Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Edward Snowden: Hero or Traitor?
By Tom Kando
What a mess! Opinions range from admiration for Snowden to loathing. Some worry about the potential harm he has done, while others are ecstatic about America’s worldwide embarrassment.
First, let me disqualify the sadistic anti-Americans who are orgasmic about the US government’s current troubles. They are the same knee-jerk zealots who danced in the streets on 9/11, arguing that 3000 American deaths pale compared to the dozens of thousands who die every month in the Middle East, in Africa and elsewhere. As if one made the other right. Americans do not dance in the streets when thousands of people are pulverized in a foreign country.
Now don’t get huffy. I am no right-wing apologist for the increasingly Orwellian practices of the US government. All I am saying is: Please! Can we look at this in a nuanced fashion?
True, it is a sad day when Americans have to flee their country to find refuge in places like China and Russia! What a terrible reversal. Have we not always been the haven for the freedom loving people and refugees of the world? Now, people like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are fleeing FROM America, seeking political asylum in places like Russia! Has the world turned upside down?
Question, then: Is Edward Snowden a hero/martyr or a villainous traitor? Many of you may already have made up your mind. But to me, the situation does not seem quite so simple.
I agree that the growing secret surveillance of the population by government agencies such as the FBI, the NSA and the CIA is a horrific and fascistoid trend. In principle, I welcome such things as Assange’s Wikileaks and now Snowden’s leaks.
But then, we get into the details. The specifics of Snowden’s behavior: He flees to places like China, Russia, maybe Cuba or Venezuela. These are all bad places. America may have developed some mild Orwellian symptoms, but you cannot seriously equate the levels of political freedom in the US with those countries! Plus, Snowden is reported to have given China and Russia some pretty important secrets about whom and how our government spies on theirs. This seems very wrong to me. Those two countries are long-term geopolitical adversaries. We know that they spy on the US massively. They will always pursue interests diametrically opposed to ours.
Maybe Snowden has no choice? Maybe he can only expect safe haven from of our adversaries? Maybe. This surely diminishes him.
More importantly: What about political reality? President Obama stated things succinctly: (1) We cannot remain on a permanent war footing; the so-called war on terror must come to an end. (2) at the same time, we must strike a balance between freedom and security. There are many people and regimes that wish great harm to the governments and to the people of the US, the UK and other western countries. On June 24, ten innocent mountain climbers were murdered by Pakistani terrorists, only because they were Europeans.
Shit happens - often. Are western governments/societies forbidden to protect themselves?
You can’t look at this situation purely in black and white. OF COURSE Guantanamo should be shut down. OF COURSE it’s absurd for the NSA to collect Verizon’s 3 billion daily telephone calls. These leaks have brought to the fore the urgent need to change course. The government’s spying upon us is out of control.
But don’t go haywire: America is not a police state. We remain a free society. And Obama’s admonition that we need to strike a balance between freedom and security is not a pseudo-issue.
And what about Edward Snowden? Maybe his motives were good, but many of his actions have been foolish and harmful, with no regard for consequences. Embarrassing and weakening the Obama administration at a time when it is already in deep doo doo on so many fronts cannot help.
I hope that the US authorities exercise mercy if and when they nab Snowden, but I doubt that they will. So the next best thing for Snowden would be to find refuge in some benign country such as Iceland. While I agree with him that our government is spying on us too much, I reject the view that America is close to being a Gestapo-like society (as some of my radical friends here and in Europe believe), and Snowden’s way is not the right way. leave comment here
16 comments:
Snowden is a coward, pure and simple. Instead of going to Congress, or any Republican, with his info and taking the knocks for it, he does it from a foreign country where he is protected. Oh yes, he is a coward and a traitor.i hope we do not treat him nicely for how he did what he did, not for what he did.
Tom, you took the words out of my mouth. I was going to add my view on the Snowden affair to the long list of things I am ambivalent about. I wasn't exactly sure how to formulate my reasons, but you did it for me. Thanks!
I agree on almost your whole post, except for your conclusion that Snowden's way is wrong.
It might be the only way, because the way anonymous above suggests will obviously not create an open debate.
So right or wrong? I can not make a conclusion at this point in time.
Thanks for the comments. Predictably, opinions range, as I said, from severe condemnation of Snowden, to (some) sympathy for him. What's good about this is that the debate is now indeed under way.
I believe that what Snowdon did was wrong. He is a coward for gravitating toward our political foes and taking cover under their protection. I have no sympathy for him. If he truly believes this is a matter of conscience, why doesn't he stand up and face our justice system? If every citizen with security clearance decided to arbitrarily disclose top secret information, where would we be as a country?
Tom, thanks for your carefully considered views on Snowden. Until we know the nature of the information that he has revealed, it is not appropriate to judge him fully. He may or may not be a hero, but he is certainly a brave man, since he knows that his life is now in danger. We can, however, safely conclude that Anonymous is a coward, pure and simple, because he hides his identity. Very likely, he is a conservative Republican. He knows very well what the NSA, the FBI or the CIA would do to Snowden if they could catch him. In fact, Anonymous probably worked for one of those agencies himself, and would be glad to get rid of Snowden himself. Perhaps, Tom, the time has come for you to require those who comment on your blog to identify themselves. Why should anyone listen to a coward?
Snowden was adamant that Guardian editors go through the document and only publish what served the public’s right to know. “Snowden himself was vehement from the start that we do engage in that journalistic process and we not gratuitously publish things,”
Snowden did not wish to publicize information that gave the technical specifications or blueprints for how the NSA constructed its eavesdropping network.
“He was very insistent he does not want to publish documents to harm individuals or blow anyone’s undercover status,”
http://goo.gl/mSW19
Tom, you have captured the essence of the issue. As Snowden himself indicated, he is neither a hero, nor a traitor. Obviously, the US government has to charge him if they can find him and extradite him. The real question, which I don't think anyone has answered, is why does all this stuff (and the Wiki Leaks) have to be classified in the first place. I asked the same thing as a soldier in Vietnam attached to an intelligence unit, in which we stamped every piece of paper as "secret" that entered our domaine, then we had to go burn it. (there were no shredders in those primitive times)
It is unfortunate, but the political realism and power politics in foreign affairs that began with the Cold War, is now becoming the culture of our government regarding domestic citizens. This is in part a result of the waning influence of traditional Western values on American culture and the inability to officially agree on nearly anything except pluralism. This value vacuum is accompanied by less respect for human life and human rights.
I was personally mortified when Pres. Bush created Homeland (fatherland?) Security, and Pres. Obama boasted about taking out bin Laden by assassination. Now the Army accepts collateral casualties in drone strikes based on some rational calculus. This is all way overboard.
There are always going to be deaths here and there, but the Boston Police did more the Homeland Security to catch the Marathon Bombers. It is better to decentralize police efforts in order for the police to have greater personal identification with the people. The founders were correct not to want standing federal armies, but to requisition state militias on loan. They are better able to serve the people, because they identify with them, rather than see them as opponents.
"Coward and traitor"
Hey Tom, I hate to give you a compliment, of course, but you have composed the most well-balanced and fairest assessment of this situation that I've seen yet. Talk to you soon
Thank you all for your comments.
B.J. has a valid point, but so does Frank.
I share Gene’s sentiments about anonymity, but I fear that requiring commentators to identify themselves would greatly reduce the conversation on our blog.
Mike’s perspective is very helpful, and how can I disagree with Don’s compliments?
Gordon’s focus is, as often in the past, on “decentralization.”
Mary: stop beating around the bush and state clearly what you mean (joke)
I believe that we need people willing to expose what the government is doing in secret that affects private citizens without due process. That is one of the basic premises of our government and justice system. They should not be allowed to simply do a "sweep" to see what we are doing. So, though not a hero for sharing stuff with our political adversaries, good for him for hopefully opening a few more eyes to the way our government is handling things these days.
Apprehend him and prosecute him. He has endangered our efforts to discover terrorists by tracking their contacts. No threat to our privacy since conversations are not kept. And then this coward runs off to China and Russians, bastions of privacy , free press and human rights. What hypocrisy.
Thanks for your comments, Amendment Guy and Henry.
I'm like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof: you are both right!
Incidentally, today's news: The Europeans (Germans, etc.) are really pissed at us for spying on them. So, right or wrong, there is indeed no end to the troubles Snowden is causing...
Hi Tom - At this late date, I’ve just read your blog on the subject of Snowden. While I admire his courage to try to change things wrong with the USA in a big way, I don’t agree with his methodology. It’s too simplistic and on so many levels, he is just plain wrong. I too have some close associations with the happy free-wheeling extreme liberal thinking in CA, my son being just one.
As always, I appreciate your blogs & I most often agree with you. Keep them coming!
Best regards
Post a Comment
Please limit your comment to 300 words at the most!