# NSA whistleblower interviewed!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 9, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583 "2013-06-09T20:20:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/1 "2013-06-09T20:20:51Z")
Here
[Edward Snowden NSA: Guardian Reveals Identity Of Whistleblower Behind NSA Revelations](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/09/edward-snowden-nsa-leak-guardian-whistleblower-nsa-revelations_n_3412245.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The Guardian published the identity of the whistleblower on Sunday responsible for providing the paper with top-secret documents that revealed the National Security Agency’s secret surveillance programs. The paper wrote that it was revealing Edward Snowden’s identity at his request:
>
> From the moment he decided to disclose numerous top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for the protection of anonymity. ‘I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done nothing wrong,’ he said.
>
> The Guardian compared Snowden, a 29-year-old former CIA technical assistant and current employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, to Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. “Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the world’s most secretive organisations – the NSA,” Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras wrote.
>
> Snowden, however, said there were differences. “I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest,” he told The Guardian. “There are all sorts of documents that would have made a big impact that I didn’t turn over, because harming people isn’t my goal. Transparency is.”
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### Author:  [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/2 "2013-06-09T22:44:10Z")
They left one clearance off … it’s called secret with need to know
[http://govcentral.monster.com/security-clearance-jobs/articles/2330-3-levels-of-security-clearance](http://govcentral.monster.com/security-clearance-jobs/articles/2330-3-levels-of-security-clearance)
> [@](#):
>
> Three Classification Levels
> National security information that requires protection against unauthorized disclosure are classified at one of the following three levels.
>
> Top Secret Clearance
>
> Top Secret is applied to information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security if disclosed to unauthorized sources.
>
> This level needs to be reinvestigated every 5 years.
>
> Secret Clearance
>
> Secret is applied to information that reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security if disclosed to unauthorized sources.
>
> This level is reinvestigated every 10 years.
>
> Confidential Clearance
>
> Confidential is applied to information that reasonably could be expected to cause damage to the national security if disclosed to unauthorized sources. The vast majority of military personnel are given this very basic level of clearance.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/3 "2013-06-09T22:48:17Z")
> [@Mr\_Quatro](#):
>
> They left one clearance off … it’s called secret with need to know
>
> [http://govcentral.monster.com/security-clearance-jobs/articles/2330-3-levels-of-security-clearance](http://govcentral.monster.com/security-clearance-jobs/articles/2330-3-levels-of-security-clearance)
There is no such clearance. If you can give a cite, I’ll be surprised. Your usual BS.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/4 "2013-06-09T22:59:11Z")
He reminds me more of Colleen Rowley.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/5 "2013-06-09T23:18:35Z")
Its been a few years but IIRC pretty much all levels of classified information are on a “need to know” basis. A bit informal perhaps, but having whatever level clearance IIRC isn’t a free pass to learn any old random shit at that level. Our secretary had a X level clearance, but trust me, as the secretary, if she started asking all sorts of questions about various engineering specs some eyebrows would have been raising pretty darn fast.
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### Author:  [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/6 "2013-06-09T23:48:30Z")
> [@Snowden](#):
>
> I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.
On the one hand - he’s not wrong.
On the other hand - Honey, does your Mommy let you leave the house all by yourself?
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/7 "2013-06-09T23:52:45Z")
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> On the one hand - he’s not wrong.
>
> On the other hand - Honey, does your Mommy let you leave the house all by yourself?
He made his choice and seems quite aware of and willing to accept the consequences. He seems a lot more thoughtful and insightful than jackholes like Bradley Manning or Julian Assange.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/8 "2013-06-09T23:53:00Z")
Super dupper secret spy stuff. Does anybody here know the big secret about window blinds?
Yes, he’s not near the jackass some of these other folks were.
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### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/9 "2013-06-10T00:52:20Z")
I like his point that we as citizens need to decide if the monitoring of phones and the Internet is in the public interest. There needs to be a public discussion on this and that couldn’t happen without this whistle blowers actions.
I see no harm here. The bad guys must have suspected their communications could be monitored. No big secrets were released. Other than confirming what was already suspected.
I’m still on the fence about monitoring communications. We have to keep our country safe and still protect freedoms and privacy. It’s impossible to do both. We deserve a public debate. This isn’t something that should be decided by a bunch of politicians in a hidden room. They don’t have the right to make this decision for the entire country.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/10 "2013-06-10T00:53:42Z")
I really hope he was smart enough to leave Hong Kong for another third party country before he allowed the guardian to publish those pieces .
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/11 "2013-06-10T04:00:58Z")
As I understand it, the US has no extradition treaty with China, so there’s no established procedure for demanding his return. He’s not in immediate danger of going to Bagram. On the other hand, he’s a person with a great deal of knowledge about US spy systems who is now essentially in Chinese custody. I suspect there may be some extensive interrogations in his future.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/12 "2013-06-10T04:09:58Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> I suspect there may be some extensive interrogations in his future.
Or two in the head. He’s playing the Game of Thrones, and he ain’t going to win…
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/13 "2013-06-10T04:36:54Z")
He’s claiming to be in Hong Kong, which does have an extradition treaty with the US. his choice of countries really doesn’t make much sense to me including his justification for choosing Hong Kong. Unless of course he was never in Hong Kong and that’s to throw people off his trail.
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### Author:  [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/14 "2013-06-10T09:16:51Z")
What a phenomenally stupid human being.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/15 "2013-06-10T11:01:46Z")
I worked for years in a job that required security clearances. Many times, I didn’t understand why certain things were classified. Maybe I was naive, but I figured someone up the line with a view of the big picture made the decisions as to what needed to be protected and what didn’t. I was in no position to determine if the little piece of the puzzle that I knew could get someone killed if it came out.
What I do know is that I was granted my clearance and access based on what I needed to do my job, with the understanding that if I revealed certain things, I could end up in jail. I’m pretty sure if I encountered something that I thought was really fishy, I’d have gone to the Inspector General or my elected representatives rather than to the media. Leaking should be the \*absolute \*last resort.
Despite what some would have us believe, the gov’t is not a monstrous, mindless entity going thru the motions on autopilot. The bureaucracy is composed of people doing their jobs like anywhere else. Some are good, some are lazy, some are corrupt - welcome to life! There are ways of handling concerns, and I think this guy went about it completely wrong.
Of course, in a perfect world, we wouldn’t need all these secrets because we’d all be honest and honorable and interested in the common good of the planet…
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### Author:  [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/16 "2013-06-10T12:26:17Z")
Looks like his 15 minutes of fame will be cut to 2 minutes pretty soon - [Edward Snowden Contact Glenn Greenwald Should Be ‘Disappeared’, Security Officials ‘Overheard Saying’](http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/10/nsa-leaker-and-journalist-should-be-disappeared-overheard_n_3414346.html?utm_hp_ref=canada&ir=Canada)
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### Author:  [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/17 "2013-06-10T12:27:22Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#):
>
> What a phenomenally stupid human being.
For ruining his life for some petty principle? Or … ?
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### Author:  [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/18 "2013-06-10T13:48:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> I’m still on the fence about monitoring communications. We have to keep our country safe and still protect freedoms and privacy. It’s impossible to do both. We deserve a public debate. This isn’t something that should be decided by a bunch of politicians in a hidden room. They don’t have the right to make this decision for the entire country.
Amen. This is a debate which needs to happen, and it needs to happen in the most public way possible. This is the sort of situation where we need to remember that the government is our servant, not our master, and if the public decides that it doesn’t want this sort of surveilance, then the government is obligated to respect that decision. This whistleblower is a hero.
Sadly, this administration has made it their top priority to target whistleblowers who [del]show what autocratic dicks they’ve become[/del] threaten national security, so I’m expecting him to be arrested or kidnapped fairly soon.
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### Author:  [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/19 "2013-06-10T16:34:01Z")
> [@samclem](#):
>
> There is no such clearance. If you can give a cite, I’ll be surprised. Your usual BS.
My own clearance was of this nature … did I leave out ultra secret or do I have to prove it with a cite.
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### Author:  [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nsa-whistleblower-interviewed/660583/20 "2013-06-10T16:41:51Z")
By the way did you notice the whistleblower’s eye’s during his online interview?
They were shifting to the side as he was talking … what does this trait mean?
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