Edward Snowden Reportedly Gives Interview To Chinese News Outlet

[ProSense]

Edward Snowden Reportedly Gives Interview To Chinese News Outlet

A Chinese news outlet said Wednesday that it landed the first interview with Edward Snowden since the 29-year-old former government contractor outed himself as the source the recent National Security Agency leaks.

"I'm neither traitor nor hero. I'm an American," Snowden said, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Morning Post said that Snowden confirmed he is still lying low in Hong Kong, and that he insisted he isn't hiding.

“People who think I made a mistake in picking HK as a location misunderstand my intentions. I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality," Snowden said, according to the outlet.

The report quoted him as saying his "intention is to ask the courts and people of Hong Kong" to decide his fate, adding: "I have been given no reason to doubt your system."

- more -

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/edward-snowden-reportedly-gives-interview-to-chinese-news

"I am not here to hide from justice; I am here to reveal criminality"

Stupid and a coward.

<...>

Snowden is the 29-year-old intelligence analyst and computer geek who leaked some of the National Security Agency’s most precious secrets to journalists from The Post and the Guardian. He is now on the lam, having checked out of the Hong Kong hotel where he holed up for several weeks as he orchestrated a worldwide media splash that shows no sign of ending.

Snowden betrayed his employer, the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, and his promise not to divulge classified information. He paints what he did as an act of civil disobedience, but he has decided to seek political asylum abroad rather than surrender to authorities and accept the consequences. In published interviews, he comes across as grandiose to the point of self-parody, a legend in his own mind.

He is an imperfect messenger, to say the least. But his message should not be ignored.

- more -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-snowdens-nsa-leaks-show-we-need-a-debate/2013/06/10/002911b6-d203-11e2-8cbe-1bcbee06f8f8_story.html

No one with any objectivity is going to defend this guy, and a pardon is highly unlikely.

'Pardon Edward Snowden' Petition Seeks White House Response
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022988977

AP Editor: Do Not Describe Edward Snowden As A 'Whistleblower'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022989251

"Most significant" leak in history, and likely one of the dumbest.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022987178

[Whisp]

1. lying low, lying high but lying all the way.

poor fuck.

I'm feeling sorry for him and his stupid.

he's going to get toasted and Glen Greenwad will get some kind of 'journalistic' (ahem) prize out of this. You can see him licking his chops.

[ProSense]

2. I hope he keeps talking n/t

[randome]

4. "I am not here to hide from justice."

Said from his hidden location in Hong Kong.

I think this does say something about his character. You don't?

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[warrior1]

5. how many times are you going to ignore Prosense?

Yet you keep clicking on his link.

[ProSense]

6. Clownish! n/t

[Agschmid]

7. Results of alert if interested...

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service
At Wed Jun 12, 2013, 11:11 AM an alert was sent on the following post:

And the authoritarian smear campaign continues.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3000215

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate. (See <a href="http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=aboutus#communitystandards" target="_blank">Community Standards</a>.)

ALERTER'S COMMENTS:

over the top insults.

JURY RESULTS

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Jun 12, 2013, 11:14 AM, and the Jury voted 4-2 to HIDE IT.

Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT and said: Attacking the poster and not the message.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: He's only saying what we're all thinking!
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: I'd ask if Skinner would tolerate your shit... If you are going to just ignore why be so OTT about it? *PLONK* back at you.
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[ProSense]

8. Thanks. n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. So? Are we at war with EastAsia again?

[randome]

10. No. In fact, the opposite. We're turning Chinese!

Only the People's Republic of China can save us now!

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[cali]

11. lol. and just yesterday you were preaching piously to us about the importance

of holding off on judging the guy.

horseshit of course.

and this is about much more than Snowden.

Oh, and one more time: No one has any objectivity. Everyone, on either side of this, has a point of view, biases.

You're hard at work with your propaganda. It's creepy as hell.

[ProSense]

13. Well,

"just yesterday you were preaching piously to us about the importance of holding off on judging the guy. "

...he said some fairly stupid things in that interview.

"horseshit of course...You're hard at work with your propaganda. It's creepy as hell."

Not only are you rude, but you are very weird.

I'm sure that I'll come across another one of your profane-laced, insulting and rude comments within the next hour.

[cali]

14. oh no. prowhatever thinks I'm weird and profane.

and no, I don't care for propagandists.

[ProSense]

15. Well, callous, I'm just returning the favor for "creepy as hell"

"and no, I don't care for propagandists. "

And I'm not fond of weirdos.

[reorg]

12. The Chinese have been monitoring the human rights situtation in the US

for a long time now. They are well aware of the situation as you can see from their annual report.

II. On Civil and Political Rights

The recent years have seen closer surveillance of American citizens by the U.S. government. In the country, abuse of suspects and jail inmates is common occurrence, and equal suffrage enjoyable by citizens continues to be undermined.

The U.S. government continues to step up surveillance of ordinary Americans, restricting and reducing the free sphere of the American society to a considerable extent, and seriously violating the freedom of citizens. The U.S. congress approved a bill in 2012 that authorizes the government to conduct warrantless wiretapping and electronic communications monitoring, a move that violates people's rights to privacy. According to a report carried on May 4, 2012 by the CNET website, the FBI general counsel' s office has drafted a proposed law requiring that social-networking websites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail to alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly (news.cnet.com, May 4, 2012). Documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union on September 27, 2012, reveal that federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly monitoring American's electronic communications. Between 2009 and 2011, the Justice Department' s combined number of original orders for "pen registers" and "trap and trace devices" used to spy on phones increased by 60 percent, from 23,535 in 2009 to 37,616 in 2011. The number of authorizations the Justice Department received to use these devices on individuals' email and network data increased 361 percent between 2009 and 2011. The National Security Agency collects purely domestic communications of Americans in a "significant and systematic" way, intercepting and storing 1.7 billion emails, phone calls and other types of communications every day. A Wired investigation published in March 2012 revealed the NSA is currently constructing a huge data center in Utah, meant to store and analyze "vast swaths of the world' s communications" from foreign and domestic networks (The Guardian, July 10, 2012). As the American Civil Liberties Union explained in its December 2011 report, the U.S. could potentially use military drones to spy on its citizens (Fars News Agency, June 26, 2012).

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/21/c_132327175_3.htm

I think the Chinese may be sympathetic with Snowden's concerns, and he was well advised to go to Hong Kong where they don't extradite political refugees.