Snowden Says No One Listened To 10 Attempts To Raise Concerns At NSA

As reported by the Washington Post, Edward Snowden denies in no uncertain terms the idea that he failed to go through proper channels to expose what he thought were troubling privacy violations being committed by the NSA, and that he observed as a contractor employed by the agency. The article begins: "[Snowden] said he repeatedly tried to go through official channels to raise concerns about government snooping programs but that his warnings fell on the deaf ears. In testimony to the European Parliament released Friday morning, Snowden wrote that he reported policy or legal issues related to spying programs to more than 10 officials, but as a contractor he had no legal avenue to pursue further whistleblowing." Further, "Elsewhere in his testimony, Snowden described the reaction he received when relating his concerns to co-workers and superiors. The responses, he said, fell into two camps. 'The first were well-meaning but hushed warnings not to "rock the boat," for fear of the sort of retaliation that befell former NSA whistleblowers like Wiebe, Binney, and Drake.' All three of those men, he notes, were subject to intense scrutiny and the threat of criminal prosecution."

Comments

Re:The root of the problem lies with ... the peopl

[rtb61]

Sensitive to opinion polls. Seriously after the Ukraine crap and the "Fuck the EU" statement, when the truth has been exposed, the US government just stands right up and waffles the bullshit they planned regardless of the truth of a conspiracy to overthrow a foreign government already having being exposed and US mainstream media carries the exact same bullshit as if it was the truth (even when the last few remaining US politicians question it and have a government official spout more bullshit right in their faces).

The US government doesn't care about anything other than campaign dollars, the NSA keeping politicians own personal dark secrets so they can get elected and their offshore bank accounts in tax havens. Opinion polls only have meaning when you have a political landscape of truth and lies will stand out, when you have a political landscape of complete and utter bullshit lies are the norm and the truth stands out for rarity. Obama, Kerry and crew just blatantly and hypocritically standing up and shamelessly publicly lying when the truth was all out there to see, the only measure of truth in their statements being all those 'er's and 'um's in the public statements as their minds had extreme difficulty reconciling what was coming out of their mouths at the direction of totally corrupt US three letter agencies with the truth hidden in their own minds.

It has become pointless for people like Snowden and Manning to challenge their government with the truth because it is well and truly apparent everything coming out of the US government is bullshit, mass marketed corporate inspired public relations bullshit and is becoming universally accepted as such. The only saving grace is they have been such a bunch of fuckups they screw up the results of all their wild schemes, plots and conspiracies. The only real problem for the rest of the world is how to create some distance between themselves and the US, as the US slowly but inexorably self destructs under all that corporate driven bullshit, pulled in too many directions at once and torn apart, psychopathic capitalism at it's finest.