Jeff Moden (7/29/2014)
geoffrey.sturdy (7/29/2014)
I would not Describe Edward Snowden as a hero - anyone who flies off to countries like RUssia and China with flash drives full of his countries espoinage secrets is a traitor by any definition. And the enemy isn't just traditional powers - fighting an asymmetric war against people who will willingly plant a bomb in a public waste bin as happened not far from where I live , and kill a couple of 10 year olds , requires intelligence and sometimes the line has to blur if you want to prevent tragedy. In the UK we suffered from a 25 year war conducuted against the UK civilian population by the IRA , of which the 1996 South Quay bombing affected me personally . Inalienable rights are little use to a corpse , and now the the islamic world is now targeting the UK and US this is the wrong time to expose survaillance methods to potential mass-killers . As an Aside the Guardian Newspaper only agreed to redact/destory the hard drives smuggled out of moscow because the UK government threatened arrests under anti-terrorism law otherwiseThank you. I was trying to figure a way to explain my feelings on the subject and you not only nailed it but you have some up close and personal experience with the problems that have affected many.
I understand the concerns, and I am always sorry to hear when someone has been affected by any personal loss like this.
Ethically we need to consider things in a different manner. If millions are being harmed by our government, and stopping that means they have to work within the law to fight terrorism, then the only ethical answer is to put a stop to it. You start within the system, but if that fails, you do what has to be done. Evil gains more and more control, because we allow it. If our government wasn't violating the law, what Snowden did would be wrong. I don't think it as clear cut as saying he was wrong, when his only choice was to ignore it or report it.
Further, even the NSA has admitted that not a single attack has been identified or stopped by their illegal activities. They make claims that can be seen through by a 6-year old.
What Snowden did is not at all comparable to the original post Steve made. We may never agree on Snowden's methods, but I would hope we would all agree that the other person had legal options available to put a stop to something that absolutely needed to be stopped. Snowden didn't.
Dave