There are few figures in today’s world that are as polarizing as former National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee Edward Snowden. In a little over a month, the man has gone from a mid-level intelligence officer working for the NSA to the world’s most newsworthy man. However, with his fame has come great cost, as he is now holed up in a Moscow airport facing charges of espionage if he is extradited to the United States for a trial. Further, he has so far had asylum claims from over 20 countries rejected, and his options are becoming increasingly scarce. He has been dubbed a hero by the whistle-blowing society, and a scourge by the intelligence officials and American politicians. This, of course, is to be expected. However, the facts make it clear that Snowden has done the right thing: he has shown the world that America has strayed too far from its history as a defender of human rights and civil liberties.
For the most part, Snowden confirmed what was already suspected: the American government is systematically ignoring the constitutional rights of Americans, as well as spying on foreign citizens beyond its jurisdiction in an attempt to protect society against terrorist attacks. This was originally confirmed in Snowden’s interview with Barton Gellman and Laura Poitras of the Washington Post, when he revealed the details of the NSA’s PRISM program. PRISM is a national electronic surveillance program which reportedly taps into the servers of Silicon Valley giants Microsoft, Yahoo!, Apple, Google, Facebook and Skype (in fact, Twitter is one of the few internet giants not partnered with PRISM, according to the leaked documents) in order to perform surveillance on targeted individuals that the NSA believes could be a hazard to American security. Of course this targeted surveillance is, according to Snowden, not based on fact but instead speculation among intelligence officials and, because of this, in many cases a warrant would not be securable. This is the beauty of PRISM, which has forced internet giants into cooperation so that any user can be spied upon without a warrant regardless of whether he or she is a threat. Beyond this, even when a target is selected based upon fact and evidence, all of his or her contacts, and even the contacts of all of the target’s contacts are then swooped under the veil of surveillance in a process labelled ‘contact chaining’ by intelligence officials. Basically, Snowden has confirmed that whenever you or anybody else performs an action on the Internet serviced by virtually any internet giant, the United States government could see this action. Although Googling recipes or ‘creeping’ a friend on Facebook may not be within the scope of the NSA’s interest, it is still extremely disturbing to know that it is still within their scope of access. It may not operate like a police state, yet the NSA has constructed a program that could facilitate a level of surveillance that would make any police state envious.
Disturbing as programs like PRISM may be, many politicians and intelligence officials still maintain the notion that programs like these are morally justifiable to protect its people. That is ridiculous. The United States, once a pillar of freedom and a staunch defender of human rights, now stands out as a blatant human rights violator. It treats its own constitution, the rightful source of pride for so many of its citizens and one of the most influential legal documents in the history of the world, as a meaningless piece of paper based upon the pathetic cop out that “new threats” (i.e. terrorism) have forced it to re-evaluate. The result has been programs like PRISM, which are based upon a cowboy culture in which officials can spy on whoever they want, whenever they want, without any due process or respect for the legal system.
Another frightening aspect of Snowden’s revelations is how much it will hurt America on the global stage. PRISM’s blatant disrespect for its own citizens and for those of other countries means that America’s criticisms of other nations’ violations will ring much more hollow then they did before, although other programs instigated by Bush’s reckless ‘the ends justify the means’ administration have already done a fair amount of damage. Yet, unlike other Bush administration scandals (i.e. torture abroad, Guantanamo Bay), Snowden’s actions have revealed widespread wrongdoing at home as well as abroad.
Only the future will tell if Snowden will be viewed as a hero or a traitor. Much of this will depend on Snowden’s actions in the next few months. His refusal to return to America and face trial may be understandable, since he may face lifelong imprisonment if convicted of his “crimes”. Still, a widely publicized trial could only help America and Snowden’s image in the long run. If Snowden comes back and defends his actions, supported by a competent legal team that could be easily funded by the vast whistleblowing community, he could separate himself from the more reckless whistleblowers like Julian Assange and instead cement himself as a true defender of human rights who is willing to put up a fight.
Winston Churchill, a true pioneer of freedom, once said that “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” All Snowden has done is reveal the truth, and it is not his fault that it is disturbing or unjustified. Many intelligence officials will try to distort Snowden’s actions as “dangerous” or “treasonous”, yet these are lies by confused men, and as Churchill once said, the truth is incontrovertible. In the end Snowden will be viewed for what he is: a man who has done the right thing. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if his actions will spur real change and the return of America to what it once was: a pillar of freedom and strength in a world too encumbered by much less respectable values.
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