The Snowden Situation—By Request

A friend said she'd been catching up on reading at Lucy and hadn't seen any posts about the Snowden/NSA situation.  She's right—I haven't written about Edward Snowden.  For one thing, I haven't known enough to offer an informed opinion on this complex issue.

 

On one hand, I keep hearing about the lack of transparency in our intelligence gathering; yet, isn't secrecy the core of what the "intelligence" agencies do and have always done?   Sources and methods need to be protected, as do agents (remember Valerie Plame).  And yet, we Americans like to believe our personal information is "private" and protected.  We like to believe it, even knowing that we're one google away from learning a whole lot about another person.  We can learn with one google or on Facebook as much as it appears the intelligence agencies have gathered on American citizens.  

 

Here are some thoughts:  I believe we're in trouble when high-clearance individuals are brought in as contract workers with no feeling of ownership in the work or connection to the agency.  High-security jobs like the one Edward Snowden was doing should not be outsourced or contracted.   I also believe there need to be changes in the FISA Court (which came about as a result of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act); apparently the court doesn't have the tools it needs to adequately monitor the NSA and overall intelligence gathering.   The other thing that has become clear is that Congressional oversight has been lacking; that also needs to change.   I understand it's impossible for the American people to know everything that's going on in the murky world of surveillance.  Checks and balances are sorely needed—that we know.  And we know these things because of Edward Snowden.

 

As for Snowden, I don't see him as a hero—nor as a traitor.  I can't know his motivation, but suspect he could have felt morally obliged to steal and reveal the secrets he has.   It doesn't appear he planned to profit from his actions.  I can't say for certain that what he did was foolish, although that thought has crossed my mind.  I wonder whether he expected the aftermath of his actions to go the way they have.   It's a complex thing to sort out, don't you think?

 

My friend was saying that she finds the situation complicated, too; however, she was feeling sad for this young man.  She said, "I think Snowden may be the loneliest person on earth, and it makes me sad for him because I continue to feel he was motivated by his own sense of what is right or wrong."

 

What are your thoughts, Lefties?  Share them in a comment if you will.