The Guardian just ran an interview with Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who blew the whistle on perhaps the most extensive secret spying program in human history and is now a man without a country, very much in danger of assassination or rendition or any number of other nasty things should Washington get ahold of him.
It’s a short interview, just 14 minutes, but by the end it is clear that this guy is vastly smarter and more interesting than the politicians and bureaucrats who would like to hang him. See it here:
To understand what, technically, Snowden has done and why it matters, a great piece of background material is This Machine Kills Secrets by Andy Greenberg. Beginning with Daniel Ellsberg, who photocopied the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s, the book chronicles the technological progress that has made it possible for governments to invade their citizens’ privacy while also making it easier for a growing number of whistleblowers to expose those crimes.
Greenberg profiles the big names in the modern leaking movement including Bradley Manning and Julian Assange but, alas, stops just before Snowden’s emergence. So read this book and then go straight to the early Snowden articles by the Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald to understand both what’s at stake and why technology gives the forces of freedom at least a fighting chance.
Ten Selections From The Guardian’s Exhaustive Edward Snowden Interview
David Ludwig
Courageous whistle blower and/or infamous American traitor Edward Snowden sat down with Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill of The Guardian and talked about life in Russia, the NSA culture and why he risked everything to out the NSA.
The paper released a video teaser of the interview yesterday and followed up today with the complete transcript of their seven-hour talk. The conversation is nearly 10,000 words, so we broke some comments out for you.
Below are 10 of the most interesting and surprising quotes from that interview. Also of note, Snowden likes chicken curry.
“The fact that I’ve ended up so secure is entirely by accident.”
“No system of mass surveillance has existed in any society that we know of to this point that has not been abused.”
“I think it’s unfortunate when, for example, in Germany evidence has revealed that the NSA is spying on millions of German citizens … and that’s not a scandal. But when Angela Merkel’s cell phone is listened [in] on and she herself is made a victim, suddenly it changes relations.”
“What people often overlook is the fact that when you build a back door into a communication system that back door can be discovered by anyone around the world…. That decision wasn’t debated by any public body, it wasn’t authorized by any legislator.”
“There shouldn’t be this distinction between digital information and printed information.”
“Most reasonable people would grant that privacy is a function of liberty. And if we get rid of privacy, we’re making ourselves less free.”
“If we confess something to our priest inside a church that would be private, but is it any different if we send our pastor a private email confessing a crisis that we have in our life?
“I’m much happier here in Russia than I would be facing an unfair trial in which I can’t even present a public interest defence to a jury of my peers.”
“I never actively sought out protection here. The state department stranded me in Russia as I was transiting through on my way to Latin America.
“… we now have an institution that has become so powerful it feels comfortable granting itself new authorities, without the involvement of the country, without the involvement of the public, without the full involvement of all of our elected representatives and without the full involvement of open courts, and that’s a terrifying thing – at least for me.”
So who are you going to belive, support, and follow, TBP readers, your elected government and leaders, most all of whom got your vote, or some self-important twenty-some year old who thinks he knows better than you, I, or our leaders? So who are you going to support, some lawbreaker or the law makers? So who are you going to support, American heroes like John McCain, John Kerry, and our Presidents or some pasty faced twink who runs to Russia when challenged?
TBP readers, look into Eddie Snowden and the Americans who criticize and challenge him. Compare their American values to his. It should be perfectly obvious to everyone of you as to who should be standing in the dock, who should be sentenced to jail, and who’s an American hero and who isn’t.
Smart, articulate and knowledgeable. Don’t forget courageous and got his shit together.
IraK, your post is satire, right? I can’t tell.
“So who are you going to belive, support, and follow, TBP readers, your elected government and leaders, most all of whom got your vote, or some self-important twenty-some year old who thinks he knows better than you, I, or our leaders? So who are you going to support, some lawbreaker or the law makers? So who are you going to support, American heroes like John McCain, John Kerry, and our Presidents or some pasty faced twink who runs to Russia when challenged?”—-IraK
I’m taking the self-important twenty-something year old who sacrificed everything he had in order to sound the alarm against the tyranny of our so-called government. Faux heroes like McCain, Kerry and our presidents sold their souls for power and sold out our country in the process. The real hero is the pasty faced twink who took on the most powerful and evil force on the face of the planet and still can tell about it. If our corrupt politicians had half the integrity that Snowden has then we would not be faced with an intrusive NSA Leviathan nor the massive Federal debt that will enslave us, our children and grandchildren. I know who should be standing in the dock: every elected politician who allowed the looting and destruction of our countrywhile they stood by lining their pockets on the graft. I know not what course others may take but give me the liberty envisioned by Edward Snowden, the liberty handed on by our Founding Fathers or give me death.
Admin – thanks for posting this. Great interview. Snowden is one impressive and courageous young man. Why are there not protests the size of Texas in front of the White House? Another poster said that the elite must be kicking themselves because all these years they could have been getting away with blue murder, but they didn’t know it. Now they do. Why is no one standing up? Is it because they are too weighed down with moral decay?