Should President Obama pardon Edward Snowden?

There were no good intentions on Snowden's part. He is in fact selfish and your instinct to go with "no" was a good one.

I am of a similar opinion, PO2 George Martin. What concerns me most is the way he did what he did. Having been born and raised during the Cold War, and having served during the Cold War, what I consider the most telling is that he sought refuge with "the threat". I have a difficult time imagining that Snowden deciding to seek refuge in Russia was NOT pre-arranged.

What I wonder is 1) was he a dupe of "the threat, or an out and out traitor working on it's behalf", or; 2) was he a naive whistle-blower? If I could only chose one or the other I would have to go with #1 because it has always looked like a set-up, imho. I would need to know a whole lot more information about him and from him to be able to arrive at a different conclusion.

Imagine being on a jury that would have to make a decision about his actions and intent!

SGT Mary G. - I agree with you, but I think I can explain. The Russian Federation was not his first choice. Do you remember he was trying to get to Ecuador first and meet up with Julian Assange. However, it was not safe because the USA had either brokered a deal or had a team in place, my memory is fuzzy on this. Where could a guy go with Intel that would not directly compromise operatives (this part is speculative) in that country, but would have value to safeguard my stay. Additionally, I could leak information to the Nation I was in, after the/my Government safely extracted the people in that country. I can see choosing The Russian Federation as a second option. Having said all of that, I do not agree with everything he did, but I can understand the why.

Your Dad was right about TV.

Ok let's set this history straight because it appears you're looking for something to justify Snowden's behavior. The man initially fled China, a country which is known to be a huge threat to the US in cyber. China was unwilling to extradite him initially claiming the US had not a proper extradition request in accordance with Hong Kong law. Knowing this could easily be changed, Snowden considered Ecuador likely because Assange has been successfully using their Embassy in London for asylum (which would prevent them from "linking up"). Plus Ecuador, which has unfortunately taken a sharp turn to the extreme left would love nothing more than to stick it to the US. Ultimately they gave into US pressure. Snowden then went to the Russian Consulate and eventually managed to be covertly take to Russia. Regardless of who he looked at first, he still went to China first (our cyber enemy) and ended up going to Russia (another cyber enemy). That makes him a traitor. Not only did he betray this country and his oath, but he was also wrong.

Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin - I have a few additional points. First, Snowden was a contractor working for Booz Allen and was not a direct employee of the Federal Government, this means he signed a contract but did not swear an oath to gain access to the materials he stole and later released to wiki leaks. Second, he made the public aware that the NSA's program to spy on American Nationals (which had been made legal after 911) was much larger in scope than the public (and most of Congress) had been made aware of. Finally, his biggest revelation was that the system which allowed access to NSA gathered information about US Citizens (including members of Congress, Governors, Judges, and members of the Executive Branch) had been made available to private contractors and therefore private companies/corporations who may have used the system for personal/private profits. The fact that Senior Leadership allowed the NSA's system to be placed into private hands is likely a violation of a number of current laws (including the Espionage Act of 1917). Its my belief that Snowdens' making that information public should have been enough to give him whistle blower status. It didn't, but that's not to say it won't happen at some point in the future. Possibly under a different Presidential administration (one that's not so close to the issue). Beyond that, I admit he clearly stole government property and it appears he likely violated the Espionage Act himself. We'll have to wait and see what else comes to light if his case ever makes it to trial. FYI: William Binney was the consultant on the Edward Snowden movie and is my source for much of the above information.

1st, Snowden, was initially a government employee for the CIA where he would have taken an oath of office (which I wasn't specifically referring to). Along the way through his NDAs he agreed not to divulge classified information to include during his investigations when they will have one take an oath they are telling the truth. Not to get into a semantics game with you, but oath is defined as a "solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future action or behavior." This is what he did when he signed the NDAs, so yes, he did break that oath.

2nd, He made the public aware of a surveillance program, not an effort for spying. The information collected involving Americans could not be accessed without a court order. The actions of an American traversing the Internet (a public domain) is no different than an American walking through a public space. There are also a lot of controls on this capability where using it for illegal means by a contractor or unauthorized personnel is deemed illegal. Those instances where illegal use was discovered, have been prosecuted. So no, the system is not placed in the hands of contractors. Snowden have to steal account access to even gather the info (another illegal act by itself, regardless of what he stole on a highly classified system).

3rd, Snowden MIGHT have been granted whistle blower status I will concede, but he did not take that route. Plus he would likely have been proven wrong. The fact still remains he chose to go to our enemies (especially with regards to cyber warfare), by going to China and in turn Russia. The disclosure of information he released, much of which had nothing to do with the surveillance program on American activities was absolutely a traitorous act.

4th, the only way Snowden is getting out of this is through a Presidential Pardon by a President who does not fully understand the scope of cyber (Like Senator Paul, his Father, and a few others). The fact that Binney is helping him means nothing to me. Binney's experience was much different and at least he can say he attempted to use the system (in which he avoided conviction). Snowden blew that chance. Still, even today William Binney claims the revelations disclosed by Snowden did not result in grave damage to the US, he loses credibility. The man was a whistle blower, his issue was investigated, and found baseless. The problem is, he is able to say whatever he wants where the NSA is still trying to keep things classified and cannot disclose all the facts proving him wrong.

Finally, I work in this career field and along side many other cyber operators, intelligence analysts and then some. No one is putting Snowden on any kind a pedestal. Aside from motivating us to work harder to identify future insider threats, all he did was make our jobs harder to protect this country. Snowden is a traitor.

Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin - http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-security-nsa-idUSL1N0XY1OK20150507

We've debated this issue before, we're not going to come to an agreement on Snowden, whether his actions were right or wrong or whether he should face further repercussions.

From your article. "Thursday's decision voided a December 2013 ruling in which U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan found the NSA program lawful. The appeals court sent the case back to him for further review."

Despite the headline, the court sent the ruling back to the District Judge. Congress later passed a bill to move the program into the private sector's hands, bowing to the privacy advocate's pressure. It was never ruled "illegal" or for that matter "unconstitutional". No one has been put in jail, both side of the isle (politically) support the need to surveil what goes on in the public domain of the Internet. That which we capture in the international realm is also free game and Snowden gave some of those capabilities up.

The word is out now and Snowden will never face life threatening danger. Why then is he still living in Russia avoiding the US Justice system? He is not only a traitor but also a coward. I'm sure that when he set out to do all this he thought he was doing the right thing but 1) he didn't know what he was doing and 2) he used highly illegal methods to do it. He absolutely reminds me of the know-it-all self-righteous people I've come across in my career that talk a good game but lack the context and complete information of what they're talking about.

Snowden was gathering information on NSA programs while working at Dell as a contractor. I do not buy the "he thought he was doing the right thing." He was working with Wikileaks which has connections to Russian intelligence. Read John Schindler @20committee and at the Observer on-line. He is former Naval Security Group Russian linguist and former NSA intelligence/counterintelligence officer. Defense One on-line also has a good article about repairing the damage he did to our foreign intelligence gathering capabilities, and preventing future attacks from within on NSA's capabilities. Among other things, he put our 3rd party agreements in jeopardy.

Agreed, Pardon yes patriot maybe. Those who denigrate him for not sticking around are not aware of the reality of how the government works at that level. Chances are excellent that Snowden would have been relocated to the nearest landfill.

Your understanding is incorrect. I recommend you read the posted throughout this thread.

Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin - What did information on US intelligence gathering in foreign nations have to do with potentially illegal spying here in the US.

That's a good question. You should ask Snowden who released the details of our intelligence gathering overseas. What did this have to do with the surveillance program? Why did it have to be released?

I am against Assange's actions either way, no matter which politician is getting exposed. The man belongs in jail. However, Clinton's information was exposed because she failed to protect it properly using government systems and standards. I'm not feeling sorry for her as she too broke the law. As far as I'm concerned put her and Assange in the same jail cell.