how she parts her hair? Or who she's sleeping with? None of that crazy shit has any appeal to the military mind. This is almost entirely civilian run.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 29 2015, @03:32PM
Most of the people in the NSA don't care about that stuff either. What they do care about is identifying and suppressing those who challenge the status quo (like MLK, whistleblowers, protestors, etc.). The 'average' person has little to fear unless the government mistakes them for one of their actual targets, or they make some sort of joke that the government will misinterpret (i.e. "I'm going to bomb an airport because my plane was late!").
And this is one of the problems: Most people don't care unless they're personally being abused. They have trouble feeling empathy for others, and feel that the authorities must always be right.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday July 29 2015, @04:40PM
I can support this distinction. The military comprises a lot of people with a lot of viewpoints. But a more important issue is raised here: at what point do the rank-and-file share or escape culpability with clear institutional crimes? The NSA has formed itself into the existential threat to freedom in the world. They have betrayed every trust placed in them. They have ignored our most sacred laws. Maybe many of them were ignorant of that pre-Snowden, but now how can they be? Can we now judge, justly, each and every one of them who has stayed or not leaked information about the NSA's crimes to be accessories to that crime?
I say yes.
If laws are not followed, then they are not laws but suggestions. If we have Constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure, and any branch of the government chooses to not follow those, then they must be cut off, mulched, and burned to ashes. They must be utterly destroyed. Period. Else, there is no law, and no freedom, and our entire country is a mockery of the concept of freedom.
Washington DC delenda est.