Snowden: I was a high-tech US spy

[webfact]

Edward Snowden: I was a high-tech spy for the CIA and NSA

(BBC) Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has described himself as a trained spy specialising in electronic surveillance, dismissing claims he was a mere low-level analyst.

In an interview with NBC, he reiterated that he had worked undercover overseas for the CIA and NSA.

He said the US got better intelligence from computers than human agents.

Mr Snowden, 30, fled the US in May 2013 and has been living under temporary asylum in Russia.

Full story: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-27598516


-- BBC 2014-05-28

[Credo]

By admitting he was a spy, he is now admitting that he is a traitor.

And now it appears that he is a nobody.

[Ulysses G.]

He is a traitor for sure, but he might get away with it.

[iReason]

By admitting he was a spy, he is now admitting that he is a traitor.

And now it appears that he is a nobody.

Hardly a nobody.

His actions changed the world.

[Chicog]

He's a whistleblower. It's just a shame he had to go to Russia to reveal the depths US intelligence have plumbed.

I'm sure if he'd tried it at home he would have met a fatal "accident".

Land of the brave and home of the free, eh?

Watched a bit of the interview this morning, he is obviously quite articulate and intelligent.

[Ulysses G.]

So was Ted Bundy. That does not mean a lot.

[neverdie]

He is a traitor for sure, but he might get away with it.

The USA would never admit what his real role is, I tend to believe Snowden was what he is claiming to have been.

He must have felt strongly enough about what he was doing, to have done it.

No doubt the powers to be are somewhat unamused by it all, he'll probably wake up dead one morning.

[Ulysses G.]

No doubt the powers to be are somewhat unamused by it all, he'll probably wake up dead one morning.

I doubt it - not by the American government. He is too famous. I would not mourn for him, if he did though.

[neverdie]

No doubt the powers to be are somewhat unamused by it all, he'll probably wake up dead one morning.

I doubt it - not by the American government. He is too famous. I would not mourn for him, if he did though.

Some fairly strange things have happened, over the years.....in regards to 'infamous' and 'famous' people.

He seems to be suffering now, living in Russia and all of that. Maybe he dines late at night with Mr Putin and his cronies, who knows.

It will happen again UG. Others will follow down the same path.

[Johpa]

If you haven't seen it, you should watch the recent Frontline documentary "United States of Secrets" before you condemn Snowden as a traitor. There were others, very high ranking bureaucrats, politically very conservative people, working in the intelligence community, who attempted to stop the NSA intelligence gathering programs through normal channels but with no success.

[Chicog]

Funny how so many of the people that seem to so implicitly trust the government on this issue, and think Snowden is a traitor, still think they need their guns to protect them from government "tyranny".

[HerbalEd]

By admitting he was a spy, he is now admitting that he is a traitor.

And now it appears that he is a nobody.

Then he's keeping good company ... i.e., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and others who were declared traitors by the British Government when they dared to declare independence from England.

[HerbalEd]

No doubt the powers to be are somewhat unamused by it all, he'll probably wake up dead one morning.

I doubt it - not by the American government. He is too famous. I would not mourn for him, if he did though.

Would you prefer that he never revealed what he did and that you not now know about the US Government's illegal spying upon it's public citizens?

Meanwhile the US Congress is passing landmark legislation to curb the NSA's & CIA's illegal spying activities against its own citizens and the governments and leaders of many other countries. None of this would be happening if not for the "traitor" Snowden. Personally I think he is a heroic American patriot and future historians will treat him very well.

[HerbalEd]

Funny how so many of the people that seem to so implicitly trust the government on this issue, and think Snowden is a traitor, still think they need their guns to protect them from government "tyranny".

Well said, and very true.

[richard10365]

I think Snowden should be in jail for the rest of his life. He is a traitor who released secret information during a time of war. If he doesn't get executed, he will be very lucky.

[HerbalEd]

I think Snowden should be in jail for the rest of his life. He is a traitor who released secret information during a time of war. If he doesn't get executed, he will be very lucky.

Do you realize that this "time of war" ... the "war" against terrorism ... will never end and thus the USA is in a permanent state of war?

[Scott]

Stay on topic.

[kamahele]

He's a whistleblower. It's just a shame he had to go to Russia to reveal the depths US intelligence have plumbed.

I'm sure if he'd tried it at home he would have met a fatal "accident".

Land of the brave and home of the free, eh?

Watched a bit of the interview this morning, he is obviously quite articulate and intelligent.

He's not a whistle blower, he is a coward and a traitor. Had he stayed in the USA and stood up for what he believed in, that would have made him a whistle blower. There are many heroic people who have stood up to their governments without running away and hiding. Bravery is not a condition of his personality.

[kiniyow]

A Hero for many that thanks him for letting the cat out of the bag.....Most citizens did not have any idea how far the Govt was intruding into our lives..

[HerbalEd]

He's a whistleblower. It's just a shame he had to go to Russia to reveal the depths US intelligence have plumbed.

I'm sure if he'd tried it at home he would have met a fatal "accident".

Land of the brave and home of the free, eh?

Watched a bit of the interview this morning, he is obviously quite articulate and intelligent.

He's not a whistle blower, he is a coward and a traitor. Had he stayed in the USA and stood up for what he believed in, that would have made him a whistle blower. There are many heroic people who have stood up to their governments without running away and hiding. Bravery is not a condition of his personality.

So are you against these new laws being passed by the US Congress (with a Republican controlled House) that are curbing the NSA's & CIA's illegal spying? Would you prefer that these illegal spying activities would have never been exposed and that they still continue to happen?

[Chicog]

He's a whistleblower. It's just a shame he had to go to Russia to reveal the depths US intelligence have plumbed.

I'm sure if he'd tried it at home he would have met a fatal "accident".

Land of the brave and home of the free, eh?

Watched a bit of the interview this morning, he is obviously quite articulate and intelligent.

He's not a whistle blower, he is a coward and a traitor. Had he stayed in the USA and stood up for what he believed in, that would have made him a whistle blower. There are many heroic people who have stood up to their governments without running away and hiding. Bravery is not a condition of his personality.

Had he stood up and tried to release this information in the US, they would have got rid of him to shut him up. As it is he's given up everything and now has to spend the rest of his life wondering when a spook is going to double tap him.

[Stan7444]

He's a whistleblower. It's just a shame he had to go to Russia to reveal the depths US intelligence have plumbed.

I'm sure if he'd tried it at home he would have met a fatal "accident".

Land of the brave and home of the free, eh?

Watched a bit of the interview this morning, he is obviously quite articulate and intelligent.

Heard today that the Guardian reporter Glenn Greenwald has come out with a book and will also publish a list of over 100,000 US Citizens who were personally targeted by the NSA. Snowden is a hero for me at least.

[BlackJack]

Having spent many years in IT - I can assure you that security is slack at best

Snowden gave the industry a big wake up call and showed the World that information is power and those that have it have the power

So now lets see how they patch the holes in the system that Snowden left

[sgtsabai]

He tried the inside whistle blower route first, it didn't go anywhere. The man is a hero and obushma's Nobel Peace Prize should be taken away and given to Snowden. Had he stayed in the states he would have already been disappeared into a gulag somewhere at best, never to heard from or about again, if not had a fatal accident. He had seen what the obushma police/surveillance state has done to other whistle blowers. He had no choice. He is a walking dead man even if he does make it to a country other than Russia. He knew he was taking that chance. And no, congress hasn't done diddly squat to prevent the spying, in fact after gutting the latest effort and actually enabling spying most people with more than 2 working brain cells hope it doesn't pass. The real traitors are those that spy on us and allow for indefinite, without a trial, disappeared, detention. Maybe someday a cell in GitMo will be open for them.

[Chicog]

You can't trust your duplicitous politicians to protect you. That's why you need the Ed Snowden's of this world.

http://mashable.com/2014/05/22/congress-nsa-surveillance-bill/

[joshstiles]

Hey all you smoke blowers.....did any of you read the just released book "No Place to Hide" by Glenn Greenwald? You Should! If you really want to know what a bunch of bass terds the US govt is....read the book....end all your speculation.....Spy? Not a Spy. He was NOT.

[wabothai]

If he wouldn't talked, we would not have known !

[khunken]

Well having seen how 'fairly' Bradley Manning was treated for his whistleblowing, Mr Snowden knew he couldn't do what he did at home. When Morales' jet was forced down in Europe, his decision to go to Hong Kong and then Russia was very good foresight.

Anyone who exposes 'big brother' type of illegal activities is a hero.

[rickirs]

Snowden was a spy ... for himself. He not only collected NSA metadata gathering information on US-foreign calls, but also secret State Department diplomatic cables and Department of Defense military communications. Most of the data he stole was outside his administrator priviledges but by stealing agent ID's and passwords he was able to penetrate security to gain access to secret communications. If he had worked for a foreign power he would have been called a mole. As it is, he was just a weasel.

[Thakkar]

These Snowden discussions always devolve into whether the man is evil, stupid, traitorous, heroic, naive, etc.

Whether Snowden is a hero or zero is irrelevant. What matters are the revelations. It is clear that NSA spying was egregious, illegal and breached international norms. Two concerned American congressmen on the intelligence committee tried to warn us of that, but due to their positions, couldn't be specific.

Governments whose job it is to administer the law, broke the law. Instead of addressing this important issue, which is at the core of ANY democracy, Congress people and others Point elsewhere and say, "Oh, look: Snowden is such a poo-poo head!" And all you idiots look there and say, "yeah! Snowden is a poo-poo head." Or "no he's not!", forgetting that nobody's been held accountable for breaking the very laws that underpin American democracy -- a democracy that the government is supposedly protecting from the terrorists!

If Democracy is compromised by the loss of privacy, the terrorists have already won, no matter how many bad guys all that spying helps you kill.

T