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Snowden Interview

Started by Jacob, January 27, 2014, 08:34:28 PM

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CountDeMoney


garbon

Nope, I don't have time for that.
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Neil

I'm not really interested in hearing his attempts to make himself look principled and justified in order to hide the fact that he just wanted to be famous.
I do not hate you, nor do I love you, but you are made out of atoms which I can use for something else.

DGuller

It was an interesting interview, but I think it avoided some of the tougher questions, and let him get away with stating the most positive case for himself.  For example, some of Snowden's revelations concerned spying on potential enemy nations.  His off-hand statement that his revelations didn't hurt our national security are hard to believe, and impossible to confirm in such a short period of time anyway.

Sheilbh

Especially given that just tonight some documents have gone round the internet that were redacted but could be copy-and-pasted to reveal the names of NSA and GCHQ employees. Basically exactly what Snowden and Greenwald have said they were always careful to avoid.
Let's bomb Russia!

Capetan Mihali

Transcript of interview:

"I'm cold,' Snowden said softly, 'I'm cold.'
'You're going to be all right, kid,' Yossarian reassured him with a grin. 'You're going to be all right.'
'I'm cold,' Snowden said again in a frail, childlike voice. 'I'm cold.'
'There, there,' Yossarian said, because he did not know what else to say. 'There, there.'
'I'm cold,' Snowden whimpered. 'I'm cold.'
'There, there. There, there.
"The internet's completely over. [...] The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."
-- Prince, 2010. (R.I.P.)

KRonn

Quote from: DGuller on January 27, 2014, 09:10:59 PM
It was an interesting interview, but I think it avoided some of the tougher questions, and let him get away with stating the most positive case for himself.  For example, some of Snowden's revelations concerned spying on potential enemy nations.  His off-hand statement that his revelations didn't hurt our national security are hard to believe, and impossible to confirm in such a short period of time anyway.

Yeah, I feel now that his motives were as much or more to sabotage US intel gathering and give the info to US opponents, rather than any grand interest in exposing wrong doing by NSA.  He went straight to opponents of the US, to nations that would benefit the most at learning of US intel practices. He may have exposed workings that go too far domestically but he did irreparable damage to US intel gathering vs terrorists, and nations not so friendly to US interests.

DGuller

Quote from: KRonn on January 28, 2014, 11:34:34 AM
He went straight to opponents of the US, to nations that would benefit the most at learning of US intel practices.
To be fair, what choice did he have?  The enemies of US are your only potential allies when US decides you are its enemy, and Snowden would've been the enemy of the state even if his disclosure were 100% perfectly surgical in blowing the whistle on the bad stuff.

grumbler

Quote from: DGuller on January 28, 2014, 11:49:33 AM
Quote from: KRonn on January 28, 2014, 11:34:34 AM
He went straight to opponents of the US, to nations that would benefit the most at learning of US intel practices.
To be fair, what choice did he have?  The enemies of US are your only potential allies when US decides you are its enemy, and Snowden would've been the enemy of the state even if his disclosure were 100% perfectly surgical in blowing the whistle on the bad stuff.
Look up something called "The Pentagon papers" and a man named Daniel Ellsworth, and you will see that your assumptions are incorrect.
The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.   -G'Kar

Bayraktar!

The Minsky Moment

Edward Snowden still thinks very well of Edward Snowden.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

KRonn

Quote from: DGuller on January 28, 2014, 11:49:33 AM
Quote from: KRonn on January 28, 2014, 11:34:34 AM
He went straight to opponents of the US, to nations that would benefit the most at learning of US intel practices.
To be fair, what choice did he have?  The enemies of US are your only potential allies when US decides you are its enemy, and Snowden would've been the enemy of the state even if his disclosure were 100% perfectly surgical in blowing the whistle on the bad stuff.
If he had to go outside the US, then of course he went to opponents, or those nations who were less likely to turn him over to the US. But if he was all about the domestic privacy then I have to think that he had other alternatives within the US justice department or what ever is in place for whistle blower protection. But he also turned over so much other sensitive intel data, beyond domestic privacy, for the world to see.

The Brain

At least Snowden gets called to interviews.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Sheilbh

Thanks interview's interesting, though not as tough as I'd like (also where did the guy get the idea the British government can't spy on Brits: MI5? :blink:). I totally agree with Snowden here though 'In general, I would say it highlights the dangers of privatising government functions' :lol:
Let's bomb Russia!

Jacob

Quote from: Sheilbh on January 28, 2014, 02:45:24 PM
Thanks interview's interesting, though not as tough as I'd like (also where did the guy get the idea the British government can't spy on Brits: MI5? :blink:). I totally agree with Snowden here though 'In general, I would say it highlights the dangers of privatising government functions' :lol:

:lol: