Who is Edward Snowden

[Anonymous]

CNN) -- He's a high school dropout who worked his way into the most secretive computers in U.S. intelligence as a defense contractor -- only to blow those secrets wide open by spilling details of classified surveillance programs.



Now, Edward Snowden might never live in the United States as a free man again.

 

In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Snowden revealed himself as the source of documents outlining a massive effort by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans.

 

Snowden, 29, said he just wanted the public to know what the government was doing.

 

What's next for Snowden?

 

"Even if you're not doing anything wrong you're being watched and recorded," he said.

 















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Snowden told The Guardian he had access to the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire intelligence community and undercover assets around the world.

 

"I'm just another guy who sits there day to day in the office, watching what's happening, and goes, 'This is something that's not our place to decide.' The public needs to decide whether these programs or policies are right or wrong," he said.

 

Snowden fled to Hong Kong three weeks ago after copying one last set of documents and telling his boss he needed to go away for medical treatment.

 

From Hawaii to hiding



Before his leak of U.S. intelligence, Snowden was living "in paradise."

 

He worked for a major U.S. government contractor in Hawaii, earning a $200,000 salary and enjoying the scenic state with his girlfriend.

 

He told The Guardian he never received a high school diploma and didn't complete his computer studies at a community college. Instead, he joined the Army in 2003 but was discharged after breaking both legs in an accident.

 

Snowden said he later worked as a security guard for the NSA and then took a computer security job with the CIA. He left that job in 2009 and moved on to Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked as a contractor for the government in Hawaii.

 

He told The Guardian that he left for Hong Kong on May 20 without telling his family or his girlfriend what he planned.

 















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"You're living in Hawaii, in paradise and making a ton of money. What would it take to make you leave everything behind?" he said in the Guardian interview.

 

"I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

 

Some residents on Oahu island are glad Snowden left.

 

"From a Hawaii standpoint, good riddance, thanks for leaving," Ralph Cossa told CNN affiliate KHON.

 

"I'm sure the guy had an overactive Mother Teresa gene and thought he was going to go out and save America from Americans, but in reality he was very foolish," Cossa said. "We expect the government to honor our privacy, but we also expect our government to protect us from terrorist attacks."

 

Opinion: Snowden is a hero

 

The fallout

 

President Barack Obama insists his administration is not spying on U.S. citizens -- rather, it's only looking for information on terrorists.

 

Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor that employed Snowden, issued a statement saying Snowden had worked at the firm for less than three months.

 

"News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm," the company said in the statement Sunday. The firm said it will cooperate with authorities in their investigation.

 

Snowden hopes Hong Kong's climate of free speech will protect him, but there's no guarantee he won't be arrested, taken to mainland China or sent back to the United States.

 

But those potential consequence don't scare Snowden the most.

 

According to The Guardian, the only time Snowden became emotional during hours of interviews was when thought about what might happen to his relatives -- many of whom work for the U.S. government.

 

"The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won't be able to help anymore," he said. "That's what keeps me up at night."

 

As for his concerns about his country, "the greatest fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change."

[Obvious Li]

too bad it will only be a matter of time until the US Govt. gets their hands on him.....he is only 29 so they have a lifetime to get their man.....the USA and China have extradition treaties but the chinese are nown to disregard them on certian occasions, especially those dealing with spying etc. I think he is a patriot and we need more people like him to stand up against govt. intrusion in our lives.....the Patriot act was and is a complete disaster.....americans, and to some extent canadians, live in a complete police state since it's introduction into law.

[Gary Oak]

Are CIA agents that buttfukk stupid ? China does surveillance on it's citizens probably more than any country in the world. He thinks that the chinese like him ? He will get what he deserves for being so stupid

[Gary Oak]

They will bleed him for information and I bet he will  [ like a moron ] give it to them and then they will send him back.... much like we did with Lai ChongXing

[Obvious Li]

too bad it will only be a matter of time until the US Govt. gets their hands on him.....he is only 29 so they have a lifetime to get their man.....the USA and China have extradition treaties but the chinese are nown to disregard them on certian occasions, especially those dealing with spying etc. I think he is a patriot and we need more people like him to stand up against govt. intrusion in our lives.....the Patriot act was and is a complete disaster.....americans, and to some extent canadians, live in a complete police state since it's introduction into law.

Beijing and Washington do not have an extradition treaty. However, China can still deport him back to the USA if they so choose.

my bad, i should have said Hong Kong instead of China.....as part of the turn over of HK to China...but the chinese routinely refuse to extradite for espionage or spying charges......at least their own citizens

[Vancouver]

He is stupid. Good paying job and cute girlfriend. What more could he ask for. He pretty much ended his life.

[Anonymous]

Lindsay Mills, the woman reported to be the girlfriend of purported National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden, says she feels adrift without her 29-year-old boyfriend, whom she says abandoned her in Hawaii and fled to Hong Kong.

 

"My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass," Mills, a 28-year-old professional pole dancer, wrote on her blog, "L's Journey," on Monday. The blog post was written a day after Snowden, a former technical assistant for the CIA and ex-employee of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, was identified by the Guardian on Sunday as the source of its stories revealing the NSA's controversial telephone and Internet surveillance programs.

 

"As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I'm reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path," Mills continued. "The ones I laughed with. The ones I've held. The one I've grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu. But sometimes life doesn't afford proper goodbyes."

 

According to the Daily Mail, Mills and Snowden had been together since at least 2009.

 

"Surely there will be villainous pirates, distracting mermaids, and tides of change in this new open water chapter of my journey," Mills—who refers to Snowden as "E" and herself as a "world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero"—added. "But at the moment all I can feel is alone."

 

Snowden, who was interviewed by the U.K. newspaper in his hotel room in Hong Kong where he was hiding at the time, said he has no regrets about going public—even if he never sees his family again.

 

"I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things," Snowden said. "I do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under. ... I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."

 

Snowden said he decided to leave his family, girlfriend and a six-figure-a-year salary behind, and flew to Hong Kong on May 20.

 

On June 3, Mills wrote:

 



The past few weeks have been a cluster jumble of fun, disaster, and adventure. From pop-up homes to last-minute unplanned adventure to stressful moments that would give Gandhi indigestion. While I have been patiently asking the universe for a livelier schedule, I'm not sure I meant for it to dump half a year's worth of experience in my lap in two weeks time. We're talking biblical stuff — floods, deceit, loss. Somehow I've only managed a few tears amongst all of the madness of May. Waking up to June with hopes for a better swing of luck, only to find that I've lost my camera's memory card that stored 90% of my trip's memories. I feel alone, lost, overwhelmed, and desperate for a reprieve from the bipolar nature of my current situation. My coping response of the past was to [flee] to foreign lands. Trying to outrun my misfortune. But before I can sail away to lands unknown I need to wipe my misguided tears and reflect on all that is happening. Listen to my core. Find zen or something like it. And breathe into what little patience I have left.

 

The newspaper said it revealed Snowden's identity at his request. Booz Allen said it fired Snowden on Monday for "violations of the firm's code of ethics."

 

"All my options are bad," Snowden told the Guardian. "I could be rendered by the CIA. I could have people come after me. Or any of the third-party partners.

 

"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 added. "The only thing I can do is sit here and hope the Hong Kong government does not deport me. ... My predisposition is to seek asylum in a country with shared values. The nation that most encompasses this is Iceland. They stood up for people over Internet freedom. I have no idea what my future is going to be."

 

A petition urging the Obama administration to pardon Snowden was posted to the White House website on Sunday afternoon.

 

"Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs," the petition read.

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/spMs0w2bNW7i9OHsUWewLQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTMxMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/thelookout/lindsay-mills-ballerina.jpg">

[Romero]

Stephen Colbert returned Monday to address the biggest bombshell of the weekend: The revelation of the identity of the NSA document leaker, Edward Snowden.



In addition to poking fun at Snowden's refugee status, he also felt bad for Snowden's girlfriend, who reportedly did not know that Snowden was going to leak the documents -- and likely be in prison for the remainder of his life.



"I think this could be the most passive aggressive breakup in history," Colbert said. He imagined Snowden talking to his girlfriend: "Honey, of course I'm into you! Of course I want children! But first I have to leak a little classified information about the NSA and hide out in asia for the rest of my life!"



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/colbert-goes-after-edward-snowden-jon-stewart-hiatus_n_3422256.html">//http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/11/colbert-goes-after-edward-snowden-jon-stewart-hiatus_n_3422256.html

[Odinson]

Like they are gonna pardon him...

[Anonymous]

Why did he do it?

[Odinson]

Why did he do it?

Maybe he got paid or he just couldn´t take all that nasty spying.

[Romero]

Why did he do it?

It's the right and just thing to do. The US government is wrong, and spying on its citizens does not make the nation safer. History has shown us what happens next.



"I can't in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."



"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."



"I'm neither traitor nor hero. I'm an American."



- Edward Snowden





The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.



- Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

[Romero]

I would also like to make mention that this has been happening for decades.



The NSA was formed in 1952. ECHELON, set up by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, has been intercepting private communications since at least then. The wiretapping of any American citizen became "legal" according to the US Supreme Court in 1972. The failed Omnibus Counterterrorism Act of 1995, which allowed for an expansion of "legal" spying on American citizens, became the basis for the PATRIOT Act of 2001 with 9/11 giving all the excuse it needed.



A new $2 billion NSA facility in Utah will begin operation this fall and will hold up to 5 zettabytes of data.



1 zettabyte = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.

[Romero]

Edward Snowden Alleges US Hacked Hundreds of Targets in China



The NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden vowed yesterday to fight an expected move by the US to have him extradited from  Hong Kong, saying he was not there to "hide from justice" and would put his trust in its legal system.



In his first comments since revealing his identity in the Guardian at the weekend, Snowden also claimed that the US had been hacking Hong Kong and  China since 2009, and accused the US of bullying the territory to return him because it did not want local authorities to learn of its cyber activities.



Snowden claimed that the US had hacked hundreds of targets in Hong Kong – including public officials, a university, businesses and students in the city – and on the mainland. These were part of more than 61,000 NSA hacking operations globally, he alleged.



"We hack network backbones – like huge internet routers, basically – that give us access to the communications of hundreds of thousands of computers without having to hack every single one," he said.



The South China Morning Post said it had seen a document that, Snowden alleged, supported his claims. The Post said it had not verified the document, and did not immediately publish it.



Snowden said he was releasing the information to demonstrate "the hypocrisy of the US government when it claims that it does not target civilian infrastructure, unlike its adversaries".



A senior Chinese official said last week he had "mountains of data" on cyber-attacks from the US, after Washington turned up the pressure over hacking by China.



http://www.alternet.org/edward-snowden-comments">//http://www.alternet.org/edward-snowden-comments

[Odinson]

What history has shown us is that certain political-parties create threats.



The burning of reichstag for example. The nazi party blamed that on commies even though we all know who burned that building...

The nazis gained power because they were "for the people" and they were gonna set up a defense.



USA president is using these threats to pass laws which take peoples freedom...

I do not want to visit USA if I could be inprisoned for looking suspicious foreigner.



Obama passed this law... In silence of course.



Man, somebody should kill that new face nigger!