So who by now thinks Edward Snowden is a hero for the NSA leaks and who wants to throttle him as a traitor to our nation?
Like most of you, I have been watching / listening to the banter about whether Edward Snowden is a Traitor or some misguided do gooder. I have been on the fence watching and digesting what I am seeing / hearing.
There are several elements of fact in this evolving story worth noting and applying throughout whatever we ultimately learn. The drag net that Edward Snowden supposedly had such heartburn with is a fully authorized and legal intelligence program signed off by a Federal Court and a Federal Judge. The take a way is that it is a legal program. We can debate how over reaching, necessary, needed and so on it is but at the end of the day it’s properly above board as long as you have cleared access.
The taking of this information and releasing it via press interviews from a secreted location in a less than friendliest nation is red flag number one. Removing sensitive information from a secured location IS illegal. Sharing it with one or more foreign interrogators is not a swift move for any do gooder no matter how you slice that. There is no real evidence to me yet that American’s where harmed as a result of the drag net and electronic collection program. The government of course is claiming that 50+ plots and terroristic threats were diverted due to the program – if you trust the government to have accurate info. So that may be a draw. If you have been a mushroom and shovel feed BS while not believing your information wasn’t being used by the government to know things about you then you’re probably on Snowden’s side for sure.
However, I do believe real, true long lasting damage will be suffered by the NSA and agencies to collect on evil doers out there who intend to do Americans harm. That harm will come from altered communications plans, altered strategies by less than friendly nations who support or allow evil doers to plot against our Nation. Ripping the veil off what was being collected is one thing; if unveiling great detail about how information was being collected and if American Intelligence Operators or friendly /recruited sources are put in danger then that too is illegal, immoral, and more than espionage; its treason.
So watch and view the story of Edward Snowden with a base of reality and judge by what is fair, legal, and in the interests of protecting our citizens from real threats – foreign and domestic.
Tune in and hear this conversation as I discuss it with a former CIA Intelligence Operator.
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My special guest is Brad Robinson, a founding member of The Millennium Group.
Recruited out of graduate school, Brad Robinson spent eleven years in the CIA’s elite Directorate of Operations as a specialist in intelligence collection, counterterrorism and sensitive source recruitment. He acquired extensive area knowledge, linguistic skills and experience working undercover as a top clandestine operative and in dealing overtly with the highest levels of U.S. and foreign governments, military organizations and the private sector. Recipient of a number of CIA awards and commendations, Robinson was home-based in various European capitals but has been involved in highly-classified operations on nearly every continent. He left The Agency to form The Millennium Group, a full-service investigative and security consulting firm.