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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-25399345
Would you support this, or be against it? I am against it myself.
A top NSA official says it is considering offering an amnesty to fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden if he agrees to stop leaking documents.
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Posted 12 y ago
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A problem with this article is that the NSA or other intelligence agencies do not have the authority to give amnesty. That is a function that is not delegated down from the President or appropriate legal authorities. To the question of amnesty for Snowden is a tricky one. An an Army Officer I hold the viewpoint that releasing classified documents inappropriately is a violation of federal law and that would betray part of the Army values, specifically Integrity. On the other hand one could argue that Snowden's actions are in keeping with checks on governmental power and that citizens have the responsibility to notify legal authorities of illegal actions by the government. The problem here is that if the administration in power(thus the highest legal authority and the executive order that establishes classification systems for the US) is committing the violations who do you tell? Many of the classified documents do not violate any specific law that I am aware of but if releasing any of them does violate a law then that is a problem. Since he was a civilian contractor he is in a different position of trust than I am and operates under different philosophies and codes of conduct. In short, an answer to your question is difficult since it crosses several important principles and may not be possible to truly figure out. But at this point and from my perspective I have to say that he released classified documents and that violates the law thus he should be prosecuted. Another method needs to be established to keep checks on violations of Presidential, Congressional or other governmental power.
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PO1 (Join to see)
LTC (Join to see) In any other circumstance I might agree with you - but I think the NSA has already broached the subject with the AG and probably received agreement. Most of this is because the AG simply does not have the clearance(s) or technical expertise necessary to truely understand what Snowden has taken and it's value / non-value. This is not the first time NSA has done this and it won't be the last. Lawyers may be well educated,etc...but they ain't geek enough and they ain't intell enough to know when to open up something to the public and NOT do damage to security assets out there. There are too many compartments that simply cannot be opened for the AG to peruse thru and decide on.....
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I say no, the manner in which he sought to uncover things jeopardized the Nation's international relations and severely injured our intel. I'm not agreeing with the programs he exposed, but I don't think pulling a Manning on this was truly in the best interest of our country, I feel he had/has ulterior motives.
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Absolutely not.
Giving this traitor (or patriotic whistle-blower to some) amnesty will enable the perception that others may want to follow suit and create even more 'Edward Snowdens'.
You reap what you sow!
Giving this traitor (or patriotic whistle-blower to some) amnesty will enable the perception that others may want to follow suit and create even more 'Edward Snowdens'.
You reap what you sow!
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I do not think he should be given amnesty -- and I don't expect the appropriate US decision makers to give him amnesty. I would be shocked if he received amnesty.
(Note: this is my personal opinion and does not represent any stance of RallyPoint on the matter.)
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SFC Rocky Gannon
CPT Kletzing I think your right, just could not believe that they would even give it thought!!!
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Snowden will not get amnesty in his lifetime. Maybe historians will grant him one.
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Sure, they can set the electric chair on a lower voltage so he won't fry right away.
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I think it is important that we understand the considerable differences between the Snowden case and the Manning case; most people I've heard talk about them have confused and conflated the two.
There might be a case to be made for cutting a deal with Snowden to bring him back to the US, stop an additional leak of information and treat him as a whistleblower not an agent of espionage. We don't (I certainly don't!) know what he had that he has NOT released, but the NSA may. I don't feel any of us here with less than super-ultra-security clearance and can really say we know what needs to happen next.
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LTC (Join to see)
No, would be a horrible precedent to set. Complicated case; of course. But taking asylum in Russia of all places does not help his argument. Turn the calendar back 25 years and they were our main enemy!
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