Zonie63
Posts: 2826
Joined: 4/25/2011 From: The Old Pueblo Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: kdsub quote:
the US Government, military and spy agencies have done nothing wrong, they have nothing to fear, do they Of course they have something to fear... that the little rat fink gives up more secrets to our enemies. I would like to see a very public fair trial and a man standing up for his principles rather than a sniveling coward betraying his country then hiding in a cesspool. At least then I could respect him even if I though he was wrong. Butch I think they might have been better off playing it down, though. By turning it into a big international case, it could actually embarrass the U.S. even more on the world stage. It seems that the authorities in Hong Kong and Russia are treating this more as an administrative issue, not a political one, so they're not as fired up and zealous about arresting this guy as certain political figures in the U.S. would want them to be. He does seem to be gaining popularity in Russia and China, and the U.S. zeal in wanting him back can only serve to feed into Snowden's growing status as international celebrity. But if the U.S. leadership took a more low-key approach and not made such a big deal about it, they might have resolved it more easily. Whatever damage he may have caused, it's already done. Now, we're faced with the question of trying to minimize and control the damage - or causing more damage, which is what our current tack might actually do. Putting pressure on Russia or any other nation which might harbor this guy doesn't seem like very smart foreign policy at this juncture. I don't think it would gain any points in terms of domestic support either. Sure, I'd like to see a public trial where he can present his evidence and stand up for his principles. The government and its practices are also on trial. They would do better to stand up for their principles as well. I don't know if Snowden is a sniveling coward, but I suppose if I ever faced the prospect of ending up in a federal penitentiary, I'd be tempted to rabbit as well. Of course, that's also why I live a reasonably honest, law-abiding life, so I don't have to worry about such things. Snowden took a risk, ostensibly knew what he was doing, and somehow worked out a plan of escape - although he probably didn't have all his ducks lined up that far in advance. So, now he's in limbo, and nobody seems to know where he is at the moment. He somehow missed his flight to Cuba. If he's being detained by the Russians, they don't seem to be saying it one way or the other. But they'll probably figure some way to try to work this to their advantage. Snowden might turn into some kind of bargaining chip, depending on how badly the US government wants him back. The U.S.-Russian relationship can go either way at this point, and Snowden can turn into a big propaganda tool for the Russians, if they were so inclined to use him for that purpose. There remains some lingering friction and disagreement over several issues, and if we blow this Snowden thing too far out of proportion, we could lose bargaining points on other issues.
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