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Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#11

Post by joezydeco »

mtgx wrote: post #4

Is Alexander seriously comparing this to him taking 50 hostages and then killing 10 people? And this is the same Alexander who helps CIA kill that many people per day with his mass surveillance and "signature drone strikes" - right? Just checking to see if he's the right guy to question Snowden's morals.

No, you read the analogy wrong.

Alexander is saying "He's already committed a crime and is promising to do another. How do we give him a free pass on the first crime if he promises not to do the second?"

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#12

Post by wil421 »

This is so stupid. Snowden hasnt leaked documents since he initially gave it to the first few reporters. Those reporters have stated from the beginning it was in their hands now to determine what is reported to the public.

> This is analogous to a hostage taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10, and then say, 'if you give me full amnesty, I'll let the other 40 go'. What do you do?

That is absolutely absurd. No lives are put in harms way like they could've been with the unredatcted wikileaks data. I believe the reporters are being cautious on what type of data they post.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#13

Post by tehwalrus »

wil421 wrote: post #12

This is so stupid. Snowden hasnt leaked documents since he initially gave it to the first few reporters. Those reporters have stated from the beginning it was in their hands now to determine what is reported to the public. > This is analogous to a hostage taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10, and then say, 'if you give me full amnesty, I'll let the other 40 go'. What do you do? That is absolutely absurd. No li…

on the crappy analogy: Additionally, this is an NSA official 'suggesting' an amnesty, not Snowden demanding one as ransom.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#15

Post by Havoc »

This just comes across as weak/desperate on the NSA's side.

If I were him I'd tell the US to shove it. They made him intentionally stateless and pressured other nations to make seeking asylum difficult - that to me is a low blow when it comes to treating whistle-blowers - even by US standards.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#16

Post by Spooky23 »

wil421 wrote: post #12

This is so stupid. Snowden hasnt leaked documents since he initially gave it to the first few reporters. Those reporters have stated from the beginning it was in their hands now to determine what is reported to the public. > This is analogous to a hostage taker taking 50 people hostage, shooting 10, and then say, 'if you give me full amnesty, I'll let the other 40 go'. What do you do? That is absolutely absurd. No li…

You're being naive. This implies three possibilities in my mind: they either (a) figured out what he is holding back as "insurance", or (b) were unable to figure out what he was doing, or (c) it's a ploy to flush him out.

Either way, the fact that these guys put this together and did the good cop/bad cop routine on TV in itself is very telling. Looks like fear to me -- my question is, after all of the stuff released to date, what are these guys afraid of? The other question this brings up is what is Snowden really up to?

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#18

Post by spodek »

> The US National Security Agency is considering offering an amnesty to fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden if he agrees to stop leaking secret documents, an NSA official says.

That means as bad for the NSA as giving amnesty would be, they consider remaining documents worse.

That means however bad you've found the revelations so far, expect worse to come.

As for Snowden, I presume he's smart enough to realize amnesty from the NSA leaves dozens of other government entities or just angry people to get him, whether legally or illegally, who already flout the Constitution, lie, illegally detain and send people to countries that torture, etc.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#19

Post by Shivetya »

Havoc wrote: post #15

This just comes across as weak/desperate on the NSA's side. If I were him I'd tell the US to shove it. They made him intentionally stateless and pressured other nations to make seeking asylum difficult - that to me is a low blow when it comes to treating whistle-blowers - even by US standards.

This is nothing more than a trial balloon floated by someone in the administration. They want to gauge public opinion.

Frankly it would be stupid to grant him amnesty because it will pretty much open the door to copy cats. They can simply wait him out, Russia only does this when it has value on the international stage, its quite evident Putin has little respect for the President.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#20

Post by asn0 »

joezydeco wrote: post #11
mtgx wrote: post #4

Is Alexander seriously comparing this to him taking 50 hostages and then killing 10 people? And this is the same Alexander who helps CIA kill that many people per day with his mass surveillance and "signature drone strikes" - right? Just checking to see if he's the right guy to question Snowden's morals.

No, you read the analogy wrong. Alexander is saying "He's already committed a crime and is promising to do another. How do we give him a free pass on the first crime if he promises not to do the second?"

I can't get past the irony of Alexander's moral indignation.
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