41–50 of 51 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He can also fly Aeroflot. Highly unlikely to be ordered down by anyone.
Multiple Aeroflot machines with Russian officials on board that were on they way home have been forced to land in EU countries because of sanctions. The only plane that probably would be safe is the Russian presidential plane.
This is a major political power maneuver. As long as Snowden is in Russia, Obama can control the messaging. He is, after all, cooperating with an important physical threat to, if not outright enemy of the United States. Asylum in Switzerland, along with all the mental associations with its neutrality and sovereignty, puts Obama in a much trickier position. Probably not enough to turn the tide, but it forces Obama to…
Snowden leaving the country would provide good timing for Russia to de-escalate their Western relations. On the other hand this could be years out. I suspect Putin may rather cut off the gas while waiting for another major economic contraction and debt default cycle breaking up at least pieces of the EU. Switzerland now has grudges against the US for destroying their bank secrecy. If Bloomberg news is to be believed,…
This is a major political power maneuver. As long as Snowden is in Russia, Obama can control the messaging. He is, after all, cooperating with an important physical threat to, if not outright enemy of the United States. Asylum in Switzerland, along with all the mental associations with its neutrality and sovereignty, puts Obama in a much trickier position. Probably not enough to turn the tide, but it forces Obama to…
Snowden leaving the country would provide good timing for Russia to de-escalate their Western relations. On the other hand this could be years out. I suspect Putin may rather cut off the gas while waiting for another major economic contraction and debt default cycle breaking up at least pieces of the EU. Switzerland now has grudges against the US for destroying their bank secrecy. If Bloomberg news is to be believed,…
That's not the way Switerland's politicians think. Swiss politics is dominated by lawyers, farmers and other lobbyists.
A well-written face-to-face interview with Snowden published recently: http://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/ He seems very resigned to his fate of hiding - I hope in his future he may safely walk outside again.
We seem very far from that right now, but we are getting closer and closer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Swiss embassy in Moscow, Russia[0] is Swiss territory. This is how Julian Assange got asylum as well. [0]: http://www.eda.admin.ch/moscow
I saw something recently where British taxpayers have paid millions now in overtime because the government insists on 24/7 police surrounding the embassy where Assange has been living.
I can see why Snowden is heroic for alerting the American people to the unconstitutional acts of their government, but I fail to see how other countries are owed such consideration. In particular, the idea that Snowden could trade information on foreign intelligence operations for asylum is puzzling.
Has he done that? I thought a condition of his asylum in Russia was precisely that he not leak anything further.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I saw something recently where British taxpayers have paid millions now in overtime because the government insists on 24/7 police surrounding the embassy where Assange has been living.
That seems like an unnecessarily spiteful act to me. An expensive game of cat & mouse. I can't believe that British taxpayers aren't the least bit miffed at the government taking their tax dollars and wasting it on something as frivolous as this.
I can see why Snowden is heroic for alerting the American people to the unconstitutional acts of their government, but I fail to see how other countries are owed such consideration. In particular, the idea that Snowden could trade information on foreign intelligence operations for asylum is puzzling.
Just so its clear, the USA broke - and continues to break - many international laws regarding human rights. Snowden would be giving evidence on this fact, not trading information on intelligence operations.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Multiple Aeroflot machines with Russian officials on board that were on they way home have been forced to land in EU countries because of sanctions. The only plane that probably would be safe is the Russian presidential plane.
Source?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28986764
The article doesn't say that the machine was a civilian Aeroflot machine, but this German article mentions it:
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/polen-russischer-minis...
If search on Google you'll see that this has happened to multiple Russian officials (like Dimitri Rogozin) in the last months.