Snowden leaks have not hurt US foreign policy, says UN ambassador Susan Rice

[bemildred]

Source: AP

US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice dismissed claims that Edward Snowden’s highly classified leaks have weakened the Obama presidency and damaged US foreign policy, insisting that the United States will remain “the most influential, powerful and important country in the world”.

Rice’s remarks were her only public ones on Snowden and came in an interview with The Associated Press as she prepared to leave the UN post and start her new job on Monday as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser.

She said it’s too soon to judge whether there will be any long-term serious repercussions from the intelligence leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor who fled to Hong Kong and then Russia after seizing documents disclosing secret US surveillance programmes in the US and overseas, which he has shared with The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers.

“I don’t think the diplomatic consequences, at least as they are foreseeable now, are that significant,” she said.

Read more: http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1271808/snowden-leaks-have-not-hurt-us-foreign-policy-says-un-ambassador-susan

[xchrom]

1. du rec.

[bemildred]

2. Maduro vows to protect ‘brave youth’ Snowden

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reiterated late Thursday his offer to grant asylum to fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, whom he praised as a “brave youth.”

“If that young man needs humanitarian protection and believes that he can come to Venezuela,” then Venezuela “is prepared to protect this brave youth in a humanitarian way and so that humanity can learn the truth,” and his ordeal can end, Maduro said. US authorities want Snowden for leaking details of vast US surveillance programs.

The Kremlin says he has been in the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport since he arrived on a flight from Hong Kong on Sunday, though he has not appeared in public and he failed to board a flight to Havana on Monday.

http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/maduro-vows-to-protect-brave-youth-snowden/

[99th_Monkey]

31. That is awesome & would make Chavez proud (albeit in his grave)

Proud that his legacy of a firey passion for democratic liberties and well-being of
ALL the people, not just the rich and powerful, that this legacy is being carried
forward to challenge draconian Global rule by the super-rich.

[bemildred]

3. Our unlikely man in Moscow takes on Putin over human rights, spying and Snowden

MOSCOW -- As fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden evaded capture in Hong Kong and fled to Moscow, disappearing in an airport transit lounge, U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul was on the front lines of efforts to arrest him.

According to multiple accounts, McFaul tirelessly worked the phones and social media, focusing pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "do the right thing" and hand over the 29-year-old former NSA-contractor. Putin – typically defiant – refused.

It was an odd, confrontational role for a diplomat – but then again, McFaul isn't a typical one.

Ever since the former Stanford University academic and Russia expert arrived – about a year and a half ago – in the Spaso House, the traditional residence for U.S. ambassadors, McFaul has been a lightning rod for Russian anger against the West, and specifically, America.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/29/19176611-our-unlikely-man-in-moscow-takes-on-putin-over-human-rights-spying-and-snowden?lite

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Our 'exprets' on Russia are like Condi Rice.

This one almost spells his name right. McFail.

[bemildred]

6. Just documenting a shift in the a spin.

No longer "we want Snowden back immediately", now "this is all just business as usual", i.e. we've had enough of people laughing at us when we make threats.

And this nice puff-piece about our ambassador, who I would not want to be at the moment.

[bemildred]

4. Is search for Snowden turning into sideshow?

Whisked out of a luxury Hong Kong hotel, vanishing into the mysterious wing of a Moscow airport, Edward Snowden's continent-jumping, hide-and-seek game seems like the stuff of a pulp thriller - a desperate man's drama played out before a worldwide audience trying to decide if he's a hero or a villain.

But the search for the former National Security Agency contractor who spilled government secrets has become something of a distracting sideshow, some say, overshadowing at least for now the important debate over the government's power to seize the phone and Internet records of millions of Americans to help wage the war on terrorism.

"You have to be humble on Day 1 to say, `This isn't about me. This is about the information.'... I don't think he really anticipated the importance of making sure the focus initially was off him," says Mike Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR, a crisis management firm in New York. "Not only has he weakened his case, some would go as far as to say he's gone from hero to zero."

Snowden, he says, can get back on track by "utilizing whatever information he has like big bombs in a campaign," so the focus returns to the question of spying and not his life on the run.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NSA_SURVEILLANCE_SNOWDEN_SIDESHOW?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[flamingdem]

17. Crisis Management Firm?

It's fascinating that there is a business dedicated to "crisis". Snowden could use them right about now!

Thanks for keeping us up to date with these articles bemildred!

[think]

27. The Rendon Group might be available

Wikipedia: Rendon Group

~Snip~

The Rendon Group's work in Kuwait continued after the war itself had ended. 'If any of you either participated in the liberation of Kuwait City ... or if you watched it on television, you would have seen hundreds of Kuwaitis waving small American flags,' John Rendon said in his speech to the NSC. 'Did you ever stop to wonder how the people of Kuwait City, after being held hostage for seven long and painful months, were able to get hand-held American flags? And for that matter, the flags of other coalition countries? Well, you now know the answer. That was one of my jobs.'"[


Full entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendon_Group#Kuwait

[Scuba]

7. In the long run the leaks should help improve our standing in the world ...

We'd have a lot more respect if we were more transparent, more respectful of rights, and behaved less like a drunken bully.

[bemildred]

8. I dunno if we've "hit bottom" yet, doesn't sound like it.

And money, power, and ego in large quantities are all involved.

[JDPriestly]

21. I agree with you, Scuba.

If China and Russia, etc. are also doing this, why shouldn't we admit to it and clean up our program so that it does not repress speech, the press, etc.

The rationale for the program is to protect human rights. This massive collection of data is not necessary for that.

The phone companies have the data that goes back some years. If a case, a criminal case, arises, the government can subpoena that data on a suspect or someone involved in the crime with normal subpoena and a specific court order.

This should be strictly a matter for the courts and the phone companies or internet providers, etc. in specific cases. Neither the government nor any private companies other than a person's phone, internet, cable or similar provider of electronic communications services should have an individual's communications data and hold and keep it without a) getting the permission of the recipient of the communication [in a civil investigation] or b) a FISA court subpoena that specifically explains why the subpoena is needed [in criminal investigations].

Other than that, why would the government or private corporations collect or store data of our private communications.

And I think that the recipient of the data should be the person who decides whether corporations can collect and store this data. I do not want every crazy person who sends me an e-mail or calls me to have access to my data.

Private individuals can already subpoena phone records if they really need them in a civil dispute. But the person whose records are being requested should be given notice and the ability to go to court and object to the request. That's called freedom.

The NSA should know better than this. What are they protecting if they violate our most basic rights to privacy in order to "protect" us?

What do they think they are protecting? Judging from the Boston bombing, the money spent on collecting electronic data about individuals might be better used.

[Scuba]

22. Thanks. It seems there are several here with an agenda trying to justify/divert.

[DCBob]

9. Good. That means there is nothing shocking in those documents.

Its what the leadership in other countries assumed was going on already.

[dipsydoodle]

10. I think she's dreaming.

.

[bemildred]

11. She is being a good diplomat. nt

[monmouth3]

12. I think so too..n/t

[cantbeserious]

13. What Snowden Has Done Is Prove That Our Government Is No Longer Trustworthy By The Citizenry

eom

[BenzoDia]

14. A lot of countries run their own spying programs including in Europe.

They don't care about ours.

[leveymg]

15. On this one thing, we can agree with Rice. The only ones hurt by Snowden are the contractors.

The national interest is, if anything, strengthened by the broadening of debate and informing of the American public that came about because of these leaks and de facto declassification of documents that detail universal domestic spying and profiling by the NSA and other federal agencies.

One can only hope that the good that comes from this is a cutting back of the trillion dollar privatized watching and profiling machine.

[flamingdem]

18. It would be great if the outcome meant the end to contractors having unfettered access

especially in the private arena, and even more with foreign contractors. What were they thinking..

[Hydra]

24. They sure weren't thinking about catching terrorists

Which of course begs the question...why are we wasting all this money on private corps that don't do the background checks correctly, get to look at all of the data if they so desire, and they couldn't prevent the Boston bombing with it?

[totodeinhere]

16. Thank you Ambassador Rice

Finally we are getting a voice of sanity coming out of Washington. We have been getting nonstop doomsday warnings from politicians on both sides of the isle as well as sycophants here at DU who would like nothing better than to fry Edward Snowden. But now we are hearing the truth. Those leaks are not harmful to national security. Rather it is information about the surveillance state that the people need to know.

[flamingdem]

19. My takeaway is that Rice knows many forces would like to undermine the USA and Obama

She's countering that by saying, no cigar folks.

[frontier00]

20. Snow Movie

Last edited Sat Jun 29, 2013, 02:22 PM - Edit history (1)

Snowden Movie

[flamingdem]

25. LOL some Snowdenista blows 10 grand on shitty short film

hoping for publicity and a three picture deal in hollywood, or something!

[Catherina]

34. Very well done. thanks and welcome to DU

[L0oniX]

23. LMAO ...Ok ...whatever. n/t

[WovenGems]

26. Of course not

The world knows about NSA. It is like we just found out and many think the NSA system is like system on "Person Of Interest".

[drynberg]

28. Good short film on the "Snowden Affair"

I thought the end was the best, where Edward's words tell us that he changed nothing and wants the US public to decide if this is the way we want our government to act. I Don't speculate as to the motives or identity of the film maker, but see it as a way for more Americans to be aware of this current crucial chapter in our on-going history...are we concerned enough to fight for our democracy or what?

[frontier00]

29. Susan Rice

After this quote Susan rice is gonna be fired

[99th_Monkey]

30. DING! DING! DING!

My Gawd, it's so refreshing when a appointed official admits to this kind of truth.

My respect for Susan Rice just spiked through the roof.

[Major Hogwash]

32. Well, at least now we know Ecuador doesn't want to be friends with the U.S.

You would have thought that they would have wanted to cooperate more with the country with the largest military in the world.

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

33. "It would considerably damagee relations between the EU and the US" President of the EU Parliament

Der Spiegel also gathered the reaction of European leaders on its site, such as the President of the EU Parliament Martin Schulz, who stated that "if this is confirmed, it's an immense scandal: "It would considerably damagee relations between the EU and the US", he added.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014522472#post7

Sounds like wishful thinking BS to me.

[YOHABLO]

35. Obama's probably got her in his office .. grilling her on that one.

[Ash_F]

36. Yes all those other countries agree the USA is the "most important country in the world"