The Non-Spy Who's Out In The Cold

Edward Snowden, the brave but confused former NSA contractor who exposed some of that military spy agency's nefarious activities, has friends in the world; unfortunately they aren't particularly powerful ones. (WikiLeaks, maybe the government of Venezuela, some sympathetic media voices, and various citizens of the world grateful for his actions but who are basically impotent to help him.)[1]
 

Right now he's in effect a prisoner in the transit lounge of the Moscow Sheremetyevo international airport (presumably, unless he's in some Russian FSB interrogation room). The U.S. quickly invalidated his passport- although Julian Assange apparently got someone in the Ecuadorean embassy in London to issue Snowden an unauthorized safe conduct pass, one not signed by the consul as required. [2]

After U.S. vice president Joseph Biden called Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa and was friendly towards him (playing “good cop” in contrast to the nasty “bad cop” invective heaped on Correa and Ecuador by other U.S. politicians and the corporate media) Correa seemed to throw Snowden to the dogs. Correa set as a condition of granting asylum for Snowden that he somehow make it to Ecuador (a condition that wasn't imposed on Julian Assange.) You see, U.S. Imperialism, sometimes you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Correa upbraided the London consul for issuing the transit pass to Snowden, which was revoked, said helping Snowden leave Hong Kong for Moscow was a mistake, and said if Snowden broke U.S. laws, he'd have to take responsibility (code for submit to punishment).Correa said the case was "not in Ecuador's hands".

In another ominous comment, Correa seemed to wash his hands of Snowden:

"The situation of Mr Snowden is a complex situation and we don't know how he will solve it."

Notice: how he will solve it. I.e. You're on your own, pal.

Correa did cut off U.S. retaliatory trade threats at the knees by waiving preferential trade rights. So he gets to have it both ways, “standing up to the U.S.” while actually doing what the U.S. wants (deny Snowden asylum or even a way to move).

In fairness to Ecuador, they've taken on enough U.S. wrath by granting Assange asylum in their UK embassy. Some other of the 200-odd nations in the world should step up to the plate on this one.

Assange's egomania didn't help matters any by acting as if he was an Ecuadorean government spokesman and obtaining an unsigned transit visit for Snowden from the London Ecuadorean consul, apparently behind Quito's back. Nor was it sensible for WikiLeaks to brag that they'd arranged for Snowden to transit from Hong Kong to Moscow to Ecuador. When you're trying to help someone who's on the lam, discretion is advisable!

Snowden has now thrown out asylum requests to 21 countries, spreading his bets around in hope of getting lucky. (There are hopeful signs from Venezuela. President Maduro has made supportive remarks about Snowden. [3]) He withdrew his request to Russia after Putin brusquely stated the terms for Russian asylum: “If he wishes to stay here, then we have one condition: He must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners—although it sounds very strange coming from me.” Indeed. But Snowden was free to leave, Putin disingenuously added. (Trying leaving without a passport, entry visa, etc., and oh yes, U.S. twisting arms all over the world.) [4]

One must wonder what is going on behind the scenes between Putin and the Obama regime. Before Putin's sudden public condition for Snowden to stay, one of the Democratic Party's Queen Bees, multi-millionaire Nancy Pelosi, went on one of those U.S. Sunday morning TV shows that exist to be platforms for the politicians the corporate propaganda establishment has decided to make prominent, and for indoctrination in the outlook of the ruling class on all issued, and smugly opined that "it's pretty good that he's [Snowden] stuck in Moscow airport. That's OK with me – he can stay there." So Russia is keeping Snowden on ice for the U.S. [5]

A bit odd that China, through Hong Kong, didn't secretly offer Snowden sanctuary in return for telling them everything he knows (and handing over his data). Perhaps they did and Snowden turned them down. Snowden says he is a patriot, and I have no reason to doubt him, despite the epithet of “traitor” being hurled at him by our lovely politicians such as Senator Dianne Feinstein et al. Snowden has also carefully vetted what he has chosen to reveal- something the attack dogs of the U.S. government and media establishment have chosen to ignore.

The U.S. is actually tending to drive him into the arms of nations it doesn't like, such as Russia and China and Ecuador. As usual, the hyperpower thinks it can and should get its way by sheer might.

A smarter- and incidentally more moral and humane tack- would be to cut a deal with Snowden for a plea to a lesser charge and maybe two years imprisonment in return for a full debriefing on everything he took and everything he revealed to all parties including governments, with a guarantee of immunity from further prosecution. He has performed a public service. But the inability of the repressive politicians and secret police and military bureaucrats who rule the U.S. to admit that even to themselves prevents this. Instead they hypocritically pretend to “welcome debate” while desperately throwing the tarpaulin of “national security” back on top of their massive mountain of dirt. They also are obviously deeply committed to running a total surveillance state domestically and over the entire planet, indefinitely, and only intensifying over time. [6]

They are lusting to sentence Snowden to life in prison, it seems, to make an example out of him and terrorize other would-be exposers of evil doing out of revealing anything to anyone. Many of the politicians and the bureaucrats of repression also genuinely despise Snowden for his “betrayal” of their secret secret police state. (Snowden says he fears execution, but that is unlikely as large parts of the American public would probably disapprove, even among those who consider what he did wrong, and it's unnecessary for the deterrent and chilling effect on others. He also fears assassination, which if the U.S. can't extradite or kidnap him, is a future possibility, although I think they'd rather have him alive to squeeze out of him what, if anything, he might have revealed to the Russians and Chinese.)

I guess the U.S. will just have to live with the anxiety of wondering what Snowden may have revealed to the Chinese and Russians until they can get him in their clutches and break him. Yet another sad example of a decent human being destroyed by the U.S. power system.

The U.S. media has done its best to demonize Snowden. Their devilish image has no correspondence with the real Snowden we see in the video interviews with the Guardian.

WikiLeaks has just posted a statement from Snowden. Part of what Snowden has to say is moving and important:

“In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.” [from Wikileaks.org.]

Alas, the majority of the American public will probably stay in their political coma, as the corporate media is so strenuously trying to ensure. Hopefully agitation in Europe will be greater.

1] Snowden worked for a company called Booz Allen Hamilton, which makes all its billions of dollars in revenues from the U.S. government, specifically the most oppressive arms of that government. It's vice chair is a former director of the National Security Agency, John Michael McConnell. Merely coincidentally, I'm sure, the NSA contracted with Booz Allen to work for it on its mass surveillance programs. Snowden was a computer systems administrator, a self-taught computer expert who in the technical dimension obviously has great aptitude. For McConnell's disreputable background, click McConnell.

2] FSB is the Russian secret police, the so-called Federal Security Service, successor to the KGB. For the details on the safe conduct pass wrinkle, see “Ecuador breaks US trade pact to thwart 'blackmail' over Snowden asylum,” Guardian, 27 June 2013.

In most countries, agencies with the words “security” or “intelligence” in their names are usually some kind of secret police outfit. They spy on people, oppress people, and assassinate people. That's true in the “free and democratic” Western bloc too, although saying so is taboo, yet is common knowledge. And there are ooodles of fictional books and movies showing just that as routine, and plenty of non-fiction in the public realm about actual crimes. But in the political realm, you're supposed to play dumb. How's that for social and cultural schizophrenia?

3] President Nicolás Maduro: [translated from Spanish] “He said great truth in order to dismantle a world that cannot be controlled, not by an American imperialist elite nor by anyone. And these revelations that he made are the most important. A young man of 29 years who is capable of opening himself up against mechanisms of the intelligence services, who spy and want to know everything, who go against friends and enemies, who set up technological operations, satellites, with the help of the Internet, telephones, to try and control the world—the revelations of this young man have great value. He must be protected by international human rights. He has the right to be protected, because the United States will continue to pursue him. The American president, the secretary of state, why are you persecuting him? What crime has he committed? Did he kill anyone? Did he plant a bomb and kill anyone? No. Much better, he has prevented wars, and he has stopped illegalities being committed against the entire world. For this, he deserves the protection of the world. He hasn’t asked for asylum, but when he asks for it, we will give him an answer. “

4] Here's a fuller- and revealing- version of Putin's remarks: “If he wants to go anywhere and someone will accept him, he is welcome. If he wishes to stay here, then we have one condition: He must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners—although it sounds very strange coming from me. He positions himself as a fighter for human rights, and he is not going to stop this activity, so he has to choose the country for himself and go to it. When it will happen, I unfortunately do not know. If I knew, I would tell you.” [Translated from the Russian.]

No dogs and human rights fighters allowed. And “unfortunately” Putin doesn't know how long he's going to be stuck with this pest. Spoken like the autocrat he is.

And it's no coincidence that the autocrat and the “democratic” U.S. political hacks see eye to eye.

5] Pelosi is currently House of Representatives Minority Leader, since the Democrats are in the minority there now. Previously she was Speaker (head) of the House when the Democrats controlled that chamber of the U.S. Congress. (For the benefit of my non-American readers, the U.S. Congress is a bicameral legislature or parliament, having two chambers, the House, with 435 members elected from districts all across the U.S., and the Senate, with 100 Senators. Each State elects two senators, regardless of population- a profoundly undemocratic arrangement. To become law, a bill must pass both chambers of Congress and be signed by the President.

6] Not that I think Snowden deserves a single day in prison, it's just that to save face the U.S. would need that. But maybe they already have traced what he copied, or can. Maybe the NSA will or has hacked into whatever servers his data was transferred to. I'm sure they're inside the Guardian's servers and Greenwald's computer, for example- the NSA has the help of their little brother the British GCHQ to do that.

As to the terrifying mania for repression and secrecy of the Obama regime, and apparently the bulk of the U.S. ruling establishment, it turns out that Obama ordered all the parts of the Federal government to institute a draconian program demanding that all employees spy on each other and report “indications” that someone might give out information, regardless of whether it's secret or not. Punishment is to be meted out not just for “leaking” (i.e. telling the public, who pays for the government, what the government is doing) but for failure to snitch on others and failure to “self-report.” See “Obama’s crackdown viewsleaks as aiding enemies of U.S.” June 20, 2013, by the McClatchy newspaper chain.

McClatchy has distinguished itself among U.S. establishment media in recent years for reporting things the rest of the corporate media prefers to keep secret. Guess they just aren't cozy enough with those high level always anonymous “officials” who like to plant self-serving half-truths and lies in the establishment press to know any better. Their slogan is “truth to power.” Contrast that with the New York Times slogan, “all the news that's fit to print.” Obviously there's a lot the Times considers UNfit to print. (But there is valuable info in it sometimes, if you can stand the mealy-mouthed writing style that bends over backwards to be kind of institutional power.)

Here's a good commentary on McClatchy's work and its lowly status in the firmament of the U.S. corporate media structure at The Nation; “McClatchy Uncovers Obama's 'Insider Threat Program,'” June 24, 2013.