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In reply to the discussion: A reminder...Snowden had NO ALTERNATIVE but to go to Russia. [View all]Finally....
1. Snowden barely made it out of Hong Kong only because Wikileaks intervened.
2. Snowden already had a plane ticket out of Russia when the US government revoked his passport.
He hadn't intended to stay in Russia. -- TIME 41:20
1. Snowden barely made it out of Hong Kong only because Wikileaks intervened.
2. Snowden already had a plane ticket out of Russia when the US government revoked his passport.
He hadn't intended to stay in Russia. -- TIME 41:20
...spin. From the piece posted here (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024896931)
WikiLeaks ✔ @wikileaks
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Germany blocks #Snowden - why we advised #Snowden to take Russia. Not safe elsewhere: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/germany-edward-snowden-nsa-inquiry donate: http://freesnowden.is/
9:39 AM - 1 May 2014
Follow
Germany blocks #Snowden - why we advised #Snowden to take Russia. Not safe elsewhere: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/germany-edward-snowden-nsa-inquiry donate: http://freesnowden.is/
9:39 AM - 1 May 2014
That's a much different claim from the bogus implication that he was forced to go there and they were simply escorting him. Snowden may not have wanted to go to Russia as claimed, but the fact is that he appears not to have had a choice since the group that paid for his accommodations and flight "advised" him to go to Russia.
Fugitive National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden is now traveling and lodging at the expense of WikiLeaks, according to the groups founder, Julian Assangea move that lawyers say could expose the whistleblowing organization to new legal charges.
WikiLeaks paid for Snowdens travel from Hong Kong to Moscow, his lodging, and also his legal counsel, Assange said on a call with reporters Monday in response to a question from The Daily Beast.
It is correct we paid for those arrangements, said Assange, who declined to specify Snowdens current whereabouts. No government or other organization assisted."
- more -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/24/wikileaks-foots-the-bill-for-snowden-s-global-escapades.html
WikiLeaks paid for Snowdens travel from Hong Kong to Moscow, his lodging, and also his legal counsel, Assange said on a call with reporters Monday in response to a question from The Daily Beast.
It is correct we paid for those arrangements, said Assange, who declined to specify Snowdens current whereabouts. No government or other organization assisted."
- more -
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/24/wikileaks-foots-the-bill-for-snowden-s-global-escapades.html
From the Rolling Stone piece mentioned the other thread:
Greenwald has a complicated relationship with WikiLeaks and Assange, whom he considers an ally, though given Assange's controversial reputation in the United States, he admits that "Julian stepping forward and being the face of the story wasn't great for Snowden." But he credits Assange with having helped save Snowden from almost certain extradition to the U.S. Snowden, however, never wanted to go to Russia, which Assange acknowledges. "Snowden believed that in order to most effectively push for reform in the U.S., Latin America would be the better option," Assange tells me. "He did not want to invite a political attack that he'd 'defected.'"
Assange, however, disagrees. "While Venezuela and Ecuador could protect him in the short term, over the long term there could be a change in government. In Russia, he's safe, he's well-regarded, and that is not likely to change. That was my advice to Snowden, that he would be physically safest in Russia." Assange also claims that Snowden has proved "you can blow the whistle about national security and not only survive, but thrive."
But how much Snowden is thriving in Russia is unknown. According to his Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, he has been learning the language and reading Russian literature. (He recently finished Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.) Snowden also reportedly took a job not long ago at a Russian Internet company. Greenwald, who says he talks with Snowden regularly via encrypted chat, maintains that he knows very few details of Snowden's daily life. "For both his and my own protection, there are questions I stay away from," he says. Radack and Drake recently visited Snowden as part of a whistle-blower delegation; they were whisked to a secret meeting and dinner with him at a stately mansion in or near Moscow. That they were taken in a van with darkened windows, at night, meant they had no idea where they were going. Radack nevertheless insists that Snowden is not being controlled by the Russian intelligence service, the FSB, nor has he become a Russian spy. "Russia treats its spies much better than leaving them trapped in the Sheremetyevo transit zone for over a month," Radack recalled Snowden darkly joking to her.
- more -
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/snowden-and-greenwald-the-men-who-leaked-the-secrets-20131204
Assange, however, disagrees. "While Venezuela and Ecuador could protect him in the short term, over the long term there could be a change in government. In Russia, he's safe, he's well-regarded, and that is not likely to change. That was my advice to Snowden, that he would be physically safest in Russia." Assange also claims that Snowden has proved "you can blow the whistle about national security and not only survive, but thrive."
But how much Snowden is thriving in Russia is unknown. According to his Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, he has been learning the language and reading Russian literature. (He recently finished Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.) Snowden also reportedly took a job not long ago at a Russian Internet company. Greenwald, who says he talks with Snowden regularly via encrypted chat, maintains that he knows very few details of Snowden's daily life. "For both his and my own protection, there are questions I stay away from," he says. Radack and Drake recently visited Snowden as part of a whistle-blower delegation; they were whisked to a secret meeting and dinner with him at a stately mansion in or near Moscow. That they were taken in a van with darkened windows, at night, meant they had no idea where they were going. Radack nevertheless insists that Snowden is not being controlled by the Russian intelligence service, the FSB, nor has he become a Russian spy. "Russia treats its spies much better than leaving them trapped in the Sheremetyevo transit zone for over a month," Radack recalled Snowden darkly joking to her.
- more -
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/snowden-and-greenwald-the-men-who-leaked-the-secrets-20131204
Remember, Snowden was entertained at the Russian embassy in Hong Kong.
MOSCOWPresident Vladimir Putin conceded that Edward Snowden contacted Russian diplomats in Hong Kong a few days before boarding a plane to Moscow, but said that no agreement was reached to shelter him and that the former U.S. National Security Agency contractor decided on his own to come to Russia.
Mr. Putin had previously said that Mr. Snowden's arrival at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on June 23 was a "complete surprise."
But in an interview with Russia's Channel One and the Associated Press, released on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he had some prior knowledge that the fugitive might be headed Russia's way.
"Mr. Snowden first appeared in Hong Kong and met with our diplomatic representatives," Mr. Putin said. "It was reported to me that there was such an employee, an employee of the security services. I asked, 'What does he want?' He fights for human rights, for freedom of information and challenges violations of human rights and violations of the law in the United States. I said, 'So what?' "
- more -
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323623304579054890606102138
Mr. Putin had previously said that Mr. Snowden's arrival at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on June 23 was a "complete surprise."
But in an interview with Russia's Channel One and the Associated Press, released on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he had some prior knowledge that the fugitive might be headed Russia's way.
"Mr. Snowden first appeared in Hong Kong and met with our diplomatic representatives," Mr. Putin said. "It was reported to me that there was such an employee, an employee of the security services. I asked, 'What does he want?' He fights for human rights, for freedom of information and challenges violations of human rights and violations of the law in the United States. I said, 'So what?' "
- more -
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323623304579054890606102138
Castro labels libelous report Cuba blocked Snowden travel
(Reuters) - Retired Cuban president Fidel Castro blasted on Wednesday a report in a Russian newspaper that his country buckled to U.S. pressure and blocked former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden from traveling through Cuba to exile in Latin America.
- more -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-usa-security-snowden-cuba-idUSBRE97R0JJ20130828
(Reuters) - Retired Cuban president Fidel Castro blasted on Wednesday a report in a Russian newspaper that his country buckled to U.S. pressure and blocked former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden from traveling through Cuba to exile in Latin America.
- more -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/28/us-usa-security-snowden-cuba-idUSBRE97R0JJ20130828
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Snowden wouldn't have been treated like Drake. Chelsea Manning's ordeal proves that. n/t.
Ken Burch
May 2014
#2
The problem with that argument is that, if you accept surveillance in those cases,
Ken Burch
May 2014
#31
Yes, the government is capable of abusing its power. Good thing we don't have single payer, then?
Recursion
May 2014
#32
In the reality-based community, crackpot conspiracy theories don't become facts
struggle4progress
May 2014
#13
Portugal had notified Morales a day or two before his departure from Moscow that
struggle4progress
May 2014
#50
What actual evidence exists of any US involvement in that event at all?
struggle4progress
May 2014
#65
He DID have the alternative to only collect and release information about US internal surveillance.
pnwmom
May 2014
#34
He most certainly DID have one. He was either stupid, or he's everywhere he wants to be.
MADem
May 2014
#36
Yes. I have to say, the more he pipes up, the more he makes the pronouncements about
MADem
May 2014
#51
Nothing leaked about Putin is a really good point, seems everyone else has been on the list except h
uponit7771
May 2014
#92
So Snowden wasn't stuck in an airport? WOW!! This Snowden thing seems more rapped around Russia
uponit7771
May 2014
#95
Yes! Any idiot can see that a layover in Hong Kong on a flight from Hawaii to Moscow
Maedhros
May 2014
#110
Perhaps, but if he had half a brain he would have located himself in a country of his choice before
lostincalifornia
May 2014
#59
The pearl clutching over Snowden being stranded in Russia is just a distraction.
Obnoxious_One
May 2014
#61
Sowden is a dirty traitor and I wish cancer on him and any children he ever has. n/t
leeroysphitz
May 2014
#63
Snowden did NOT want to go to Russia. The US Govt forced him to remain there when they
sabrina 1
May 2014
#71
You can post all the words and links you want, but the FACT IS, Snowden WAS NOT HEADED FOR RUSSIA.
sabrina 1
May 2014
#73
Those are NOT the facts, even if he wasn't headed for Russia why the lie about being "stuck" in an
uponit7771
May 2014
#97
If he wanted to go to South America, why didn't he go there, instead of Hong Kong?
Adrahil
May 2014
#88
That has been explained over and over again. He was absolutely correct to choose a route that
sabrina 1
May 2014
#100
New taking points don't facts. Snowden was headed for SA When the US Govt forced
sabrina 1
May 2014
#117
And now to correct that erroneous statement from you. First, the US GOVT forced Snowden to REMAIN
sabrina 1
May 2014
#118
Life in Russia may be better for as long as Putin needs him to remain as a patsy.
Thinkingabout
May 2014
#84
Not if---as was reported early on--they were "on" to him and his security clearance was about to be
MADem
May 2014
#108
1. Most of the 'secrets' Snowden revealed have to do with international spying.
randome
May 2014
#89