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ProSense

(116,464 posts)
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:15 PM Mar 2014

Snowden: My Leak Has Benefited 'Every Society In The World'

Snowden: My Leak Has Benefited 'Every Society In The World'

At the conclusion of his appearance Monday at SXSW Interactive, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden said he would do it all over again.

Asked if leaking the top secret NSA documents to the public was worth the personal price he has paid, Snowden said that he didn't leak the documents "so I could sort of singlehandedly change the government, tell them what they should do. … What I wanted to do was inform the public."

"The result has been that the public has benefited, the government has benefited, and every society in the world has benefited," Snowden said. "Would I do this again? The answer is absolutely yes."

Snowden was speaking via satellite video with Christopher Soghoian, the American Civil Liberties Union’s principal technologist. The conversation was moderated by Ben Wizner, the director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy & Technology Project and Snowden’s legal advisor.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/snowden-sxsw-benefit-of-leak

Snowden's leak swayed the outcome of the North Korean election: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024638329

Voters broke into song: "I don't how to love him"




61 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Snowden: My Leak Has Benefited 'Every Society In The World' (Original Post) ProSense Mar 2014 OP
It's working great in Syria frazzled Mar 2014 #1
LOL! ProSense Mar 2014 #5
Snowden Says The Government Still Has No Idea What He Gave To Reporters ProSense Mar 2014 #2
He's a border line Tea Bagger Drale Mar 2014 #3
And he himself has no idea what he leaked. brush Mar 2014 #15
snowden is god's gift to greenwald. Cha Mar 2014 #35
" I don't know how to love him" sheshe2 Mar 2014 #42
.. Cha Mar 2014 #47
+1 uponit7771 Mar 2014 #58
Keep on tap-dancing, little buddy. By the way, has anyone seen TwilightGardener Mar 2014 #4
He's now the front runner for the O'Reilly Prize, awarded annualy to the most self-important ... 11 Bravo Mar 2014 #6
Well, he's certainly provided for a lot of amusement at the way the regime playing CYA about the NSA Tierra_y_Libertad Mar 2014 #7
Show me the money.....nt kelliekat44 Mar 2014 #8
You know what makes Snowden a better person than everone else? Blue_Tires Mar 2014 #9
Don't forget.. "The US wants to assassinate me." Cha Mar 2014 #36
With the possible exception of Skull & Bones. KamaAina Mar 2014 #10
He can't open his mouth without exaggerating treestar Mar 2014 #11
If you think his complex is bad now, just wait until Blue_Tires Mar 2014 #14
Or, worse, Benedict Cumberbatch! randome Mar 2014 #23
I'm guessing this is directly relevant to the topic of the NSA and its over-reach LanternWaste Mar 2014 #12
What, you don't like Snowden's quote? ProSense Mar 2014 #13
I didn't read Snowden's quote... LanternWaste Mar 2014 #17
It was hilarious. ProSense Mar 2014 #18
However, it was not about policy I would imagine... LanternWaste Mar 2014 #21
Who cares? I'm laughing at Snowden. ProSense Mar 2014 #22
I'm sure you and he allow it all the credibility it warrants... LanternWaste Mar 2014 #26
LOL! ProSense Mar 2014 #27
Plenty of threads about phone metadata. This one is about Snowden. randome Mar 2014 #20
I keep forgetting the person is more important than than the policy to far too many of the dogmatic LanternWaste Mar 2014 #25
If that isn't true, why do people get so upset when anyone criticizes Snowden? ProSense Mar 2014 #29
Snowden Made it about Snowden.. Always popping Everywhere telling Everyone What Cha Mar 2014 #39
Oooh, ProSense Mar 2014 #16
Snowden's leaks solved the crisis in Syria.... Cali_Democrat Mar 2014 #19
Snowden, hero! n/t ProSense Mar 2014 #31
Snowden's LEAKS have been Crucial to Cha Mar 2014 #55
Maybe Snowden should invest in a containment vessel, Whisp Mar 2014 #24
I thought you were going to refer to Cha Mar 2014 #56
why can't he stfu so the focus can be the NSA? ecstatic Mar 2014 #28
He's still trying for clemency and needs to tell everyone how important he is. ProSense Mar 2014 #32
Kids these days BeyondGeography Mar 2014 #30
Saving the world, one ego at a time. ProSense Mar 2014 #33
Snowden Leaks From Russia.. Cha Mar 2014 #34
LOL! ProSense Mar 2014 #37
Dude's Putin's Tool Now. Cha Mar 2014 #40
18 U.S. Code § 798 - Disclosure of classified information struggle4progress Mar 2014 #38
Guess Snowden feels all cozy and safe in Russia.. Cha Mar 2014 #41
He's probably desperate to get the hell out of there. n/t ProSense Mar 2014 #43
Yeah, but, where to go next.. hmmmm? nt Cha Mar 2014 #48
It has in terms of more secure communications. Luminous Animal Mar 2014 #44
Really, he apparently ProSense Mar 2014 #50
oh my, what an inflated ego that man has. sheshe2 Mar 2014 #45
Obsessive desire to be seen as a hero, i.e.: Narcissism and/or Megalomania nt stevenleser Mar 2014 #46
And your comment merely reveals that you didn't Luminous Animal Mar 2014 #49
It doesn't suggest any such thing. I already believed this from prior statements of his. This just stevenleser Mar 2014 #51
Glenn Greenwald, honored with an Izzy Award, winner of the Polk Award, Luminous Animal Mar 2014 #53
LOL....nt Cali_Democrat Mar 2014 #54
Greenwald is doing great — new media venture, awards and all . . ., brush Mar 2014 #57
+1, this is the biggest tell tale of GG assholeness level... Snowden in the lurch GG raking it in uponit7771 Mar 2014 #59
Winner of the Sam Adams award, Germany's Whistleblower Prize, elected to serve as Rector at the Luminous Animal Mar 2014 #60
So why does he want to come back to the US? brush Mar 2014 #61
Kick! n/t ProSense Mar 2014 #52

frazzled

(18,402 posts)
1. It's working great in Syria
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:24 PM
Mar 2014

Not to mention Egypt. Ukraine still on the fence.

No really, I think the crux of it is all in this statement: " ... so I could sort of singlehandedly change the government." This is delusional. Does he really think he has done this? Or that any single individual ever could?

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
2. Snowden Says The Government Still Has No Idea What He Gave To Reporters
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:28 PM
Mar 2014
Snowden Says The Government Still Has No Idea What He Gave To Reporters

Edward Snowden snuck a little jab at the government into his appearance at SXSW Interactive on Monday.

Asked if it was just a matter of time before the government could decrypt even the best encryption, the former National Security Agency contractor held up his own case as evidence that encryption works to protect data from surveillance.

"The United States government has assembled a massive investigative team" to look into him and his leak of top secret NSA documents, Snowden said. "And they still have no idea what documents were provided to the journalists, what they have, what they don't have. Because encryption works."

Snowden also suggested that encryption has kept the documents he leaked out of the hands of foreign governments, like Russia and China.

<...>

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/snowden-sxsw-documents-encryption

Snowden: The U.S. Government has no idea what I gave to reporters in Russia and China, but encryption has kept the documents he leaked out of the hands of foreign governments, like Russia and China, whose media are state-owned.

Genius!


Drale

(7,932 posts)
3. He's a border line Tea Bagger
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:28 PM
Mar 2014

he thinks that everything he does is going to bring down the government and that he's god's gift to the world. He's a POS and I really don't care what he leaked especially because we already knew what was going on, we just didn't want to admit it to ourselves.

brush

(53,331 posts)
15. And he himself has no idea what he leaked.
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:15 PM
Mar 2014

Last edited Tue Mar 11, 2014, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)

Who does he think he's kidding? He didn't read the terabytes of info either, and on top of that, he no longer has control of it:

(“Snowden … was manic in his thievery, which was exponentially larger than Hanssen’s,” NSA Inspector General George Ellard said at the Georgetown conference. “Robert Hanssen's — the FBI agent who spied for Russia — theft was in a sense finite, whereas Snowden is open-ended as his agents decide daily which documents to disclose. Snowden had no background in intelligence and is likely unaware of the significance of the documents he stole.”)

Seems Greenwald has control, and leaks out dribs of it when he wants to get traffic and attention to his new media venture.

It worked out great for him, not so much for the person who leaked the info that "benefited every society in the world".

(God, that was even hard to type. Don't know if I'm worthy enough to type such an important person's comment).

Cha

(295,517 posts)
47. ..
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 06:03 PM
Mar 2014

Snowden's a savior in his own mind.

snip//

"He handed over documents about American cyber warfare against China — to China. Specifically, Snowden gave the documents to a Hong Kong publication. Perhaps he was emboldened by all of the attention, hero worship and deification he received here. Who knows. Whatever drove him to do it, it was phenomenally irresponsible on a couple of fronts. Not only could he have exacerbated an already dubious international relationship, considering how there appears to be an escalating hacking war between the United States and China, but he also managed to turn numerous Americans against him — Americans who believe he crossed the line from whistleblower to traitor.



TDB

she~

TwilightGardener

(46,416 posts)
4. Keep on tap-dancing, little buddy. By the way, has anyone seen
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:29 PM
Mar 2014

Weird Al Yanukovich, former President of Ukraine? He went to Russia and had a very conveniently-timed "heart attack". Hope he's OK...

11 Bravo

(23,921 posts)
6. He's now the front runner for the O'Reilly Prize, awarded annualy to the most self-important ...
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:37 PM
Mar 2014

schmuck on the planet.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
7. Well, he's certainly provided for a lot of amusement at the way the regime playing CYA about the NSA
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:40 PM
Mar 2014

and what Snowden has revealed about it.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
14. If you think his complex is bad now, just wait until
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:11 PM
Mar 2014

Jake Gyllenhaal signs on to play him in the movie (yes, you know it's coming )

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
23. Or, worse, Benedict Cumberbatch!
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:50 PM
Mar 2014

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"If you're bored then you're boring." -Harvey Danger[/center][/font][hr]

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
12. I'm guessing this is directly relevant to the topic of the NSA and its over-reach
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 03:49 PM
Mar 2014

I'm guessing this is directly relevant to the topic of the NSA and its over-reach, but I'm not clever enough to maintain the connection.

Unless of course, it's simply an OP mocking the individual; but again, not being a very clever guy, I simply don't see the relevant reasons.





Are we suppose to make the conversation turn to Snowden when we're so often told he doesn't matter...?

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
21. However, it was not about policy I would imagine...
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:47 PM
Mar 2014

"It was hilarious..."
However, it was not about policy I would imagine...



Yet as you seem to have a dramatic fixation on the little guy, I'll leave you to him.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
26. I'm sure you and he allow it all the credibility it warrants...
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:52 PM
Mar 2014

I'm sure you and he allow it all the credibility it warrants...

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
20. Plenty of threads about phone metadata. This one is about Snowden.
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:45 PM
Mar 2014

Anyone is fair game for mockery. That's what Americans do best!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
25. I keep forgetting the person is more important than than the policy to far too many of the dogmatic
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:51 PM
Mar 2014

I keep forgetting the person is more important than than the policy to far too many of the dogmatic, and never the twain shall meet in his He's a Hero Club and its mirror, The Petulance of the Person club.


I imagine we do much better than mockery... but rationalizing third-grade petulance as being an adult activity-- well, you're going for the gold there little fella!

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
29. If that isn't true, why do people get so upset when anyone criticizes Snowden?
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 05:06 PM
Mar 2014

I mean, see all your comments in this thread.




Cha

(295,517 posts)
39. Snowden Made it about Snowden.. Always popping Everywhere telling Everyone What
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 05:31 PM
Mar 2014

an Amazing fucking genius he is. Yeah, we get it.. he's fucking god.. in his own head.

 

Cali_Democrat

(30,439 posts)
19. Snowden's leaks solved the crisis in Syria....
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:44 PM
Mar 2014

Who needs the US, the EU or the UN when you've got Snowden?

It's all peaches 'n cream in Syria now.

You rock, Snowden.

 

Whisp

(24,096 posts)
24. Maybe Snowden should invest in a containment vessel,
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:51 PM
Mar 2014

otherwise known as underwear, for those leaky days.

Cha

(295,517 posts)
56. I thought you were going to refer to
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 05:09 AM
Mar 2014

a containment vessel for all the bullshit he spouts.. ad nauseam! lol

ecstatic

(32,532 posts)
28. why can't he stfu so the focus can be the NSA?
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 04:57 PM
Mar 2014

He's almost George Zimmerman-like in his constant comments, etc

Cha

(295,517 posts)
34. Snowden Leaks From Russia..
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 05:24 PM
Mar 2014

BuzzFeed Benny ✔ @bennyjohnson
Follow
Snowden condemning unwanted and illegal government interference in peoples lives from Russia
6:42 AM - 10 Mar 2014 104 Retweets 41 favorites •Reply
•Retweet
•Favorite

TOD

struggle4progress

(117,949 posts)
38. 18 U.S. Code § 798 - Disclosure of classified information
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 05:31 PM
Mar 2014

U.S. Code › Title 18 › Part I › Chapter 37 › § 798

(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information ...
(3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States or any foreign government ...
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both


It sounds to me as if he's admitting disclosures that benefit foreign governments

Cha

(295,517 posts)
41. Guess Snowden feels all cozy and safe in Russia..
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 05:37 PM
Mar 2014

BuzzFeed Benny ✔ @bennyjohnson
Follow
Snowden condemning unwanted and illegal government interference in peoples lives from Russia
6:42 AM - 10 Mar 2014 104 Retweets 41 favorites •Reply
•Retweet
•Favorite

TOD

ProSense

(116,464 posts)
50. Really, he apparently
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 06:23 PM
Mar 2014
The NSA the sort of global mass surveillance that is occurring in all of these countries. Not just the US it is important to remember that this is a global issue. They are setting fire to the future of the internet. The people who are in this room now you guys are all the firefighters and we need you to help us fix this.

...contradicts himself.

The OP quote is delusional.

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
49. And your comment merely reveals that you didn't
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 06:10 PM
Mar 2014

watch the video or read the transcript. If you had, you would know what his comment was in reference to... (Psst. It had to do with increased application of encryption and increased efforts by developers to create user-friendly encryption.)

 

stevenleser

(32,886 posts)
51. It doesn't suggest any such thing. I already believed this from prior statements of his. This just
Mon Mar 10, 2014, 06:24 PM
Mar 2014

reinforced it. I bet if examined a psychiatrist would find he suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
53. Glenn Greenwald, honored with an Izzy Award, winner of the Polk Award,
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 02:57 AM
Mar 2014

speaker in front of Amnesty International. Honored as one of the first inductions into the I.F. Stone Hall of Fame.


brush

(53,331 posts)
57. Greenwald is doing great — new media venture, awards and all . . .,
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 02:21 PM
Mar 2014

Snowden, not so much.

Wonder if Eddie, now holed up in Russia and having to periodically come out and extoll Putin's human rights virtues, is thinking he might have been used just a touch?

uponit7771

(90,193 posts)
59. +1, this is the biggest tell tale of GG assholeness level... Snowden in the lurch GG raking it in
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 03:11 PM
Mar 2014

...Snowden is still an idiot

Luminous Animal

(27,310 posts)
60. Winner of the Sam Adams award, Germany's Whistleblower Prize, elected to serve as Rector at the
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 03:43 PM
Mar 2014

University of Glascow and appointed to the board of directors of Ellsberg's and Greenwald's Freedom of the Press Foundation.

brush

(53,331 posts)
61. So why does he want to come back to the US?
Tue Mar 11, 2014, 05:14 PM
Mar 2014

I'm not a Snowdenista but I do think he did a good thing in exposing the NSA's domestic spying. Where I think he and Greenwald went wrong is in revealing intricacies of our international covert operations.

On everyone of these Snowden threads the Eddie fan's don't seem to want to accept that this is a two-part issue. On the domestic side, imo, he is a legitimate whistle blower.

As far as the international revelations, I say it is not the business of a somewhat naive 29-year-old to make the decision to give away details of his own country's international covert operations. It's that simple. It was not his decision to make, especially when just a few years earlier when Bush was in office he was vehemently against this sort of thing.

When Obama came in, the right-leaning Snowden had a dramatic change of heart that has made him a hero to some progressives. If you want to know more just read the transcripts below from an online correspondence Snowden (TheTrueHOOHA) had with a User19 in 2009:


"This is the background of Snowden and his position on this very issue...

Another topic made him even angrier. The Snowden of 2009 inveighed against government officials who leaked classified information to newspapers – the worst crime conceivable, in Snowden’s apoplectic view. In January of that year the New York Times published a report on a secret Israeli plan to attack Iran. It said that President Bush had ‘deflected’ a request from Israel for specialised bunker-busting bombs to carry out the risky mission. Instead Bush had told the Israelis he had authorised ‘new covert action’ to sabotage Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons programme.

The Times said its story was based on 15 months’ worth of interviews with current and former US officials, European and Israeli officials, other experts and international nuclear inspectors.

TheTrueHOOHA’s response, published by Ars Technica, is worth quoting in full:


<TheTrueHOOHA> HOLYSHIT http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/ washington/11iran.html?_r=1&hp
<TheTrueHOOHA> WTF NYTIMES
<TheTrueHOOHA> Are they TRYING to start a war?
<TheTrueHOOHA> Jesus christ
<TheTrueHOOHA> they’re like wikileaks
<User19> they’re just reporting, dude.
<TheTrueHOOHA> They’re reporting classified shit
<User19> Shrugs
<TheTrueHOOHA> about an unpopular country surrounded by enemies already engaged in a war
<TheTrueHOOHA> and about our interactions with said country regarding planning sovereignty violations of another country
<TheTrueHOOHA> you don’t put that shit in the NEWSPAPER
<User19> Meh
<TheTrueHOOHA> moreover, who the fuck are the anonymous sources telling them this?
<TheTrueHOOHA> those people should be shot in the balls.
<TheTrueHOOHA> ‘But the tense exchanges also prompted the White House to step up intelligence-sharing with Israel and brief Israeli officials on new American efforts to subtly sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a major covert program that Mr. Bush is about to hand off to President-elect Barack Obama.’
<TheTrueHOOHA> HELLO? HOW COVERT IS IT NOW? THANK YOU
<User19> Meh
<TheTrueHOOHA> I wonder how many hundreds of millions of dollars they just completely blew.
<User19> You’re over-reacting. It’s fine.
<TheTrueHOOHA> It’s not an overreaction. They have a HISTORY of this shit
<User19> with flowers and cake.
<TheTrueHOOHA> these are the same people who blew the whole ‘we could listen to osama’s cell phone’ thing the same people who screwed us on wiretapping over and over and over again. Thank God they’re going out of business.
<User19> the NYT?
<TheTrueHOOHA> Hopefully they’ll finally go bankrupt this year. yeah.

A few minutes later the chat continues:


<User19> It’s nice they report on stuff.
<TheTrueHOOHA> I enjoy it when it’s ethical reporting.
<TheTrueHOOHA> political corruption, sure
<TheTrueHOOHA> scandal, yes
<User19> is it unethical to report on the government’s intrigue?
<TheTrueHOOHA> VIOLATING NATIONAL SECURITY? no
<User19> meh.
<User19> national security.
<TheTrueHOOHA> Um,YEEEEEEEEEEEES.
<TheTrueHOOHA> that shit is classified for a reason
<TheTrueHOOHA> it’s not because ‘oh we hope our citizens don’t find out’
<TheTrueHOOHA> it’s because ‘this shit won’t work if iran knows what we’re doing.’
<User19> Shrugs
<TheTrueHOOHA> ‘None would speak on the record because of the great secrecy surrounding the intelligence developed on Iran.’
<TheTrueHOOHA> direct. quote.
<TheTrueHOOHA> THEN WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO REPORTERS?!
<TheTrueHOOHA> ‘Those covert operations, and the question of whether Israel will settle for something less than a conventional attack on Iran, pose immediate and wrenching decisions for Mr. Obama.’
<TheTrueHOOHA> THEY’RE NOT COVERT ANYMORE
<TheTrueHOOHA> Oh you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Now the NYTimes is going to determine our foreign policy?
<TheTrueHOOHA> And Obama?
<TheTrueHOOHA> Obama just appointed a fucking POLITICIAN to run the CIA!
<User11> yes unlike every other director of CIA ever
<User11> oh wait, no
<TheTrueHOOHA> I am so angry right now. This is completely unbelievable.

The ‘fucking politician’ was Leon Panetta, appointed by Obama in 2009 despite his evident lack of intelligence background. The appointment was supposed to draw a line under the intelligence scandals of the Bush years – the renditions, the secret CIA prisons and the illegal wiretapping.


This should be required reading for you Snowden supporters.

Snowden evidently knew of WikiLeaks, a niche transparency website whose story would later intersect with his own. But he didn’t like it. At this point, Snowden’s antipathy towards the New York Times was based on his opinion that ‘they are worse than Wikileaks’. Later, however, he would go on to accuse the paper of not publishing quickly enough and of sitting on unambiguous evidence of White House illegality. These are somewhat contradictory views.

Certainly Snowden’s anti-leaking invective seems stunningly at odds with his own later behaviour. But there is a difference between what the Times arguably did – reveal details of sensitive covert operations – and what Snowden would do in 2013. Snowden nowadays explains: ‘Most of the secrets the CIA has are about people, not machines and systems, so I didn’t feel comfortable with disclosures that I thought could endanger anyone.’"


In 2009 he thought covert operations leakers "should be shot in the balls" (his words). Quite a change in philosophies he had from 2009 to 2013 don't you think?

I know I myself haven't went from being a progressive to a teabagger since 2009, yet Snowden has somehow managed just the reverse of this in his thinking from that of authoritarian right winger to a progressive beacon of human rights.

IMO that just doesn't happen. Obama happened.

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