Snowden agrees to asylum in Venezuela: Russian lawmaker

[Scott]

No, what he should have done was get asylum FIRST, then leak all the material.

Somebody was giving this bozo some bad advice, and seem to be continuing to mislead him as to his options. You don't poke a stick at a bee hive and then express surprise when they start buzzing around you

But before he leaked the info nobody would have had a reason to grant him asylum.

That is not necessarily true. Asylum is not necessarily a public matter and he would have been free to seek asylum.

[Credo]

No, what he should have done was get asylum FIRST, then leak all the material.

Somebody was giving this bozo some bad advice, and seem to be continuing to mislead him as to his options. You don't poke a stick at a bee hive and then express surprise when they start buzzing around you

But before he leaked the info nobody would have had a reason to grant him asylum.

That is not necessarily true. Asylum is not necessarily a public matter and he would have been free to seek asylum.

He's not doing very well with getting somewhere after having leaked the information. He certainly wouldn't have been worse off to not leak it.

[StefanBBK]

Well done Venezuela! Now it is just a question how to get there. Good luck Snowden.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[SinglePot]

Why is Venezuela offering Snowden asylum?

Because they are concerned about civil liberties for US citizens?

Just asking.

[SinglePot]

Looks like Snowden has NOT YET agreed with Venezuela.

http://www.guardian....y-international

"Snowden is still believed to be weighing up his options. Late on Thursday, Venezuela's foreign minister said the country had yet to receive a formal response to its offer of asylum.

"We communicated last week. We made an offer and so far we haven't received a reply," Elias Jaua told Reuters during a regional foreign ministers' meeting in Uruguay."

This needs to be put in the context of the headline:

"Edward Snowden: US officials are preventing me claiming asylum

NSA whistleblower calls meeting with Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch at Sheremetyevo airport"

Snowden has not taken up Venezuela's offer and at the same time is complaining about US stopping him.

If I had a son telling porky pies, I'd clip him round the ear.

Maybe he's worried about the flight to Venezuela.

Dangerous troublemaker IMHO

[FDog]

A person has a right to request asylum. A government has NO right to try and stop a person from requesting asylum or pressuring countries not to grant asylum.

Obama has stated he will not be forcing any plane that carries Snowden to land. Or is that another Obama lie. If I had Snowden and Obama telling me different things then I know who I would believe, and it isn't the big 'O'.

[SinglePot]

read the article.

Snowden requested asylum from Venezuela. Venezuela granted asylum

He has not accepted.

Instead he calls for a meeting with human rights groups at Moscow airport.

I wouldn't trust him further than I could throw him.

[SinglePot]

Looks to me like Snowden actually doesn't have the balls to carry out his mission.

'Shoot me down in a ball of flames you bad Americans'

Dangerous <deleted>**** up loser IMHO.

[SinglePot]

maybe Snowden is just prolonging the agony. this one could end in tears.

[HeijoshinCool]

Actually Veneluzela is a very nice country.

With very voluptuous mamacitas!

Ay, Chihuahua!

[SinglePot]

Actually Veneluzela is a very nice country.

With very voluptuous mamacitas!

Ay, Chihuahua!

doesn't look like Snowden's biting off their hands though.

Still moaning in a Moscow airport.

[jamhar]

FYI

Of course it could be disinformation.

Venezuela says Snowden has still not formally responded to asylum offer

Link to reuters article

[midas]

Snowden wants asylum in Russia, ready to meet condition not to damage US

NSA leaker & former CIA employee Edward Snowden has asked for political asylum in Russia, saying he could not fly to Latin America, according to human rights activists who met the whistleblower at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

According to Tatyana Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, Snowden seeks to stay in Russia as he “can’t fly to Latin America yet.”

When asked if the NSA leaker has any more revelations, Lokshina responded: “He says that his job is done.”

http://rt.com/news/snowden-meets-rights-activists-013/

[SinglePot]

I couldn't go to South America because the horrible Americans wouldn't let me .

[jamhar]

Interesting take on Snowden possibly going to Venezuela

If Snowden Takes Asylum In Venezuela, It Would Be A Staggering Act Of Hypocrisy

We don't know if Snowden will end up in Venezuela, but for the sake of his credibility, let's hope not — it would be a staggeringly hypocritical move.

Former President Hugo Chavez, who ruled the country from 1999 until his death earlier this year, created the kind of big brother police state that most Americans will never have to endure.

For a taste of that, check out an article over at Boing Boing by Isabel Lara, a D.C. resident with dual U.S.-Venezuelan citizenship. Lara describes how a 2009 phone call to her mother, Maruja Tarre, was broadcast on state television because her mother was a critic of the Chavez government. The phone call was aired under the title "Anger, Grief and Frustration in Opposition Provoked by Failure of Anti Chavez Demonstration."

Link on If-Snowden-Takes-Asylum-In-Venezuela

[FDog]

What Putin really meant was for Snowden to stop making all the information public, just give it to him so he knows what the US govt is doing, but the US govt doesn't know exactly the information he has. Putin wants it on the quiet.

What Snowden did was say no. He wants it public for everyone, not to be used against the US. He wants the US to know that the world knows what it has been doing, that's why he has only given info to the newspapers.

That is not the workings of a spy or a traitor. That is just a man that wants the public to know what is going on.

Again, I don't care if it was Charles Manson or Adolf giving this information, this has nothing to do with the person giving the info, it has to do with what the US govt is doing.

[jamhar]

What Putin really meant was for Snowden to stop making all the information public, just give it to him so he knows what the US govt is doing, but the US govt doesn't know exactly the information he has. Putin wants it on the quiet.

What Snowden did was say no. He wants it public for everyone, not to be used against the US. He wants the US to know that the world knows what it has been doing, that's why he has only given info to the newspapers.

That is not the workings of a spy or a traitor. That is just a man that wants the public to know what is going on.

Again, I don't care if it was Charles Manson or Adolf giving this information, this has nothing to do with the person giving the info, it has to do with what the US govt is doing.

But now he says "yes" to Putin,

So now hes a traitor?

[FDog]

What Putin really meant was for Snowden to stop making all the information public, just give it to him so he knows what the US govt is doing, but the US govt doesn't know exactly the information he has. Putin wants it on the quiet.

What Snowden did was say no. He wants it public for everyone, not to be used against the US. He wants the US to know that the world knows what it has been doing, that's why he has only given info to the newspapers.

That is not the workings of a spy or a traitor. That is just a man that wants the public to know what is going on.

Again, I don't care if it was Charles Manson or Adolf giving this information, this has nothing to do with the person giving the info, it has to do with what the US govt is doing.

But now he says "yes" to Putin,

So now hes a traitor?

Or it could be that all the info is already out. Or, the US govt has forced him into that position.

[F430murci]

Snowden wants asylum in Russia, ready to meet condition not to damage US

NSA leaker & former CIA employee Edward Snowden has asked for political asylum in Russia, saying he could not fly to Latin America, according to human rights activists who met the whistleblower at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

According to Tatyana Lokshina of Human Rights Watch, Snowden seeks to stay in Russia as he “can’t fly to Latin America yet.”

When asked if the NSA leaker has any more revelations, Lokshina responded: “He says that his job is done.”

http://rt.com/news/snowden-meets-rights-activists-013/

His job is done because the Russians got his notebooks and if he make a peep or says anything bad about them, he will end up living in a 2 X 6 in Vladimir Central Prison. Reality sets in and Russian reality is nothing like American reality.

[SinglePot]

ok let's keep it simple.

US government nasty. Snowden hero for revealing it.

every body happy?

[jamhar]

What Putin really meant was for Snowden to stop making all the information public, just give it to him so he knows what the US govt is doing, but the US govt doesn't know exactly the information he has. Putin wants it on the quiet.

What Snowden did was say no. He wants it public for everyone, not to be used against the US. He wants the US to know that the world knows what it has been doing, that's why he has only given info to the newspapers.

That is not the workings of a spy or a traitor. That is just a man that wants the public to know what is going on.

Again, I don't care if it was Charles Manson or Adolf giving this information, this has nothing to do with the person giving the info, it has to do with what the US govt is doing.

But now he says "yes" to Putin,

So now hes a traitor?

Or it could be that all the info is already out. Or, the US govt has forced him into that position.

Oh so now he went from "patriot" to I was forced to be a turncoat?

Doesn't wash.

He could still make a run for South America. Yes its dangerous. It was dangerous when he started all this.

Hell why not make a run to North Korea from HK? the NK's would take him for sure.

[SinglePot]

Round and round in bloody circles.

China and Russia would have shot their Snowden equivalents.

[SinglePot]

he's a geek loner with no responsibility to anybody but himself.

Dangerous troublemaker.

[SinglePot]

He is not at all surprised at how much he is being hunted.

The attention seeking is the game.

Mixed in with a dose of I am being victimised.

He doesn't give a monkeys toss about human rights and the US.

[JDGRUEN]

As I have posted before ... Russia will be glad enough that Snowden will be gone to use a Russian Military transport to get Snowden at least to Cuba ... and maybe all the way to Venezuela ... No muss - no fuss - no bother ... No international incident. Russia washes their hands of the whole ordeal. No one is going to molest a Russian Military transport.

[F430murci]

As I have posted before ... Russia will be glad enough that Snowden will be gone to use a Russian Military transport to get Snowden at least to Cuba ... and maybe all the way to Venezuela ... No muss - no fuss - no bother ... No international incident. Russia washes their hands of the whole ordeal. No one is going to molest a Russian Military transport.

They could have done that a week or two ago and no one would have known.

[wealth]

Snowden is going to stay in Russia for a while until he can travel more securely to another country. He applied for a temporary asylum in Russia.

Good call.

It takes some time to work out all the slides he's provided until then he will be able to continue with more secure travel plans and do his job.

Well done Edward! We salute you.

[F430murci]

Snowden is going to stay in Russia for a while until he can travel more securely to another country. He applied for a temporary asylum in Russia.

Good call.

It takes some time to work out all the slides he's provided until then he will be able to continue with more secure travel plans and do his job.

Well done Edward! We salute you.

Haha, such a naive view. Truth is, no one cares about or likes him and Russia would just soon him have a suspicious car accident, but for the deterrent of future Snowdens showing up at their steps armed with intel. He is less than a pawn is a massive chest match.

[Publicus]

As I understand it, a government of a country has every right to act on the basis of its sovereignty regardless of its being a signatory to a United Nations convention.

This is true of every or any member state of the United Nations.

The United States has the sovereign right to pursue Edward Snowden for alleged violations of its Espionage Act of 1917, as amended, and for the other alleged crimes filed against him by the U.S. Department of Justice in U.S. District Court..

Snowden is not a free man, nor should he be a free man. No international treaty or convention excepts, exempts or excludes Snowden from the laws of the United States, where he is a natural born citizen. Snowden can abandon his U.S. citizenship and still be liable to the United States for the crimes he is alleged to have committed against the United States.

Snowden's statement, promoted by Wikileaks, is a blast of hot air, meaningless in a U.S. court of law.

[Publicus]

All he needed to do was get in contact with some members of congress and there are plenty of them that would have helped him and he would have had a great deal of protection.

Congress provides oversight for the NSA. Contacting any of a number of either senators or representatives would have been akin to talking to his boss.

I would add that Congress created the NSA, not the president. Congress enacted the enabling legislation that created the NSA.

Congress made the laws that authorize the NSA to do everything the NSA does, from intercept electronic signaling to ordering pencils.

Congress wrote the laws that govern the operations of the NSA and holds hearings into the operations of the NSA. Hearings are both public and private, as appropriate.

The executive branch is compelled by the Constitution to execute the laws, to include writing the rules and regulations for the NSA pursuant to the enabling legislation and subsequent amendments to it.

The right thing for Snowden to do, the right place for Snowden to go, was to the Congress. Two Senators in particular have been actively pursuing the NSA since Snowden made his illegal disclosures after his illegal theft of highly classified national and global security documents, Sen Ron Wyden and Sen Mark Udall, both Democrats. If Snowden had been such a sharp cookie, he could have identified both or at the least one of the two senators to have approached them.

But no, instead we have these Billy the Kid theatrics and high drama of espionage and international intrigue and its attendant manhunt. Snowden is a drama queen, not a whistleblower. Consequently, I don't trust him and find his motives and purposes to be suspect against the United States.