The Other Ed Show

Edward Snowden is a 29 year old high school dropout who leaked Top Secret information to the Guardian newspaper of England. Snowden worked for the NSA for four years, and currently for Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense contractor. He had also worked for Dell and he is in Hong Kong trying to seek asylum in any country that will have him. Regarding the leak, Snowden is quoted as saying: "I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong." 



So who is this guy? Well, he enlisted in the US Army in May of 2004 but was discharged that September when he fractured both legs in a training accident. After leaving the Army he found work as a security guard for a secret NSA facility at the University of Maryland and eventually got an IT security job with the CIA. The CIA moved him to Switzerland where he continued to work with security until leaving the agency in 2009. His next employment was with a private contractor inside an NSA facility in Japan. His last job as a system administrator was with Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense contractor, and he was living in Hawaii and had a girlfriend. In less than 3 months with Booz Allen Hamilton, he blew the whistle about the PRISM program involving expanded intelligence gathering inside the USA, and left the country in fear of reprisal from our government. 

The question everyone seems to be asking is whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor. Peter King (R-NY) says the leaks compromise

our security and that of our sources in the field. On the other side of the aisle, Diane Feinstein (D-CA) says the program is legal and does not violate the Fourth Amendment. 

Obama is mum on Snowden and is as transparent as a lead wall, which seems in character with his other promises "if elected". But to be fair, he  accurately stated what Americans need to consider with PRISM and any security measure we need to take to remain safe from Islamic terrorism. That is, we have a choice of not compromising any of our privacy and being less safe but have our privacy protected, or be more safe with programs such as this. I agree--ask yourself, if this program could have stopped 9-11, would you have wanted it. Ask yourself, if a program like this could have stopped 9-11 and without it you would have lost a loved one, would you have wanted it. I believe we both know the answer. 

How Snowden got a Top Secret clearance is something I believe needs further exploration. He was and still is, a kid in many ways, albeit a bright one. He sounds like he has some real growing up to do when making a decision that will clearly help the enemy jihadists out to destroy us. Most frightening is that he is currently in China, a country that has as much regard for human life as a shark has to a baby seal. If they decide they want to know what he knows in greater depth, he is in deep crap. He certainly hasn't thought the possible repercussions through at a deeper level.

The more I thought about it, the more I believe my first instinct was premature--I thought Snowden was justified in blabbing. But with time and more information, I've changed my thinking and see his behavior as traitorous to the point of sedition. He accepted the job with the promise that he would not divulge what he learned on the job--he did not keep that promise. Al Qaeda and the rest of the Muslim world that practises jihad will gain something from it.
  

Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning both gave up intel that could potentially cost the lives of many Americans. I don't believe they saw it that way when they blew the whistle, but I believe they need to share cells in Leavenworth where they can swap war stories because they blew it. I don't think of their acts as whistle blowing--I think of it as divulging classified information to the enemy.

I know some may disagree with my position on this and I fully understand and respect you for your opinion. I just think that when the deaths of Americans is more personal to us, we tend to think differently.

I hope you'll excuse the photo of Eric Holder. I just find him a fascinating piece of work and I don't want the public to forget him, Fast and Furious, and the Philadelphia voter intimidation with the New Black Panthers.

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