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US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

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21–28 of 28 posts

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet his actions are directed to make HK/China consider their options instead of immediately complying with the US rather than to trade it directly with them. That seems more villainous than what he's currently up to.

Well, trade in the sense that if they keep him free that he can release the rest of the information. Do we know how much information he has that hasn't been released yet? Or if he provided information to The Guardian to release in the event that he was captured?

This article[1] talks about that issue. But the tl/dr; is "thousands" of documents, with "dozens" considered newsworthy.

[1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5866357

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#22
post #17
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Snowden seems to be making fairly adept strategic moves that were planned well in advance, while simultaneously pushing his information to be considered factual without much evidence (that I have seen) outside his testimony. The media is lapping up what he states with little, if any, validation. Of course, as is the nature of leaks, the information is often impossible to fully validate. There is some speculation that…

If the Chinese had a source in Snowden's position, it does not seem credible that they would voluntarily burn him just to cause some temporary domestic embarassment for the US President.

How much do the Chinese know?

1) This could be old news

2) They could have a dozens like him in the NSA

3) He could no longer be useful

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#23
post #9

http://msl1.mit.edu/furdlog/docs/cnn/2005-02-18_cnn_optical_...

China would be fucking stupid to hand Snowden over to US authorities. Just like the US encourages dissenters to take refuge in the US, China should do the same. If you don't agree with your government and want to air their dirty laundry, we will give you amnesty. This would be good for the world as a whole.

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#24
post #19
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Chinese had a source in Snowden's position, it does not seem credible that they would voluntarily burn him just to cause some temporary domestic embarassment for the US President.

Also, the fallout from this scandal is not necessarily domestic; it is quite far reaching in foreign policy circles and provides quite a few opportunities to frustrate US policy goals both economic, military and political. After all, the US approaches foreign policy from a moral and human rights standpoint (publicly). It is much easier to push back at the US when you can (rightly) point to abuses of the very cause we…

You would not need this to point that out. America's righteousness is bullshit as has been shown by Chomsky for decades. America does not give two fucks as long as its public believes it.

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#25
I don't get why this is a big deal. Of course we're spying, every country does it.

That we were spying on this fiber-optic cable should be classified info, I don't understand why Snowden revealed this crucial piece... now, this leak has just invalidated all the work (and taxpayer dollars that I'm paying) that it took to wiretap that cable. This submarine cost us Americans billions to build... knowledge is power in the 20th century, and we just lost some military power. I supported Snowden at first, but I'm not sure about him anymore.

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#26
post #18
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the Chinese had a source in Snowden's position, it does not seem credible that they would voluntarily burn him just to cause some temporary domestic embarassment for the US President.

If Snowden were indeed turned, his position would likely be of less value than another much more highly placed source. The M.O. of the Chinese Intel community is to both gather as much information as possible, while also providing opportunities to pursue their foreign and domestic policy goals. Snowden nicely fits the foreign policy goal and his position was not one of extreme privilege. He may have also provided all…

This is really interesting. Can you expound on this?

What is your personal opinion of the probability of Snowden being an asset to the Chinese?

Clearly the USG has their best minds on the permutations of probability here. What is the likelihood that Snowden is not making these strategically sound moves on his own?

What is the likelihood that Snowden IS, in fact, masterfully playing this situation.

Re: US hacked Pacnet, Asia Pacific fibre-optic network operator, in 2009

#28
post #11

It can't be coincidence that the most recent dumps of information from Snowden concern Hong Kong specifically. I have to wonder if he is floating information to prove to Hong Kong/Chinese officials that he has more information to broker safety/asylum.

Snowden seems to be making fairly adept strategic moves that were planned well in advance, while simultaneously pushing his information to be considered factual without much evidence (that I have seen) outside his testimony. The media is lapping up what he states with little, if any, validation. Of course, as is the nature of leaks, the information is often impossible to fully validate. There is some speculation that…

"There is some speculation that he was actually turned by the PLA prior to leaking"

By whom?

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