One of them being Russia. He is said to have given Russian diplomats a list of 15 countries where he wants to seek political asylum. No doubt a desperate step now that Ecuador is no longer that willing to offer him a safe harbor.
Putin said "If he wants to go somewhere and someone will take him, go ahead. If he wants to stay here, there is one condition – he must stop his work aimed at bringing harm to our American partners, as strange as that sounds coming from my mouth."
This is of course not what Snowden wants, who has spent years to collect files on the NSA and other agencies and whose driving force is that they are seen by the world. With Russia controlling the airport where he is holed up, he finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
#NSA Politics
Putin said that? I am shocked!
What +Elisha Chirchir said!
I highly doubt anyone will be either willing to incur United states' wrath or capable of preventing the retribution of a government caught firmly in scandal and the moral/ethical/legal wrong.
Guy is my fucking super hero and quite possibly the most inspirational activist of our time though! Prayers probably won't help stop him from becoming at least a figurative martyr even if he is spared (rewarded?) being a literal one
Seeing as Germany seems to be the most pissed off country over the whole thing I'm surprised that they don't offer him asylum, with a "what are you going to do about it USA?" sort of attitude.
Snowden could dump the whole collection with Wikileaks and let them handle distribution; after that he could ask for asylum in Russia.
+Paul Selormey you sound like a true christian to me, callous and ignorant of the facts.
Distribution is already done in safe places, as far as I understood it… that's his last card.
Tough.
The real issue here is that the NSA has designed its PRIZM surveillance system so that any rogue employee with a portable hard drive can vacuum up the whole works. All an enemy has to do is to put a spy in place, and they probably have. Snowden just shows illustrates the incompetence and naievete with which intelligence is conducted.
I'm thinking Putin thought of a way to gain a huge drawing card and good PR for himself in the game with USA. As in, "remember when I shut up that little embarassment for you?" Supposedly, Snowden has left files elsewhere to be released if anything should happen to him. In that, they won't be able to shut him up is my guess.
The information he has provided is far more important than his personal drama – but the latter seems to sell more advertisements.
There's a larger picture here. I imagine the reason he's been to so many countries isn't about running away from his existing charges or the info he's released.
I imagine it's about the protection he's gonna need if the information HE HASN'T released is made public.
Snowden is a traitor, I've said it from day one, he had a certain secret clearance for a REASON and he betrayed his country. I hope he get's extradited back to the U.S. somehow. The government simply CANNOT tell the "people" everything. There cannot be full disclosure of certain programs. IMHO
Wow, you've got Putin telling you to shut up… To be fair, it's not just a leak or political dissident. This guy had high level clearance and worked on security material. He's plutonium. Nobody wants that kind of heat.
+Kathy Morlock the traitors are those who were exposed by his revelations. They abused the law and trampled the constitution that gave them their jobs. What they do is illegal and has not been endorsed by democratic vote. By doing so they endanger the continuity and sovereignty of the US as a people. The only way out for the people to regain their freedoms is by revolution because no one in DC will do anything to prevent that from happening. There will be many many casualties…
+Vladimir Putin: "If he wants to stay here, there is one condition – he must stop his work aimed at bringing harm to our American partners, as strange as that sounds coming from my mouth."
—Tyrannical regimens (i.e., governments) often find a way to help each other to oppress the populace, don't you remember the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact?
+Kathy Morlock: "Snowden is a traitor, I've said it from day one, he had a certain secret clearance for a REASON and he betrayed his country."
— Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton also became traitors to the British Crown.
+Jason Nunnelley </thread>
This will blow you away. Begin to listen on 1/3 on this podcast where they analyse an interview with the guardian. http://www.noagendashow.com/
Quoted for truth +Grizwald Grim The information he has provided is far more important than his personal drama – but the latter seems to sell more advertisements.
Snowden a traitor? My personal life, my finances and my correspondation is known by the US, but as a European, I have no control over it and I am not protected by the US constitution. The US doing mass spying on it's allies is not what I call a friendly relationship. Who is the traitor?
+Kathy Morlock Lots of people on the internet have the ability to do what prism does. INDIVIDUALS, not just corporations. If anyone is actually surprised by this leak they haven't been paying attention. TS clearance is handed out like pre-9/11 halloween candy these days. All it does is say "Hey bud, we'll do real bad shit to you if you cross us, your employer, and the government gave us permission to. Welcome to the team". Snowden deserves a peace prize.
+Max Huijgen Kony the PR mess from last year got more traction and engagement from the people. I already hear people complaining "what!? We are still talking about that NSA and Snowden bull***." To many in this world this is old news, and nobody cares. Thats why people are so easily controlled. We are sheep. And we deserve to have ruthless rulers.
Those weren't people, they were kids.
+Paul Selormey The Postillion (The Onion for Germans) has already proposed asylum in — oh, read it yourself, it's far too juicy!
http://www.der-postillon.com/2013/06/bayern-bietet-edward-snowden-asyl-in.html
You don't NEED Edward for revealing things.. watch at 2 min U.S. Army Top Ten – Letterman – 13 06 2013 – Sub Ita (Rai5) For the doubters among us..
The US Marine is right… Hiding in plain site works… Nothing to see here ;-(