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0 pointswwwwwwwwww10y ago0 comments

Snowden stopped being a whistleblower to me when the docs about the CIA's sigint spying gear was published.

There's a lot of docs that are useful for laypeople to improve their privacy, and then there's the ones that are going to do nothing but damage the spying capability of US intelligence agencies against nation-state adversaries.

If his sole goal was to damage the spying capability of US intelligence agencies, then he was a mole, not a whistle blower.

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5 comments · 4 top-level

cryoshon10y ago· 1 in thread

This is an unrelated issue, but I think you're working from the premise that the CIA's spying and SIGINT capabilities actually make the US safer or more strategically secure in the world.

That the CIA actually improves the US's position isn't remotely proven even on the 50 year timescale, and there's a cornucopia of evidence that supports the opposite hypothesis which states the CIA's endless philandering has engendered a deep hatred of the US in many corners of the world, not to mention seeding anarchic instability.

caskance10y ago

And the idea that engendering a deep hatred of the US in many corners of the world or seeding anarchic instability does not improve the US's position is likewise not remotely proven. The whole point of representative democracy is that decisions, especially ones like these that require privileged information to really be sure about, are delegated to elected representatives.

pvnick10y ago

> There's a lot of docs that are useful for laypeople to improve their privacy, and then there's the ones that are going to do nothing but damage the spying capability of US intelligence agencies against nation-state adversaries.

That's a false dichotomy. Snowden didn't risk his life just to help people improve their privacy - he did it to expose wrongdoing and start a process to reform our government.

psykovsky10y ago

The US spying capability does nothing but damage to the rest of the world. Just because I live in a different country you must respect my rights, nonetheless. No, secret court orders won't fly around here.

rurban10y ago

He didn't publish any material. The german magazine Spiegel published this part you are complaining about.

They explained their reasoning why they published it.

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