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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: 2) by pogostix on Thursday July 30 2015, @05:19AM
Interesting, but let's stay in reality instead of making up a case study.
I googled "scope of snowden leak" and clicked on the first 3 results.
Article 1: ------------
• Classified assessment describes impact of leaks as 'grave'
• Report does not include specific detail to support conclusions
Article 2: ------------
"...while the DIA report describes the damage to US intelligence capabilities as “grave”, the government still refuses to release any specific details to support this conclusion."
Article 3: ------------
1. Secret court orders allow NSA to sweep up Americans' phone records
2. PRISM
3. Britain's version of the NSA taps fiber optic cables around the world
4. NSA spies on foreign countries and world leaders
5. XKeyscore, the program that sees everything
6. NSA efforts to crack encryption and undermine Internet security
7. NSA elite hacking team techniques revealed
8. NSA cracks Google and Yahoo data center links
9. NSA collects text messages
10. NSA intercepts all phone calls in two countries
---------------------------------
So journalists covering this have looked for the "grave" consequences of his actions but have not been able to document them. Whereas article 3 shows the amazing amount of bad he exposed.
---------------------------------
So let's google "damage caused by snowden"
It brings back gems like:
Alexander said that broad surveillance efforts on Americans' phone records and on foreign internet usage, disclosed by Snowden, was in line with Americans' expectations for preventing another 9/11.
"These two capabilities helped us form the dots," Alexander said. "I think that's what the American people want us to do."
He thought that's what the citizens wanted him to do? I'm glad it was exposed. The scope of what he uncovered makes me forgive any collateral leaks that were not nessessary.
(Score: 1) by albert on Thursday July 30 2015, @06:21AM
I'll take that as conceding the point.
It's also pretty obvious that nobody is about to goad the NSA into releasing even more sensitive info. You can shout about them not providing evidence all you want, but they really obviously need to resist the temptation to answer you with evidence.
As for that 3rd article with the list, many items are the intended and lawful job of the NSA:
From the moment the agency was founded many decades ago, the primary mission has been to dig into the communications of foreigners. It is to be expected that they actually do this.
Come on now, "spies on foreign countries and world leaders" is clearly legit. The elite hacking team techniques are directly in support of that.
I know that some people don't like the NSA's mission. This is no different from the fact that some people don't like the military's mission, which is literally to kill foreigners. You can dislike the mission all you want, but you still benefit from it. Be glad you have the right to complain. If the US were stupid enough to give up such capability, you'd eventually lose your right to complain due to being conquered.
(Score: 2) by pogostix on Thursday July 30 2015, @06:43AM
yup, we both agree they do some "right" and some wrong. Where does one draw the line? Was Snowden justified in leaking information wholesale to expose the illegal actions of his superiors/agency/government?
Here was one of Obama's campaign promises:
Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.
If I was on Snowdens jury, he'd get a free pass. Sadly, I'm not even sure if he'd get a proper trial. Him coming home could put him in some alternate "justice" system where he is labelled a terrorist.
Are you OK with that? with gitmo? with the government breaking the law? see, it's this larger picture of abuses of authority that make me forgive Snowden... even if you "proved" to me that he leaked a piece of intel that was irrelevant to whistleblowing and illegal to do so and harmful.