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Former CIA/NSA Head: NSA Is "Infinitely" Weaker As a Result of Snowden's Leaks
An anonymous reader writes "The Huffington Post reports, 'Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency, said Sunday that he used to describe leaker Edward Snowden as a "defector," ... "I think there's an English word that describes selling American secrets to another government, and I do think it's treason," Hayden said ... Some members of Congress have also ... accused him of an act of treason. Hayden said his view of Snowden has grown harsher in recent weeks after reports that Snowden is seeking asylum in Germany and Brazil in exchange for assisting their investigations into NSA programs. Hayden said the NSA is "infinitely" weaker as a result of Snowden's leaks. "This is the most serious hemorrhaging of American secrets in the history of American espionage," he said. "What Snowden is revealing ... is the plumbing," he added later. "He's revealing how we acquire this information. It will take years, if not decades, for us to return to the position that we had prior to his disclosures."' — More in the Face the Nation video and transcript, including discussion of the recent legal decisions, and segments with whistleblower Thomas Drake, Snowden legal adviser Jesselyn Radack, and Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman who recently interviewed Snowden."
GOOD!
School kids in the US used to be taught that a precise definition of treason was one of most important things that was included in the, now deprecated, US Constitution. It defined treason as: "Allegiance to a foreign country". This was because the British rulers would slap a charge on just about anyone in the colonies they didn't like.
Snowden has always claimed that he was not spying for Russia, nor Brazil, nor Germany, etc. He said he did it for the US.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
"I think there's an English word that describes selling American secrets to another government, and I do think it's treason," Hayden said.
Well, not if the revelations are about illegal - and especially unconstitutional - behavior.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
– Benjamin Franklin, 1759
The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains
He's revealing how we unconstitutionally acquire this information.
Fixed that for him.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Are you saying that the US becoming the world's police and forcing it on the world makes other people in other countries pissed off at us?
That's unpossible.
Also, that would cost the Americans trillions of dollars.
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
The current legal interpretation simply violate the black letter law. They violate the clear intent. Moreover they violate the precedents from earlier generations. Moreover they were conducted by secret courts which the constitution specifically forbids.
There is a deep fundamental problem here with our system that things have gotten so far out of control. But that's the problem.
legal consequences != justice
Why should being honourable mean martyring youself unnecessarily to a broken legal system? The law is an ass.
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