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US Charges Edward Snowden With Espionage
cold fjord writes "Further developments in the controversy engulfing Edward Snowden and the NSA. From the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint against Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked a trove of documents about top-secret surveillance programs, and the United States has asked Hong Kong to detain him on a provisional arrest warrant,... Snowden was charged with espionage, theft and conversion of government property ... The complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, a jurisdiction where Snowden's former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered, and a district with a long track record in prosecuting cases with national security implications...it is thought that he is still in the Chinese territory. Hong Kong has its own legislative and legal systems but ultimately answers to Beijing, under the so-called "one country, two systems" arrangement. The leaks have sparked national and international debates about the secret powers of the NSA to infringe on the privacy of both Americans and foreigners. Officials from President Obama down have said they welcomed the opportunity to explain the importance of the programs, and the safeguards they say are built into them. Skeptics, including some in Congress, have said the NSA has assumed power to soak up data about Americans that were never intended under the law."""
Snowden swore an oath when he took his security clearance. It is essentially the same one sworn by soldiers.
The first thing he does is swear to protect the constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic. And finally to follow the orders of his chain of command and perform the duties of his position.
Snowden was put in a position where following the last part of the oath would violate the first part, and following the first part would violate the last part.
And he chose his duty to the constitution and the citizens it protects over the dictates of his chain of command. And that makes him a hero.
In the empire of lies, truth is treason.
-Ron Paul
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
Plus, even if they do later find out that you are a US citizen, they still get to keep the data that they hold about you.
It's completely backwards. Any purely domestic phone call should be presumed to be between US people (citizens, legal residents). The bill of rights does not make a distinction between citizens and other people living in the USA, probably because, at the time of writing, many immigrants did not bother to become citizens. Email may be a little more difficult, but the ISPs could be asked to provide only communications that originate from, are delivered to, or are accessed (webmail, imap, pop) from a non-US IP address.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
Only if you consider American citizens enemies of the American government.
Apparently you confuse the Taliban, al Qaida, the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, et. al., with American citizens. You tell the world and everybody knows, including the very terrorists against whom you are trying to protect the American people. He could have gone to the inspector general or Congress, but didn't. Who knows what the damage will be?
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Furthermore, this story has already been discredited. There was no plan. The "extremist" asked for a document about the NYSE, got a one-page brief that he discarded and dropped any further plans. The intelligence that the NSA got had no impact on the outcome.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
You're probably trolling, but the simple answer here is
a) He has not levied war against any of the States or the whole of them, and
b) If he has given aid or comfort to enemies, then you should be able to name those and state the aid and/or comfort given them.
If you can spin either of those into a charge that will hold up in court, I'll be impressed.
May the Maths Be with you!