Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind revelations of NSA surveillance

Oh,well. I decided to take a really light peek at the guy's background info, and man, they've turned this dude into an unperson.

I can pull his family members' records, but they no longer indicate that he's their son (!). His Army records are scrubbed except for an empty master document folder. They're not in Indianapolis OR Tampa. I can see he had a record set because it's in the old index but that's it. He doesn't even have utility records in Hawaii anymore.

So either the guy is Harvey the Rabbit or they have blocked all his data. I'm not about to peek at the clearance verification system.

It is a sad, lonely world for me tonight not knowing the fate of Edward Snowden. I can not imagine the suffering he and his loved ones must now endure. God bless and keep this brave man, who gave us our best shot at overcoming this Brave, New World. Truly, he is a modern day Braveheart.

Thanking you with all my heart - that happens to be broken for you.

None better.

There will always be a candle in the window burning for you here.

sad eyed lady

Something to consider, I suppose: The NSC and the Attorney General of the US thought this was lawful. They actually had to kick the entire PRISM thing around for ages for something like this to be approved. So don't expect it to be easy to stomp out in a court system. The AG's office would have had to give a positive opinion on it.

reply to post by Bedlam

Now we need to mull it over in our minds, why what reasons would the government have to scrub his past like this?

Then there is the possibility that they didn't scrub it, he may have been a hacker, so it may be that he did it himself.

I am leaning towards the former, though.

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by Bedlam

 

Now we need to mull it over in our minds, why what reasons would the government have to scrub his past like this?

Then there is the possibility that they didn't scrub it, he may have been a hacker, so it may be that he did it himself.

I am leaning towards the former, though.

I guess you could also posit that he's not real and they did a poor job of creating a fictional person, BUT I can't imagine why they'd miss the obvious bits...if you're going to have a Dad and Mom, and THEY exist, why would you forget to create the kid's data files and link the parents to him?

Or, I suppose, he could be like Ted Kaczynski (sp?) and just never had power, insurance, rent and the like. Or went to school. Or had a military record other than an empty folder. I mean that sucker doesn't even say what service he was anymore, just a name and a birthdate. No posting, no billeting, no nuttin.

I can get more info on Big Sis. Hell, at one time I DID get a wad of data on Tom Ridge for a prank up to and including pics of the inside of his house and his cell number. But this guy, nada.

Originally posted by whatzshaken

Putin on NSA leak: Government surveillance shouldn’t break law

.

Okay .. that's just darn funny.
Putin telling the USA that it shouldn't break the law and listen in on Russian chatter?
Yeah ... like Putin doesn't do that with USA chatter. (sarcasm). Comeon ....


When this Snowden thing first happened I thought the fella was brave and did the USA a real favor. I thought he was selfless and was sacrificing for our greater good. Now there is talk that he's going to go to China or Russia. Considering that China and Russia are a whole lot worse when it comes to human rights and privacy .... I'm now highly questioning Snowdens motives and his involvement. I still think it's a good thing we found out about the NSA surveillance, but I am no longer holding Snowden up as a model American patriot.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
.... I'm now highly questioning Snowdens motives and his involvement. I still think it's a good thing we found out about the NSA surveillance, but I am no longer holding Snowden up as a model American patriot.

thats exactly what the media/govt. wants you to think.
when this all went down he went to hong kong for strategic reasons and even stated he wanted to seek asylum in iceland.

sure there are some questions i would like answered too but this guy ended his life to do the right thing and tell the truth. just because some of our political opponents like putin are taking advantage of and inflaming the situation for thier own ends doesnt mean anything.

what does this really say about our society when the the ones who lie and keep secrets and break laws are the good guys and the bad guys are the ones who have to break laws to do the right thing....

Originally posted by RadicalRebel

Originally posted by FlyersFan
.... I'm now highly questioning Snowdens motives and his involvement. I still think it's a good thing we found out about the NSA surveillance, but I am no longer holding Snowden up as a model American patriot.

thats exactly what the media/govt. wants you to think.

Truth is truth. The guy started out looking like a hero. But HIS OWN ACTIONS ... taking refuge in a country that is far worse than the USA .... that tells me a lot about him. And it isn't the actions of a patriotic hero.

I'm very glad we have the NSA information out in the open.
But I'm not going to worship the guy that did the data dump.

please bear with me, being english and not an american,.... but what is the difference or what do you see as being more important,... the Constitution or National Security,... which over rides which?

If someone was acting in the best interests of the country, freedom of speech etc etc etc,...but that went against National Security or vice versa,...


as in this situation, just curios at ATS'ers response to this more than anything,...

reply to post by FlyersFan


the point isnt to get you to worship him,
its to get you to NOT worship the media or the govt.
question everything

reply to post by FlyersFan


i wonder how long it will be untill him and assange are holed up in a motel together, both wanted on *cough* charges for touching kids or assaulting someone

reply to post by pigsy2400


They won't bother trumping up charges...they will simply kill him...no doubt in my mind.
They're simply waiting for him to fall off the front pages...

Then Kim K will break up with Kanye, and everyone will forget the name Edward Snowden...(but, to be safe, some NSA intern will still be tweeting, etc. with his account info, to make it look like he's in hiding, instead of rotting somewhere. Sad, but likely true.

Originally posted by RadicalRebel
the point isnt to get you to worship him,
its to get you to NOT worship the media or the govt.
question everything

I already question everything. I wouldn't be here if I didn't.
BUT there are people here putting this fella up as a hero.
I'm withholding judgement of that. HIS ACTIONS of taking refuge in China or Russia
say that he's not really as interested in freedom and liberty as he claims.

So ... taking your own advice .... QUESTION EVERYTHING ... why is this fella who did a major security information dump ... supposedly in the name of freedom and love of country ... taking refuge in another country that has an even worse human rights abuse/lack of freedom record than we have?

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by RadicalRebel
the point isnt to get you to worship him,
its to get you to NOT worship the media or the govt.
question everything

HIS ACTIONS of taking refuge in China or Russia
say that he's not really as interested in freedom and liberty as he claims.

either that or hes scared to death and running for his life.
where would you have gone if you were in his shoes?

Originally posted by RadicalRebel
either that or hes scared to death and running for his life.
where would you have gone if you were in his shoes?

If I were really a patriotic American totally interested in helping America like he claims to be ... I'd stand and fight and make my mantra "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country'. I wouldn't take refuge in a country with a worse human rights record. And I would also assume from the start that I wouldn't live through the experience and that I was sacrificing my life for others.

If I couldn't accept all that .. then I wouldn't have done the information dump to the media to begin with.

Originally posted by FlyersFan

Originally posted by RadicalRebel

Originally posted by FlyersFan
.... I'm now highly questioning Snowdens motives and his involvement. I still think it's a good thing we found out about the NSA surveillance, but I am no longer holding Snowden up as a model American patriot.

thats exactly what the media/govt. wants you to think.

Truth is truth. The guy started out looking like a hero. But HIS OWN ACTIONS ... taking refuge in a country that is far worse than the USA .... that tells me a lot about him. And it isn't the actions of a patriotic hero.

This is a problem that many Americans seem to have - Hong Kong IS NOT THE SAME as China!

He went to HK because they do, in fact, have a good history of sticking up for freedom of opinion and political asylum. In the nation that is China, HK is seen as an autonomous state.

Likewise, Russia has offered him the possibility of refuge, he hasn't sought it. He didn't ask Putin for help.

I think you're being sucked into the campaign to tarnish him, and it seems to only be working because too many Americans are a little uneducated when it comes to Hong Kong, and a little too easily distracted by headlines.

Again, HK is NOT CHINA.
And, he has NOT SOUGHT the help of Russia.

reply to post by FlyersFan

Truth is truth. The guy started out looking like a hero. But HIS OWN ACTIONS ... taking refuge in a country that is far worse than the USA .... that tells me a lot about him. And it isn't the actions of a patriotic hero.

Maybe the USA is far worse than you have been lead to believe?

Maybe the USA hands have more blood on them then you could ever imagine, but you could... just a small example.






And that is what can be proved, there still are classified missions, documents etc...

Ok good new folks if the news update is real the guy is alive and well

www.scmp.com...

reply to post by whatzshaken


Your Iran vs USA cartoon is silly. It totally ignores Iran having it's claws in other nations and Irans international terrorist ties. It ignores Iran running Hezbollah and Irans involvement in South America. Sorry, but It's pretty darn silly. Iran isn't innocent. Not by a long shot.

One thing I note about comments here is that ATS seems to have bought the official story.

What if he never was in Hong Kong? I truly hope that was an invented story to throw the government off his trail. Maybe that is a naive thought, but I sure as hell wouldn't divulge my whereabouts after spilling the beans on the NSA.

If living to see the repercussions of his actions was important to him, don't you think he might have set up a second identify for himself up?

Flyers, it seems like for once I will disagree with you. Standing your ground in the U.S. would have put him in a goldfish bowl and drawn MSM attention off NSA and placed it on him. What he said he feared would happen anyway. It would be the Edward Snowden media pig circus. Also, this would throw his family squarely in the line of fire. This man knows exactly how enemies of the state are treated here. I don't think he would like to give them the pleasure of "making their day."

I do believe/hope he planned this long enough to work out the details to give himself a fighting chance and that anyone who did something like this would like to live long enough to know the outcome.

I hope I am right.