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Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#51

Post by Istof »

spodek wrote: post #18

> 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 re…

It could also mean that the NSA wants you to think that there is much worst that wasn't revealed yet (fear mongering).

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#52

Post by drzaiusapelord »

ncallaway wrote: post #49
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's maybe a safe guess but who is doing this? Is Greenwald specifically saying he's doing this? If so, I'd appreciate a cite. I think there's an ironic lack of transparency here and releases come out on some arbitrary (or planned) schedule that no one is privy to.

Glenn Greenwald did an AMA on reddit a while back where he was asked similar questions: Q: I have to ask why the leaks are piece fed to the public? Why cant it be one big release? Thanks in advance. Glenn Greenwald: Many reasons: 1) It's irresponsible to dump documents without first understanding them and the consequences of publication. 2) It's 100% contrary to the agreement we made with our source when he came to u…

Appreciate the cite. Thanks.

Interesting how the "we must vet this stuff first" ties in pretty closely with a long profitable release.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#53

Post by Tloewald »

JanezStupar wrote: post #9
Tloewald wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever seen the monty python sketch where hitler, goebbels, etc. are put on trial and their defense is, basically, "we didn't kill anyone, we only gave the orders" Sorry, i do not mean to compare alexander to a nazi, i'm just ridiculing the idea that the head of the nsa, a general, is merely a bureaucrat.

I think that WW1 was such a mess precisely because the generals on all sides were mostly aristocratic bureaucrats.

Generals are always to some extent bureaucrats (how did we get to WWI?) but they're bureaucrats in a military organization who give orders that directly result in people being killed.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#54

Post by dregstudios »

The dystopian fantasies of yesteryear are now a reality. We’ve allowed the coming of an age where the civil liberties our forefathers fought so hard for are being eroded by the day. Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly are mere ghostly images of their original intent. We’ve woken up to an Orwellian Society of Fear where anyone is at the mercy of being labeled a terrorist for standing up for rights we took for granted just over a decade ago. Read about how we’re waging war against ourselves at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/09/living-in-society...

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#55

Post by eli »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #46
eli wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine it takes a huge amount of work to properly report these stories. It takes time authenticate the documents (you can't just assume everything you get is accurate because it supposedly came from Snowden), you have to decipher all the intelligence jargon and put the story in context. You have to make sure you don't accidentally do something that puts American intelligence people in harm's way (my understa…

That's maybe a safe guess but who is doing this? Is Greenwald specifically saying he's doing this? If so, I'd appreciate a cite. I think there's an ironic lack of transparency here and releases come out on some arbitrary (or planned) schedule that no one is privy to.

I guess it's ironic, but I'm not sure it's wrong.

Wikileaks was arguably worse. Assange embargoed documents and timed releases to maximize the political impact and to advance his narrative.

Re: Edward Snowden leaks: NSA 'debates' amnesty

#56

Post by bmelton »

avn2109 wrote: post #44
bmelton wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, alternatively, it means that the offer of amnesty is a lie, and just being posed as an attempt to capture Snowden and the documents. That's not even untenable at this point either -- he's just enough outside of the public eye that it would be easy to manufacture another crime that he's also guilty of for which he could be separately arrested. Capture him during the exchange, wait a couple of weeks, then announce…

The cynic in me likes this interpretation, but "the documents" aren't capture-able any longer because they're not all in one place. Several people have access to them, some of whom are not stupid (Bruce Schneier, etc.) and can operate redundant distributed cryptosystems. The cat is out of the bag on this one and it's never going back in. This doesn't stop them from wanting to arrest/torture/kill/* Snowden, but the go…

Well, apparently the amnesty wasn't approved by the White House, who says that it's not under consideration either way.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/12/16/white-house-says-there-wil...

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