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Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

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Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#51

Post by ihsw »

mikemoka wrote: post #45
scrrr wrote: post #6

I wish him all the best. He's done many countries a great service. He inspired the search for truth and he made us realise that our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS. I hope that he will be able to have a good life in Russia, in peace and security. And that his deed will inspire future whistleblowers.

Granting asylum to Snowden will just influence relations between US and Russia,and is not done to be coherent with previous standings of the country on the topic of human rights,almost always different. We have to be careful not to associate concepts like "freedom of speech" and "example of democracy" with countries like Russia, given the actual situation the people there live under I am not sure we can say Russia ho…

Exactly, imagine how the situation would've played out if Snowden were gay (or a woman).

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#52

Post by alexakarpov »

mikemoka wrote: post #45
scrrr wrote: post #6

I wish him all the best. He's done many countries a great service. He inspired the search for truth and he made us realise that our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS. I hope that he will be able to have a good life in Russia, in peace and security. And that his deed will inspire future whistleblowers.

Granting asylum to Snowden will just influence relations between US and Russia,and is not done to be coherent with previous standings of the country on the topic of human rights,almost always different. We have to be careful not to associate concepts like "freedom of speech" and "example of democracy" with countries like Russia, given the actual situation the people there live under I am not sure we can say Russia ho…

Can't agree more (Russian here). In Russia it's all about putting up a show of anti-americanism, because that's what the voters like (the one thing that brings back memories of relative security of late Soviet days). Think Osama bin Laden granting asylum to Snowden in some remote Taliban camp.

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#53

Post by kwal0203 »

jeena wrote: post #48

Good for Snowden that he is not homosexual or leaked "Gay propaganda" so he won't end up in jail in russia ... http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/opinion/russias-anti-gay-c...

So true. And people are going around singing Russia's praises on human rights now they are considering his asylum. It's so wrong.

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#54

Post by belorn »

canadiancreed wrote: post #22

Guess relations between Russia and the US aren't as important after all. Always found it odd (possibly ironic?) that he left to countries infamous for not being well known for their love of free speech. Then again as one poster here put it, where else would he go that isn't as restrictive and doesn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S.? Wonder if this will inspire whistle blowers in Russia now?

The irony is that Russians seeking asylum in the US has been a stereotypic event, to the point where it was made into a musical called Chess.

> Wonder if this will inspire whistle blowers in Russia now?

And what kind of secrets, unknown to the Russian public are you thinking about? Whistleblowing is about informing the citizen about secret actions made by the state (or rich company) that shows corruption or lies. If the action is not secret, then there is nothing to blow about. If the state do not deny spying or corruption, then what can the whistleblower say? "Oooo, look! What the government says is correct, and they are indeed doing what they say they are" aren't exactly whistleblowing. News maybe, but not whistleblowing. The government have to first claim to be the land of the free before someone can contradict them on it.

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#55

Post by gbog »

alan_cx wrote: post #13
tomelders wrote: post #7

Well I think this is more to do with Russia thumbing it's nose at the US rather than protecting an individual from tyranny. But fair play to Snowden, it's good news for him. But If I were Snowden, I'd be quietly sneaking out of Russia very soon lest the political winds change and he suddenly finds he's a very valuable pawn in a very dangerous game that he can't win.

Probably. But can any one name one trust-able perfect country that would give a Snowden type asylum purely on principle, rather than for political reasons? I'll be honest, Im struggling to think of one.

He should buy a fake identity and go somewhere else, I'm sure fake passport is easy to get in Russia.

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#56

Post by chiph »

pjmlp wrote: post #14
scrrr wrote: post #6

I wish him all the best. He's done many countries a great service. He inspired the search for truth and he made us realise that our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS. I hope that he will be able to have a good life in Russia, in peace and security. And that his deed will inspire future whistleblowers.

> ... our politicians (and technology providers) are a bunch of disgusting LIARS. I never thought otherwise.

Classic joke, even more true today: "How do you know when a politician is lying? He opens his mouth."

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#58

Post by eli »

kwal0203 wrote: post #37
dotcoma wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Germany should, as explained here: http://ind.pn/12ix0rD But unfortunately it won't :-/

Germany was in on the spying act itself. Hypocrites to suggest they have some type of moral superiority over the US.

Are there any countries that don't spy on people?

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#59

Post by pvnick »

It seems he accepted Putin's terms to not release anymore information. I wonder if that means no more information coming out, period, or that since most/all of the information is now with third parties that it's their responsibility. I doubt Putin likes being disrespected with loopholes and technicalities, but I more-so doubt that Snowden would halt the revelations altogether for the sake of his own safety. I suspect this was discussed and that Russian officials agreed to the continued release of what is no longer under Snowden's control.

Does anybody have any more information on that?

Re: Snowden asylum still under review, stays in airport for now

#60

Post by teleological »

clicks wrote: post #21
kwal0203 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's already a pawn in a game he can't win. He will have to clear all of his actions with FSB from now on.

That's an over-simplistic view of things and implies that Snowden is perforce the lesser fool. I think it's rather more the reality that Snowden has been quite wise in his planning: he is aware that he is putting Russia in a position where Russia will try its darndest to be on its best behavior in sustaining that "asylum-giving, human-rights protecting" image it has recently gotten.

Russia has an "asylum-giving, human-rights protecting" image? Even if you were to believe that Russia is acting to protect Snowden out of anything but national self-interest -- does refusing to extradite Snowden cancel out Russia's multiplying authoritarian abuses? Pussy Riot? Navalny? Magnitsky? The "Gay Propaganda" bill?

The notion that Russia is beholden to Snowden to protect its image is ludicrous, although given the grandiosity of some of Snowden's statements, I do not hesitate to consider that Snowden himself might believe it.

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