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NSA Whistleblower Reveals Himself
"I realised that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good... The NSA routinely lies in response to Congressional inquiries about scope of surveillance in America. The NSA is intent on making every conversation and every form of behaviour in the world known to them.... What they're doing poses an existential threat to democracy."
- Edward Snowden, 29, PRISM Whistleblower
The US government will be happy to learn it will save several million dollars on the criminal inquiry into the identity of the NSA's PRISM whistleblower because moments ago in a lengthy profile by the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, said whistleblower has decided to reveal himself to the world: he is Edward Snowden, 29 years old. Originally from Elizabeth City, NC, a Maryland community college dropout and former Special Forces trainee, the 10 year "veteran" with the NSA, most recently in its Hawaii office under the employ of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, has just made history and joined the pantheon of such legendary whistleblowers of the US government' secret activities as the Pentagon Papers' Daniel Ellsberg and Wikileaks' Bradley Manning. Last but not least, Edward is currently residing in Hong Kong, out of harm's (read America's) way.
Who is Edward and how did he end up at the NSA? The Guardian has the full story.
By his own admission, he was not a stellar student. In order to get the credits necessary to obtain a high school diploma, he attended a community college in Maryland, studying computing, but never completed the coursework.
In 2003, he enlisted in the US army and began a training program to join the Special Forces. Invoking the same principles that he now cites to justify his leaks, he said: "I wanted to fight in the Iraq war because I felt like I had an obligation as a human being to help free people from oppression".
He recounted how his beliefs about the war's purpose were quickly dispelled. "Most of the people training us seemed pumped up about killing Arabs, not helping anyone," he said. After he broke both his legs in a training accident, he was discharged.
After that, he got his first job in an NSA facility, working as a security guard for one of the agency's covert facilities at the University of Maryland. From there, he went to the CIA, where he worked on IT security. His understanding of the internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma.
By 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland. His responsibility for maintaining computer network security meant he had clearance to access a wide array of classified documents.
That access, along with the almost three years he spent around CIA officers, led him to begin seriously questioning the rightness of what he saw.
He described as formative an incident in which he claimed CIA operatives were attempting to recruit a Swiss banker to obtain secret banking information. Snowden said they achieved this by purposely getting the banker drunk and encouraging him to drive home in his car. When the banker was arrested for drunk driving, the undercover agent seeking to befriend him offered to help, and a bond was formed that led to successful recruitment.
"Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world," he says. "I realised that I was part of something that was doing far more harm than good."
He left the CIA in 2009 in order to take his first job working for a private contractor that assigned him to a functioning NSA facility, stationed on a military base in Japan. It was then, he said, that he "watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in", and as a result, "I got hardened."
Why did he wait so long?
He said it was during his CIA stint in Geneva that he thought for the first time about exposing government secrets. But, at the time, he chose not to for two reasons.
First, he said: "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". Secondly, the election of Barack Obama in 2008 gave him hope that there would be real reforms, rendering disclosures unnecessary.
That did not happen. So he proceed to reveal what he knows about the NSA to a newspaper which the NYT pejoratively referred to as a "British News Site." Well, he certainly did not go with any of the news sites on favorable terms with the current administration. Instead, "He purposely chose, he said, to give the documents to journalists whose judgment he trusted about what should be public and what should remain concealed."
Which of course brings up the question: now what, and why risk what was otherwise a "comfortable life" in a Hawaiian paradise?
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but "I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an instant."
Despite his determination to be publicly unveiled, he repeatedly insisted that he wants to avoid the media spotlight. "I don't want public attention because I don't want the story to be about me. I want it to be about what the US government is doing."
He does not fear the consequences of going public, he said, only that doing so will distract attention from the issues raised by his disclosures. "I know the media likes to personalise political debates, and I know the government will demonise me."
Despite these fears, he remained hopeful his outing will not divert attention from the substance of his disclosures. "I really want the focus to be on these documents and the debate which I hope this will trigger among citizens around the globe about what kind of world we want to live in." He added: "My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."
He has had "a very comfortable life" that included a salary of roughly $200,000, a girlfriend with whom he shared a home in Hawaii, a stable career, and a family he loves. "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
That said, he has left the US and is now in Hong Kong, which in the New Normal is a safer venue for those exposing what until recently was considered a massive conspiracy theory.
Three weeks ago, Snowden made final preparations that resulted in last week's series of blockbuster news stories. At the NSA office in Hawaii where he was working, he copied the last set of documents he intended to disclose.
He then advised his NSA supervisor that he needed to be away from work for "a couple of weeks" in order to receive treatment for epilepsy, a condition he learned he suffers from after a series of seizures last year.
As he packed his bags, he told his girlfriend that he had to be away for a few weeks, though he said he was vague about the reason. "That is not an uncommon occurrence for someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world."
On May 20, he boarded a flight to Hong Kong, where he has remained ever since. He chose the city because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent", and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.
Snowden's future is bleak to say the least, and if Bradly Manning's recent travails are any indication, a life in prison may be an upside option:
"All my options are bad," he said. The US could begin extradition proceedings against him, a potentially problematic, lengthy and unpredictable course for Washington. Or the Chinese government might whisk him away for questioning, viewing him as a useful source of information. Or he might end up being grabbed and bundled into a plane bound for US territory.
"Yes, I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners. They work closely with a number of other nations. Or they could pay off the Triads. Any of their agents or assets," he said.
"We have got a CIA station just up the road – the consulate here in Hong Kong – and I am sure they are going to be busy for the next week. And that is a concern I will live with for the rest of my life, however long that happens to be."
Having watched the Obama administration prosecute whistleblowers at a historically unprecedented rate, he fully expects the US government to attempt to use all its weight to punish him. "I am not afraid," he said calmly, "because this is the choice I've made."
He predicts the government will launch an investigation and "say I have broken the Espionage Act and helped our enemies, but that can be used against anyone who points out how massive and invasive the system has become".
The only time he became emotional during the many hours of interviews was when he pondered the impact his choices would have on his family, many of whom work for the US government. "The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help any more. That's what keeps me up at night," he said, his eyes welling up with tears.
...
As for his future, he is vague. He hoped the publicity the leaks have generated will offer him some protection, making it "harder for them to get dirty".
He views his best hope as the possibility of asylum, with Iceland – with its reputation of a champion of internet freedom – at the top of his list. He knows that may prove a wish unfulfilled.
But after the intense political controversy he has already created with just the first week's haul of stories, "I feel satisfied that this was all worth it. I have no regrets."
Now the great debate begins: is sacrificing it all in the name of ethical principles under a totalitarian regime now fully set on destroying you, worth it? And since we are dealing with one grand revealed conspiracy, another one will naturally emerge: is Snowden's explanation of his motives honest and accurate? Why now and why him? Surely at least one other person has worked at the NSA in the past decade whose thought process has been identical and who put the value of democracy over and above that of one's personal career development and safety.
Most importantly, the ball is now in Obama's court, and the constitutional scholar's every action will be studied under a microscope by civil liberty defenders (both real and paid for) everywhere while one Jon Corzine withdrawls millions of dollars from East Hampton ATM machines unhindered, and without any scruples.
Finally, we would like to thank Snowden for putting a nail into the coffin of all those who use the term "conspiracy theorist" pejoratively. Because whatever his motives, whatever the outcome of this dramatic escalation between the people's right to know and a government intent on hijacking all civil liberties one by one, Snowden has showed that the distance from Conspiracy Theory to Conspiracy Fact is just one ethical judgment away.
For those curious, here is the full text of the US-Hong Kong Extradition treaty.
* * *
Snowden's interview with the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald (produced by WaPo's Laura Poitras) can be seen after the jump.
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I was thinking the same thing Moe. Something isn't right about this story. Not even a HS grad making 200 large from Booz Allen? Sorry that ain't happening, wouldn't even get an interview
With 3 lines on the resume Army, NSA, CIA, (10yrs exp) if he was working as .spook on or with a program managed by Booz Allen and had the contacts within the company, nothing more is needed.
Sorry, but I too smell fish. A genius would never have believed anything Obama said, much less think his election would have changed anything.
you need to change your diaper then.
Rusty, I disagree. I think he is consistent. He talks about fighting for freedom in Iraq and a few other things I read. I think the guy is an idealist. It is not inconsistent to think that the polar political opposite of the prior President who talked about closing Gitmo and said he was anti-torture might actually dismantle some of this stuff. My opinion is that he was not stupid or something worse but just hopeful. Of course, if he is or became a libertarian he would have better understood Obama.
With 10 years of NSA, CIA, etc experience, no one bothers with 'Did you graduate high school?'.
double. delete
Perhaps he was an affirmative action hire (for HS dropouts)?
l2fr
>>In order to get the credits necessary to obtain a high school diploma, he attended a community college in Maryland
If you read the story, it says that he later got his GED.
He worked his way up from the bottom, evidently with intelligence and talent.
Einstein famously flunked an early school math class.
Once you are on the inside, "they can do whatever they want to." You can be advanced or held back at their personal whim. Rules mean next to nothing "on the inside."
I found in the article a line that stated " (He later obtained his GED.)".
I still don't buy the story. GED or not.
Stated joined Army in 2003. "began a training program to join the Special Forces".
He would have been 19 years old. Here is how the Army works. First you go to basic training, then advanced individual training [AIT], or a thing called one site unit training [OSUT], which combines the two; usually combat arms like Infantry or Cav Scout etc. He claims to have broke both legs in a training accident, then was discharged.
So according to his own story, he could have been in basic training, AIT, or OSUT, and never even got close to the Special Forces Assessment or Qualification Course. There is no claim to have attended any SF training at all, so I doubt he made it there. Wash out in basic most likely, as he claims to be "someone who has spent the last decade working in the intelligence world" would mean he was in the Army less than one year to be in intelligence 9 years or more - less than a decade.
His next job was claimed to be a security guard at a covert NSA facility at University of Maryland. How many security guards do you know that are medically put out of the US Army for two broken legs, but get a security guard job??? If he healed up fast they would have kept him in. Average it takes an upper broken leg - femur - 12 weeks to heal. That is 3 months. A Lower leg - tibia,fibula - takes 10 to 23 weeks - 2 and a half to almost 6 months. The timeline is getting pretty tight for calling it "a decade". We have to guess how long he was in the Army, plus the time to heal up after discharge - if he was already healed up before discharge, they would not discharge him. Unless there is some great medical complication, they would not normally discharge him for a broken bone. Smells bad already and we haven't progressed in his story beyond "security guard". Even given the benefit of doubt, his story would make him at least past 20 if the "security guard" job lasted more than a couple of months. You can't cram that much shit into that short of time IMO. I wouldn't call being a security guard "in the intelligence world". More like mall cop.
Anyway, he states he went to the CIA from there; job; IT security. The claim? He rose quickly because of his understanding of the Internet and talent for computer programming. So a 20 to 21 year old with a GED, who has filled his time with the Army, then being a freaking Security Guard, suddenly became a computer whiz kid. Ok, sure. Except I never heard of anyone, anyone, getting a IT job with the CIA without some kind of diploma. Your application would be tossed to the side without one. I saw an intake briefing / mass application for CIA IT jobs, a few years ago, there were over 200 applicants, all with degrees, most beyond 4 year degrees. This was in a smaller US city at one little known college. But this glorified security guard - an Army wash out - got a job in IT Security with the CIA. I don't buy it at all. Anyone who knows about the government job process knows better.
So the next claim is he was sent to Geneva, Switzerland in 2007. Look at the time line. Joined Army in 2003, tossed out at some unknown point, broken legs, then security guard. Just guessing he started at the CIA in, at best, late 2004 or sometime in 2005. Of course, guess what folks, the CIA has to train IT people to do the stuff they need. There is no getting out of it. That training will be at least 6 months maybe more. Dream on they hire you off the street and you are suddenly the IT Security guy. It does not work that way. So at most he was working some "low level" position after training for about a year. This makes him the equivalent of a private first class at best. Anybody think they turn over IT security to a guy who has been with the agency for a year? Too many comic books if you think so. Anyway, here he is in Geneva, an IT guy. Now dig this:
"His responsibility for maintaining computer network security meant he had clearance to access a wide array of classified documents."
Well, anyone who knows anything about document classification and access knows better than this. It is always, and always has been, NEED TO KNOW. If you have a Top Secret clearance, that does not mean you can access any document you like classified TS. YOU WOULD GO TO PRISON PRETTY QUICK IF YOU DID. A contractor in D.C. peeked into a passport file or two, and he took 9 grams of lead to the back of his head. They don't tolerate snooping around, and they have ways to know. He would have access to documents about how to conduct his job or that he needed to access in the course of his duties. He would not have access to documents that were not about his job. Period. James Bond is a movie.
Back to the timeline, we get some details almost three years he spent around CIA officers,I take that to mean he worked for the CIA for three years. Hardly enough time, after training, to barely rise above "recruit". So if he started with the CIA in 2005, add three years, that makes it 2008, but he states he left the CIA in 2009. So counting backwards, he started at the CIA in 2006. Late 2006, because he spent "almost three years he spent around CIA officers".
Now three years with an NSA contractor in Japan. 2009 plus 3 years equals 2012. He ends up in HI, I guess for this year. Here are a few more oddities:
Asked by reporters to establish his authenticity to ensure he is not some fantasist, he laid bare, without hesitation, his personal details, from his social security number to his CIA ID and his expired diplomatic passport. There is no shiftiness. Ask him about anything in his personal life and he will answer.
Here is how it works: You don't get to keep your CIA ID. Anybody think you can?
Diplomatic Passports are property of the FedGov, not the individual. They are issued to perform a duty, and they are surrendered as soon as that duty is over. Anybody think they let you keep it as a keepsake? Really? When it is a "cover" as you really work for the CIA and not the State Department?
The last thing that makes me call bullshit is this:
"He views his best hope as the possibility of asylum, with Iceland – with its reputation of a champion of internet freedom – at the top of his list. He knows that may prove a wish unfulfilled."
So he runs to Chinese territory, reveals himself, but his goal is Iceland? Why didn't he go to Iceland first before he became a "wanted man"???
This story smells to high heaven. This guy comes across as a person who is mentally ill. Read the article and tell me he sounds rational. Too many holes in the story. I'm not buying it.
Is the FedGov spying on everyone, recording everything, and all the MS/Goggle/Yahoo/younameit bending over for FedGov warrant or not?
YES. WE ALREADY KNEW THAT. ONLY A MORON THOUGHT OTHERWISE.
This guy? I don't know what he is, but I certainly would hold off with the hero flag. HE PUTS A RED HOOD OVER HIS HEAD WHEN HE TYPES HIS PASSWORD. Yet the NSA knows everything we type. Why the hood? What could he be accessing that the NSA isn't tracking? HOW STUPID ARE YOU PEOPLE?
Excellent set of issues you raise
There are really serious questions as well about the UK Guardian being quite as corrupt as the New York Times ... indeed they seem to work together on various propaganda efforts, pretending to be 'for the people' while looking like hired and bribed 'fake opposition'
The Guardian and NYT first worked together to praise and tout Assange and Wikileaks, then they went full reverse and began bashing him
Wayne Madsen called the Guardian the 'Left Wing of MI6' for all the times they push dishonest shite for the vague 'Left' side of the establishment
And that Guardian - Salon legal journalist Glenn Greenwald, who is everyone's darling at the moment, is actually a very timid guy, who is known for avoiding the deeper issues of US judicial and legal system corruption, and ignoring the most brutal stories of US legal system victims ... he is the same mold as that US 'American Civil Liberties Union' that ignores most of the destruction of the US Constitution, and most people who need real help, but has plenty of time to support the Man - Boy Love Association
What if the family connections got him in the door as a security guard with Maryland? I realize the traditional government job application process takes forever, but it's possible family connections expedited the process.
Not saying anything you've said is wrong, of course. You've raised some interesting points. Thanks.
Well, the test will be the reaction to the story and if what he says turns out to be true. If he is a nut job then all the stuff he says will be made up, inaccurate and easily refuted. How many of you can make up a detailed insider history of NSA abuses? I am not talking about the typical conspiracy stuff, either. I am talking detailed accounts. Let's see what is published and if we have been duped.
Moe, got to go with your take on this until I hear otherwise. Lot's of unknowns here.
E-1 to handler of high security classified data in so few years is a stretch. And the specialized division of these alphabet agencies is so fragmented, few but the very core (believers?) would have more than a few bits of the puzzle.
We'll see, I suppose.
Moe if you are correct, I officially give up.
recommend watchin "the falcon & the snowman" to get a flavor to what happens to nsa whistleblowers.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087231/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Interesting strategy he's using and fairly smart. If he comes out with the damaging facts, and then tries to hide/dissapear on his own, it would be much easier for the US to sweep this (and him) under the rug. A side story at best with an ending that nobody ever hears about. But by directly focusing the attention on him, making it an "international" story that could draw support from numerous foreign governments, the US's position is now much more difficult to manage. And if he truly becomes a global hero/star, then Obama is really in a tight spot as attempting to spin this story in the favor of the US, a country losing credibility at what could be the fastest rate in the history of modern civilizations, would really get ugly if something happens to this young man. By drawing large and wide scale attention, he may actually secure more support and security (for at least the short-term). Risky but I'm guessing not a plan that was executed by accident.
But then again, maybe this is all a story (with real human characterics) fabricated by Skynet. You know, humans and Hollywood have been using technical in movies for decades. Now it's technology's turn as by using humans to destroy their own civilization and basically push everyone to turn against one another (as nobody would trust anyone), launching Nukes would no longer be needed. Just think about the Algo's on Wall Street or Facebook tracking every piece of personal data or Google tracking every search and so on and so forth. Everyone always assumes there's a small group of elites attempting to control humanity but at this stage, it could simply be technology laying out its plan to ensure humans destroy one another (thus, evolution taking hold and technology or base metals/materials becoming the dominant species on earth).
Remember what Duke (Curly's brother) in City Slickers Two stated to Billy Crystal about what "the one thing" was. A simple reply, "Honesty and integrity", two items the US Government and for that matter, most leaders in the US are in very short supply of.
Just a thought or rather, maybe just a new script for Hollywood (an industry in desperate need of quality content these days).
The USSA and The Dick are losing credibility faster than shit thru a goose.
sic semper tyranis!
IMHO, we are past the point of no return. The sheeple will be corraled and when their time comes they will go quietly (imo starve when the economy collapses from hyperinflation).
That Snowden is a 29 y.o. Gen Y or whatever it is called, will *really* hurt Obama admin.
These Gen Y'ers are beginning to figure out how fucked they are, and that it was one of their own who threw down the gauntlet and gave it all up will really resonate with them
Could be the start of a powerful movement
We do not know anything about this guy yet, wait 48 hours before you start writing the Hollywood ending.
I expect him to:
A. Be brought up on charges from violating the US Patriot Act (irony)
or
B. Disappear, or be found dead.
I could be wrong, but with that said he should not do himself in.
are you thinking the story that the bootlickers in the MSM puts together about this guy will be straight?
Nope, they believe anything that sounds good. They most likely want him to run for president when he is old enough.
In the end, good always beats evil.
Always.
The criminal US Federal Government is doomed.
All we need is patience.
wrong again. history would argue otherwise.
Yeah, how long did the British empire rule the world?
Good conquers evil..go watch another Hollywood movie.
Wish patience would do it. But patience was deadly for millions in Europe in the 1930's who just could not believe that Hitler fellow could really be that bad. Evil can persist for a long time.
A big chunk of the German population were enthusiastic proud members of the National Socialist German Worker's Party. Very patriotic in restoring Germany's greatness and getting back at the perceived injustice of the Versaille Treaty of 1919, and the societal destruction caused by the Weimar hyperinflation. They really thought they were right and justified.
The NSA and CIA guys believe they are patriots, plus are getting paid remarkably well.
Very patriotic in restoring America's greatness and getting back at the perceived injustice of the Terror Attacks of 2001, and the societal destruction caused by the Bernanke hyperinflation.
They really thought they were right and justified.
ok. but , what happens between NOW and THE END . that's what's keeping ME up at night.
I admire the guy a lot. But, he's pretty much alone. They will go after him from every angle.
He probably double park. Had a parking ticket......the list goes on.
This crap is and has been so deep for so many years, it's only a surprise to me that anyone paying even the least bit of attention can be surprised by the "details" being revealed.
It's so far past what appears in the "media" .................it's just too far gone , full on fascist and the masses haved cheered it on most every step of the way.
A willfull blindness..................
for our way of life, bitchezzzzzz.
He will suffer a fate worse than death. The IRS is gonna audit him.
Chose the right answer:
A: The friend of my enemy is my enemy
B: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
C: The enemy of my friend is my enemy.
D: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
E: The friend of my friend is my friend.
F: The friend of my enemy is my friend.
Fuck you obama.
i'll take G
HERO
With all great respect to Zero Hedge, please do not lump this guy in with Bradley Manning.
Manning endangered American lives without any consideration, This guy seems to have given it several years of thought and has gone out of his way not to do the same.
perhaps some danger is needed from time to time , lest one begin to believe the hype machine.
after all, USA USA USA USA......................
Exactly.
oh, and FUCK YOU NSA.
"Manning endangered American lives without any consideration..."
Manning was a witness to wholesale murder.
Manning is a real hero, you cowardly cunt.
Dear NSA:
I'm an unemployed 20-something with a bachelor's degree in science. Also, I can program in Java. I don't have political opinions, or friends, so I can keep a good secret.
I'm very interested in any opportunities you have starting at $200k or higher in Hawaii.
If interested, please let me know.
You don't just get 200k in Hawaii overnight. You have to start at 170k on Kauai and work your seniority up over 3 years. Are you really willing to make that sacrifice?
but the bennies are great. you can retire at age 45 and fuck the taxpayers for the next 40 years
I flagged this in the database and forwarded it to HR
No need to give out any info
They'll be in touch
I think future NSA job openings wil require one to be a bubble boy...
Hey not fair I am a useless 40 ish y/o depressed European that does not get outside much and in my opinion I would be prefect for the job.
Just another "TRUE AMERICAN"!!...
Anticipating others to follow this righteous path...Oh, my hat off to you "TRUE AMERICAN"!
jfk FDR! The floor is lava !!!
The 'Paul Revere' of our time. "The men in black are coming, the men in black are coming!"
I believe Bradley Manning was motivated by the same sort of concerns. See what they have done to him (although he was easier to grab). Alas, they are still doing most of it anyway.
Bradley Manning is a dual national, raised in Britain homosexual who broke up with his boyfriend and was "heartbroken". He decided to do something stupid to distract himself.
Serves the Army right for giving a Dual National Homosexual a Top Secret clearance. They got what they deserved.
What the fuck does him being gay have anything to do with what you just said? You're a stupid homophobic cunt.
Black mail, moronic homo. Go suck a dick or take one up your ass.
No or about it, he'll take both. gay and muslum jokes, gotta love em. no hard feelings, ha!
Supposedly.. Allegedly, He was having his affair with a married, high ranking Army ******* who went on record via National TV denouncing the idea of repealing don't ask, don't tell. Manning took up issue with this married ******* and made acusations of having him outed for engaguing in these acts himself with another enlisted soldier.
Pointed out the hypocrisy of this public statement followed up with what I'm sure constituted a threat which would jeprodize his pension marriage career, and possibly spend jail time if JAG could substantiate the acusations leveled against him by Manning if this "rumor" turned testimony saw the light of day..
This public statement was hyprocritacal in Mannings opinion and enraged him for not supporting homosexuals serving in the Military branches as... excuse the pun.. valued assets to all armed services and not to be viewed as the exception to a zenaphobe stigma.
The majority are found working in the MOS feilds of... pardon the punny again...
linguistics. But I wouldn't know that.
The above written are not official accounts or validated as a matter of public record as to have any basis of truth what so ever. Just conveying a story in circulation inside the Military gahy community on post.
I for one have never seen a PFC in the position to zip drive secret, or top secret files and walk out the door of a steril area without a red flag just for attempting to move out of the boundries of a security area your MOS security level doesn't support, not to mention the acknowledgement of the main frame recoginzing a zip drive has been installed during a session of reviewing sensitive material. Hint.. they don't have zip ports on these terminals anyway, but I'll play along...
If they did .. before he could even remove the zip or his CAC card from the S1 validation reader to close his session from a secured terminal,
he would have been meet by armed MP's in his office before the sensitive data could even be moved out of the building.
Basically, it looks like he was framed in allot of peoples opinion because of the facts mentioned above.
Damn little birdies do chirp buissness when their found to be the adverse party to policy they wish to see pushed through. You agree? Now do your research within that time line of events and the dots connect as if they were magnatised.
Very nice.
Also, a big thumb in the nose of all the fake older Fox News conservatives that blame millennials for the Obama disaster. When was the last time they did anything even slightly courageous? What consequences do Boehner and company have to face for doing something like holding firm on the debt ceiling? Torture, imprisonment, life in tenuous exile? No, they'll just get made fun of in the media, and that terrifies them. The moral courage of gnats.
How many veteran NSA staffers much higher up than this guy did nothing? We are truly a generation without role models.
I think it would probably be cheaper to subsidize all baby boomer retirements and send them out to pasture than to let them continue to take anything even approaching responsibility for anything.
http://www.fakenation.info/please/the-villages-where-baby-boomer-delusions-die-hard
You are going to need more than one. Get ready. Your generation is what will make or break this country.
"Man, I feel like a sap for buying online storage when the NSA was doing it for free."
"The US government would rather put every human being under 24/7 surveillance than admit a single problem with multiculturalism."
- David Burge (Iowahawk)
You can now lodge an FOIA to restore your data. Kinda puts a dent in the cloud computing model.
The hard part is finding out whats underneath all that black marker.
Hey NSA. Read my emails and my posts. I always sign them now with...
FUCK YOU NSA!!!!!
Shine the floodlights on the basterds!
HEY CHINA, if you don't send him back , we are going to buy back all our debt !!!
/ oh shit !!!
For the righteous. Let it be known that heaven is how you are regarded by posterity.
My Momma taught me that. You been messen with my Momma?
His name is Eric Snowden. He should be looked on as a hero. Brass balls he has - if only more of us were more like him. I tip my hat to you sir.
I'm willing to accept most of what he's saying at face value.
There's no doubt about it: this is a constitutional crisis of the century. Watergate is a minor compared to this.
To be honest. I'm not funding this shit anymore. I'm ready to not pay taxes.
And if I find out my company has been involved in this, I'm quitting.
That's a good idea, set yourself up for jail with the IRS, then quit your job.
I bet they will be really sorry they messed with you. Not.
You bring up a bigger point. When do individual citizens start to resist and NOT comply? We are paying taxes to and through an autocratic, lieing, arrogant IRS. We have security agencies creating Big Brother (for our own good, of course) right before us. If we organize at all then we are terrorists the same as Osama and gang.
I suppose today the original founding father's would all be classified as terrorists. Good think they didn't have internet, cell phones and a hundred other things that could be "monitored" for their own good.
http://youtu.be/jKlewZkJG4M
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Thank you Edward Snowden for REFUSING TO DO NOTHING. You are a true American Patriot.
Daniel Ellsburg, the most dangerous man in america, is a must watch...
/said the Hulk out of the fucking blue...
This one guy has more courage and morals than all of CONgress and the Dick himself.
I hope he is only the first of many.
The evil and corrupt regime needs to be destroyed.
A veteran's salute, sir.
There are so many rights violations since 9/11 that there needs to be a database storing them all so we don't forget anything. These fuckers need to pay for each and every crime against humanity! There needs to be a redefinition of punishment for all this!
no data base needed--just guilty untill proven otherwise is fine with me---- its the totalitarian way you understand.
I would advocate Nuremburg-like trials for all the bastards in any agency from the IRS to CIA.
Thank you for your service to humanity, not your country's twisted ideals of an instslled Orwellin state.
If the security measures prove to be against we the people, then were talking about their security, not ours..
Words to live by.
-JP
Looks like they are going to need to move up the timeline on the next "terrorist" attack. They'll need to do something quick to keep the sheeple from saying WTF?
They can't imo. They will look like incompetent morons. They have to prevent a terrorist attack.
Prevent a staged false flag terrorist attack? Like September 11, 2001 ?
Was the sun rising today made possible by ................?
LTER
is it me or are all their "diversions" starting to circle down the drain one after another, my fear is they'll push their chips "all in" sooner rather than later
That's kind of what I'm thinking. It's not like they are going to just roll over and say uncle. It seems like the next obvious play is to show us all in no uncertain terms why they must spy on us. Another attack (or a war) would push this story right into the history bin because most people would take the position that we must do ANYTHING to prevent another attack of the boogie men.
the con keeps escalating until it comes unglued, how much further they can stretch this rubber band is amazing. How long have we been watching this LT and saying to ourselves "any minute now" and yet they pull another fucking rabbit out of their ass. I will never doubt their resolve to keep this game going for a long long time.
Kinda like following the gold price.
Personally I pray for dear leaders health and every single space monkey here better do the same for if his masters were to sacrifice him it would enable a shitstorm that would make all that has come to pass so far look like a sponge bob square pants episode.
DHS has just got to be completely pissed. Now they have to shut off all that invasive equipment. Now they can't go in with all their bravado and terrorize another American city on a grizzly hunt to take down another patsy.
Now they'll have to stage another false flag.
A smart person who respects liberty might say "You are spying on us and still you can't protect us from terrorist attacks like the Boston Marathon bombing." Make them explain are they fucking incompetent, or is spying on your citizens not necessary, because it doesn't actually save lives, or as much as it should.
Cannot prevent their own false flag attack. That would defeat the purpose of a false flag.
I hope and pray the Mr. Snowden has the wisdom to go far and wide IN PUBLIC in his revelations. The only way he will survive is if some how the MSM makes a 'hero" out of him and puts Bam Bam and his criminal fascist kelptocracy firmly in their heels...
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9
Don't worry. Some more patriots will drive a truck full of plastic explosives to Utah and drive it into that place. Better yet, some electronic genius patriot should be able to blow off some device in the area that wipes out all of that Utah facility's memory storage and computer capacity. Long the people. Short the government.
FUCK YOU NSA!
FUCK YOU OBAMA!
FUCK YOU BERNANKE!
FUCK YOU PENTAGON!
FUCK YOU CIA AND FBI!
I'M A TRUE AMERICAN. YOU ARE ALL TRAITORS!
Long Rope!!
There are NO AMERICANS in washington, dc!!
forgot one ...
FUCK YOU DHS!
Geroge Orwell was couting on resistence in his novel 1984.
Welcome to the "land of the spied on, home of the indebted". You actually believed the Hope & Change bullshit? And when you joined the spooks, you thought you were entering the Boy Scouts? You're about to learn, up close and personal, what the Chicago way is all about; not because it reveals any national secrets, but because you have embarrased Chalky.
http://vegasxau.blogspot.com
Would a 501 C3P0 or whatever the f-ck the term is, be considered political if it was created to start a legal fund for the gentleman?
Only devoting 49% of it's time to that pursuit, of course.
If the IRS asked any questions, one could respond that we'd like to help, but that information is classified ...
“If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
-Winston Churchill
Hero. Thank you, Ed.
Let's all keep Edward in our prayers.
Let us pray that he doesn't travel anywhere by single engine plane.
He stays out of hot tubes,
That he ..... stays out of all 'unsafe' activities.
hot tubes can be lethal if not addictive
I usually hit the edit button and correct spelling error etc. But can't since you responded. It will stay that way.
Hot Tubs
(editted to put Will between It and Stay)
and now you can't edit 'editted'
Bwaaaaahhhaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaaaa
We the people. Who is Eric Snowden bumper stickers should be for sale tomorrow morning nationwide. Uh, Oh, gps coordinates anyone? Any one think this smacks of too much simplicity. I don't know what is more upsetting, him making 200k a year or his naivete thinking that he will see his 31st birthday. That which is done in the dark will eventually be exposed to the light of day but name, address, SS number and current location along with worldwide photo distribution seems more like some absurd death wish to me. Remember the 2 agents who shot the Boston bomber associate who died in a helicopter "accident"? That seems like ages ago. Not sure but the wheels do seem to keep turning faster. It may not be a Black Swan but just a whole f-ing flock of starlings that does this country in. Who is Eric Snowden may be the mirror image of "taxation without representation" somehwere down the road in history books. A thumbs up for conviction. Thumbs down for naivete.
I don't know what is more upsetting, him making 200k a year or his naivete thinking that he will see his 31st birthday.
How about this for upsetting - he was a consultant working for Booz Allen. So that means they are billing Uncle Sam (taxpayers) probably $250K to $300K while paying him $200K.
This fuckin guy.
My hero.
Someone said below they were going to end all emails;
FUCK YOU NSA!!!!!
instead, Write "FUCK YOU NSA !!!'
On the margins of every Fed Reserve Note that goes thru your hand.
NSA? What about the Fed?
One on top, One on Bottom
I'm not sure HK is the safest place for him to be after outing himself. On the other hand, if he gets wind "they" are looking for him, he could always disappear up country from Kowloon and lose himself. Or maybe cross the border into SE Asia and across to Thailand.
Here is how you will know if this HS dropout SF Q course failure is 'for real' or not.
If he lives for more than a month and isn't arrested. Then he is a plant.
I'm buying he lives free.
That does not mean the message is a lie, it means he is a fake.
We all knew they are recording and storing everything, everyone is being spied on. This is not news.
Shit they drone Americans without anything but Obamao saying "Kill Them". No warrant no arrest no judge. Just "Kill Them".
And it's news to this ZH crew we are being spied on? Really?
What if killing him risks a political uprising?
You seriously are saying that as a possibility? Really? Have you any connection with reality or the "man on the street" at all?
You have that lack of an imagination? Really? Do you know nothing of how political movements work or are you so cynical that you've lost all hope?
"so cynical that you've lost all hope"
Can you blame him? Really?
I am bothered by the fact he was supposed to be in the service and had a training accident when he did not have a high school diploma. They don't get in without a highschool diploma. I am cynical about all of this, too.
Ever so often they take "non grads", the army was doing so in the early to mid 2000s, for the Gulf II, I'm sure. This is a fact. DOD clearance opens doors, too.
I've a lowly GED, (plus technically "some college") and I am amazed by the degreed buffoons I've encountered.
I have a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, and I have met Engineers with PhD's who were idiots.
All Foreigners.
I have a Ph.D. and can be a real dolt at times. The poster above has set me straight on the qualifications. I do not think the education makes one superior. I was looking at what I thought were the rules which would have made the story false.
Good deal, MsCreant! Yes, he could be a non grad. (and for the record I was not trying to suggest all colleged folks are "buffoons", indeed not, lol ;)
He has a GED. I found it in the story.
And by the way, if you do get in without a HS diploma, you are required to get a GED ASAP. That is a fact jack. They will discharge you if you fail to get a GED. Period.
We have been lied to so much, we can't tell up from down and left from right anymore. I want this story to be true but I have had hope crushed beneath the weight of cognitive dissonance and out right indifference that I just can't give it up so easy any more.
Thanks for setting me straight on the criteria.
We have to do our own research. This story does not smell right. I can't claim to know what it is about, only guess.
But the timeline - facts in the story don't jive with the reality of the Army - the CIA - the NSA.
Moe, that said, we're all learning here. But you hit it elsewhere, this is not "news" compared to alot of other shit. The very "web" was originally started by Govt, for Govt, yet info mining by Govt makes one gasp in disbelief? Why so? Here's one look it up: Seed money for facebook came from former CIA brass. Gotta go check my Facebook status, now.
Let me see, they have spied on everyone, they have the IRS doing dirty political work, they have over 100% of some areas voting for Obama, they are stealing money left and right, the biggest bank in the world caught laundering money for the drug cartels, pay a small fine please, no jail for nobody, they run guns to Mexican drug cartels and Americans are killed with those guns, and you claim there is going to be an uprising over the revelation of something anyone half way awake already knew?
It's going to take a lot more than that brother. I realize movies aren't real. There will not be an "uprising" in this country unless they cut off the cash first, and start shooting people in the streets. Even then I'm not sure that will be enough.
I call it realism. I am cynical as well, but it has nothing to do with "imagination".
I think you watch to many spy movies----
coders just need a clean brain proof! the answer falls out if you start at the end
"His understanding of the internet and his talent for computer programming enabled him to rise fairly quickly for someone who lacked even a high school diploma."
Give this guy a medal and hang Obama.
whoa dude please actually be careful with what you say, people have been BRBFBI'd with lesser comments about the prezbo than this.... like seriously, we need to be wise and strategic in our defense of liberty/assault on tyranny, but we can't be reckless and give them easy bait
House/Senate/Congress Gatekeepers will be exposed. Developing…
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"or the Chinese government might whisk him away for questioning, viewing him as a useful source of information."
Someone will.
Thanks and good bye Edward. I don't know if you are truly brave or foolish but I hope you can handle isolation, you poor bastard.
What a twist...HK the new 'Safe Haven' place for USA dissidents...used to be Canada.
If hes 29 he was probably born in 1984
There is poetic justice in that :)
The guys a hero, and he has the biggest balls in the world to do what he did. It's scary for everyone else that he had no option to reveal himself as he knows their capability and that there is no hiding place for him.
I think he is going for the Solzhenitsyn gambit. After The Gulag Archipeligo was published, if something happened to him, the whole world would know who did it. So he lived out the rest of his life right there in Russia and they never touched him.
Edited to add: I hope it works. The Soviets, for all their horrific faults, could at least be shamed. The US government, I'm not so sure.
that stategy worked out well for Assange, Manning
to me the big issue (beyond the actual surveilance story) Mr Snowden is bringing up is what will it take for someone who is very well compensated for not doing much and living well but who is witnessing wrong doing or highly unethical behavior to speak up publicly about it. if this society had more people like Mr Snowden perhaps our lives would start have some meaning beyond simply raising a family................but that is wishful thinking......so back to what? work :)?
Why hasn't someone done this before?
I think it's a very rare individual "who is very well compensated for not doing much and living well" who is willing to give that up and face a long prison term for principles that most citizens will pay attention to for a short period of time and then do absolutely nothing about, quickly returning to their usual habit of constantly texting each other about nothing of importance. It takes an individual who for some strange reason believes the same citizens whose idiotic voting choices (both dem AND rep) and total inattentiveness and apathy got us into this mess in the first place will now for some reason turn off American Idol, get off their asses and demand real changes be made. It takes someone heroic, yet naive enough to think these fattened sheep will actually act to save themselves.
I'd risk being a hero, too, if I was sure that other citizens would follow through and make my sacrifice worthwhile. But they won't.
Probably wishing to turn some wolves at the top, not sheep at the bottom.
I hope some kind of fundamental policy change comes of all this. I voted for Obama in 2008 thinking things might change, what an absolute mistake that was. It only took me a couple of months to figure out what an utter threat to democracy the man truly is. Every scandal makes me cry out for public action to thrawt this man's power hold on the nation.
This is earthshaking... but let's not forget Brandley Manning in the shuffle.
The Man of Snow is The REAL Man of Steel
Thank you Edward for your incredible courage. We owe you.
Folks, call your congress people, hit the streets with signs of support. This is a big moment.
American Spring!
Hang 'em all!
No, let's limit it to politicians and lawyers.
FUCK YOU DOT GOV!
If it is shown that the elected 435, and even more appointees, have known of Prizm all along, then the breadth of the 4th amendment privacy abridgement, as well as the collective .gov denial and coverup, is staggering, and in responce, we will buy a tent for two and take our place in the park during the American Summer.
What is wrong with the following?
"He described as formative an incident in which he claimed CIA operatives were attempting to recruit a Swiss banker to obtain secret banking information. Snowden said they achieved this by purposely getting the banker drunk and encouraging him to drive home in his car. When the banker was arrested for drunk driving, the undercover agent seeking to befriend him offered to help, and a bond was formed that led to successful recruitment."
Typical spy nonsense, no differnt then a honey pot trap, though if I were Swiss I would be pissed that the CIA was attacking a civilian in a democratic nation. If you take the position that the CIA was acting to uncover Swiss banking policy that is used to assist terrorist networks or even Amercians avoid rightfully owed taxes then such action might be considered reasonable. Getting a guy drunk ... hmm shocking.
Now I did hear Snowden state that the NSA routinely lied to Congress about what it was doing. Now if true, it seems that that there were a few methods of adressing this problem short of going to the press. But clearly an out of control NSA, operating without any effective oversite, is a problem.
"Now if true, it seems that that there were a few methods of adressing this problem short of going to the press."
Like fucking what, tell your boss?
Sen.Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike Rogers, on today's broadcast of ABC's This Week, defended the collection of phone records by the NSA, claiming a 2009 NYC subway bomb plot was thwarted with the secret program. Buzzfeed sees it differently, claiming:
"The details of terror investigations are not always laid out this clearly in public; but they appear to belie the notion, advanced by anonymous government officials Friday, that sweeping access to millions of email accounts played an important roil in foiling the subway attack. Instead, this is the sort investigation made possible by ordinary warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; authorities appear simply to have been monitoring the Pakistani email account that had been linked to terrorists earlier that year."
I enjoyed watching Feinstein's flustered response to being asked about Director of National Intelligence James Clapper's lying to Congress.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/public-documents-contradict-claim-email...
DI-FI. FrankenFeinstein. Blum, Pelosi, Barry, Valerie, Lois, Rahm, Clapper et al: Do they feel so empowered and protected that they don't consider it, or, do they in fact have an awareness and a temporary consideration of the possible development of a critical public mass, and the reoccurrence of a Ceaucescu moment?
Righteous has just been redefined.
What a courageous guy. I think heckling politicians and cynicism are going to become pretty commonplace before things get better. OOOPS, NEVER MIND WHAT I JUST SAID NSA IF YOUR READING! Really though, if all this crap was meant for public good, they would have caught the boston bomber, it is all about punishing your enemies and shaking down people if you need to, what a joke!