US Violates Int’l Law, Grounding Bolivian President’s Plane in Pursuit of Snowden
John Glaser, July 03, 2013
The appalling hubris of the imperial mindset in Washington was on full display yesterday when the U.S. government apparently pressured the governments of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy to deny a plane carrying Bolivia’s Evo Morales permission to pass through their air space. The plane was thus redirected, in flight, and forced to land in Vienna. The reason? Morales said he would consider granting political asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and the suspicion was that Snowden was on the plane with the Bolivian president.
That suspicion was flat out wrong. But even if it was correct, the move, according to the Guardian, went ”above international law and the rights of a president of a sovereign nation.” Unsurprisingly, Washington yet again has violated international law and abused the rights of weaker nations.
“Bolivia has denounced what it calls a ‘kidnap’ operation of its president by imperial powers that violates the Vienna convention and its national sovereignty,” writes theGuardian‘s Jonathan Watts. “Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay have joined in the condemnation. Angry headlines have been splashed on newspapers across the region.”
“Politicians and commentators in the region are already adding the action to a long list of interventions, invasions and ‘policing actions’ by Latin America’s giant northern neighbour, alongside the Monroe Doctrine, the annexation of half of Mexico, the Bay of Pigs invasion, support for Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and other dictators and the ousting of democratically elected leftist governments in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and elsewhere,” Watts adds.
In a statement yesterday, Amnesty International said the U.S. government’s pursuit of Snowden is a gross violation of his rights and international law:
The U.S. authorities’ relentless campaign to hunt down and block whistleblower Edward Snowden’s attempts to seek asylum is a gross violation of his human rights. It is his unassailable right, enshrined in international law, to claim asylum and this should not be impeded.The U.S. attempts to pressure governments to block Snowden’s attempts to seek asylum are all the more deplorable when you consider the National Security Agency (NSA)whistleblower could be at risk of ill-treatment if extradited to the U.S.No country can return a person to another country where there is a serious risk of ill-treatment. We know that others who have been prosecuted for similar acts have been held in conditions that not only Amnesty International, but UN officials considered cruel inhuman and degrading treatment in violation of international law.
Meanwhile, the focus on Snowden is continuing to serve as a distraction from the fact that the NSA is violating “the constitutional rights of everybody in the country,” in the words of NSA whistleblower William Binney.
The ACLU reminds us today that the NSA’s collection of intelligence on Americans is not “inadvertent,” as they claim. Under the authority of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, “the NSA claims only to intercept American communications ‘inadvertently,’ but this is a clever fiction: the surveillance program has been engineered to sweep up American communications in vast quantity, while giving the NSA cover to claim that it is not intentionally targeting Americans.”
This deliberate collection of Americans’ communications happens in at least three ways. First, the government can target foreigners on the other end of Americans’ international communications. So, if you call or email family, friends, or business associates abroad, the NSA can intercept those communications so long as it doesn’t intentionally target a specific, known American in another country. The surveillance must also relate to “foreign intelligence,” but this term has been construed so broadly as to be all but meaningless.Second, the government has set a dismally low bar for concluding that a potential surveillance target is, in fact, a foreigner located abroad. By default, targets are assumed to be foreign. That’s right, the procedures allow the NSA to presume that prospective targets are foreigners outside the United States absent specific information to the contrary—and to presume therefore that those individuals are fair game for warrantless surveillance.Third, the procedures allow the NSA to collect not just the communications of a foreign target, but any communications about a foreign target. This provision likely results in significant over-collection of even purely domestic communications. So, rather than striving to protect Americans, the procedures err on the side of over-collection and less respect for privacy rights.
Hopefully some good will come out of the U.S.’s overreach in grounding Morales’s plane. Maybe this will push forward the Bolivian government’s consideration of asylum for Snowden. What would be great is if Morales issued a formal complaint at the United Nations. The U.S. should be as embarrassed about this ordeal as possible.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2013-07-03/us-vs-edward-snowden-does-world-not-have-courage-or-decency-protect-mr-snowde
The U.S. vs. Edward Snowden: Does the World Not Have the Courage or Decency to Protect Mr. Snowden?
- Barack Obama
- China
- Fail
- FBI
- Gordon Gekko
- John McCain
- None
- Obama Administration
- SPY
- Transparency
- Vladimir Putin
For previous articles by the author go to:Gordon Gekko's Blog -http://www.gekkosblog.com
Something hit me very hard once, thinking about what one little man could do. Think of the Queen Mary — the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trimtab. It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around. Takes almost no effort at all. So I said that the little individual can be a trimtab. Society thinks it's going right by you, that it's left you altogether. But if you're doing dynamic things mentally, the fact is that you can just put your foot out like that and the whole big ship of state is going to go.So I said, call me Trimtab.--Richard Buckminster Fuller
Who is Edward Snowden?
Actions speak louder than words, and by his actions alone Edward Snowden has proved himself to be a real American Hero, a Patriot and somebody worthy of being called a Citizen of the World. The sheer amount of personal risk he took was by no means trivial, and the reason he took it for makes it even more significant. I know some people are doubting his credentials and motives now, but it only exemplifies how cynical and cruel we - our current so-called “civilization” - has become. I’ve read his posts on Arstechnica, and to me he just comes across a normal kid of our generation who’s sick and tired of the corrupt and decaying system – the only difference being that he had the courage to do something about it. Moreover, the fact that he’s being hounded by the western global leadership only further goes to prove that he’s done NOTHING wrong. He put his and his family’s life on the hook just so millions could benefit. He had the courage and conviction to stand up to the most powerful government and military force in the world on the grounds of principle alone. He EXACTLY represents what America was and is all about – an individual standing up against tyranny, an individual standing up for his beliefs - and he is doing EXACTLY what the Constitution of the United States demands of its Citizens. And instead of hailing him as a patriot for being a defender the Constitution, many in the public are calling him a traitor. Indeed:
Every nation gets the government it deserves.--Joseph de Maistre
So far people of the United States have shown to be extremely deserving of their current government.
The morons and mafia agents in Congress (who, by the way, had special exemptions for themselves from NSA surveillance – the mind BOGGLES at the SHEER HYPOCRISY here) decrying Edward’s actions as treasonous are themselves guilty of treason. They have utterly and completely FAILED to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Read the following from the Declaration of Independenceand tell me if we are in a different situation today or if Edward’s actions were not aligned with what the Constitution required of him (or all of us, for that matter):
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security
The oppressive regime of the current US Government - running an increasingly violent global empire whose sole aim is to exploit people for the personal benefit of the few -exactly fits the definition of the type of Government the founding fathers were trying to overthrow.
Ironically, the ONLY saving grace for the US in this whole fiasco is probably the fact that Edward Snowden is an American. If the founding fathers were alive today, no doubt it would pain them greatly to witness the transformation of the country they founded into all out tyrannical dictatorship. But seeing Americans like Ed Snowden exist, seeing the words they wrote hundreds of years ago continue to inspire and enlighten people in current generations , they would know they had done something right – that their efforts had not gone completely in vain. Edward, we salute you proudly brother, and wish that there are more like you in America and all other countries around the world who have the guts to stand up to increasingly fascist (but proclaiming themselves to be “democratic”) governments. Have no doubts, you have done the right thing, even though at great personal costs for which the people of this world shall forever be indebted. The world would be a much a better place if there were more like you. You are definitely a “Trimtab”.
The Rationale for Global Spying
The US government has provided as justification for its global spying operations the need to protect itself from “terrorists”. The fact of the matter is that if you do some digging, you’ll find that most of the so-called “terrorist organizations” in the world today were either created or supported militarily/financially at some point by the US government itself. Case in point is the current dictatorship in Egypt headed by an American puppet:
Saddam was a US Government puppet before he went rogue, the Taliban was also created by the CIA, among many others. Currently the US is busy arming terrorists in Syria. In fact, while it pretends to be running scared of “terrorists” all around the world – the US Government is itself the biggest terrorist on Earth. The people of Egypt have realized the truth, so must the rest of the world. The truth of the matter is that the people controlling the US government need these spying operations in order to have information on and thus control over the global slave population which are needed to run their empire.
A Corrupt and Bankrupt Global Bully
The US Government is a morally and financially bankrupt entity that in its megalomaniac delusion expects the world to “obey” it. It has the GALL to demand the very countries that it’s openly mocking and decrying to obey its demands. It is threatening them with “consequences”.
"We've got to start dealing with Vladimir Putin for what he is. [Putin is] an old KGB colonel apparatchik who disdains democracy [and] continues to stick his thumb in our eye."
"Mr. Snowden's claim that he is focused on supporting transparency, freedom of the press and protection of individual rights and democracy is belied by the protectors he has potentially chosen - China, Russia, Ecuador, as we've seen,"
"I wonder if Snowden chose Russia or China for assistance because they are such bastions of Internet freedom...[I] would be deeply troubled [if Russia and China knew of Snowden’s plans] and there would be, without any question, some effect and impact on the relationship and consequences.”
(All emphasis mine)
And instead of making use of the opportunity that destiny has provided them to call the US government on its bullshit and expose its hypocrisy; instead of using the opportunity to show some semblance of gratitude for Mr. Snowden’s efforts to reveal the US Government’s attacks on their sovereignty and do the right thing; instead of showing the world that US hegemony will not be tolerated and people who expose tyranny and risk their lives in service of humanity will be protected; instead of showing the people of this world that there are truly independent nations unwilling to accede to the demands of a dictatorial regime, none of the other countries has done anything. Ecuador and its president Rafael Correa seems to be a petty little man who’s in it only for the fame. He was happy so long as he was gaining all the popularity and sympathy from his nation and the world with the Assange case, seems suddenly to have become goody two-shoesobedient little boy of the master when Biden came with a beating stick and Assange’s role and media coverage in the case threatened to overshadow his:
“The moment that he arrives, if he arrives, the first thing is we'll ask the opinion of the United States, as we did in the Assange case with England," Correa said. "But the decision is ours to make.”
Bullshit. BULLSHIT.
But is this what we have come to? The world is relying on one small unpredictable nation to do the work that must be shouldered by all? Why doesn’t a single nation have the courage to stand up to the Imperial American Government? It can’t be military power, for it is unlikely the US is going to launch a military strike, especially against countries like China or Russia just to get Snowden back. What then, the United States won’t “buy” any more of your stuff with borrowed and/or freshly printed paper money? Great. Who the hell wants a deadbeat customer offering nothing in exchange but worthless paper money? The world must realize that the US Government is a paper tiger simply surviving on the basis of running a global financial scam. All its power is based on lies and deception which is EXACTLY why disclosures, such as by Snowden, threaten it to the degree they do and why the US Government is hell bent on prosecuting the leakers. The US government is a bankrupt entity pretending to be a superpower expecting the world to obey its dictats. It’s time the world showed the US a mirror and told the emperor he’s naked.
Feckless Countries and Politicians
Sadly, the countries which denigrate the US have themselves shown to be no better. They claim to be “independent” nations yet are afraid of offending the United States. None of them seem to be able to stand up for themselves or for the greater good. The feckless politicians ruling them are hiding behind “laws” and technicalities but who otherwise have no hesitation in looting the public treasury or starting wars or killing their own citizens when their personal agendas or profit motives are involved. Apparently Mr. Snowden cannot travel because his passport has been (unlawfully, mind you) revoked. So what? Are we supposed to believe it is so difficult to issue him one by one of the other nations? Let me tell you, if he were a spy for some nation or even a low level operative helping the banksters in one of their looting schemes, TEN passports would have been issued to him instantly. This only goes to show that most governments today, “democratic” or otherwise either belong to or are subservient to the same criminal mafia. They have demonstrated that they aren’t independent nations but mere colonies/puppet states of the US Empire. In fact, most of the political leadership of the world seems to be in cahoots with each other sharing the same bed. These so-called countries are mere prisons with their political “leaders” prison wardens appointed by and/or serving at the pleasure of the US government. They are happy to exploit their prison populations for personal enrichment but with the permission of and in collaboration with the US and the cartel controlling it. This is the only explanation for the deafening global silence and inaction in the Snowden case.
Mr. Snowden’s Shameful Treatment
Letting Mr. Snowden loiter indefinitely in a transit area, is this how the world, especially Russia, want to be seen and recorded by history as having treated those have made the ultimate sacrifice for the greater good? Whatever treatment the US government has in store for Mr. Snowden, he is already being punished by being forced to sit inside an airport terminal in God knows what conditions. Is this how the world intends to thank Mr. Snowden for his services? To the leaders of Russia and China: It’s not some spy we are dealing with here – here is a person who has taken a stand to protect the greater good – and unless, like Europe, you were a subscriber of the NSA “data sharing plan” – exposed massive US spying on your government and citizens. Instead of celebrating and taking the opportunity to reveal the hypocrite bully that is the US Government, you are debating and hiding behind technicalities? It’s your chance. If you fail now, you lose your face in the world and your standing to criticize the US on ANY issue EVER. Moreover, it gives us reason to believe YOU WERE IN ON IT.
The world needs to come together if thisbanking cartel’s US Government’s tyranny has to end. If the rest of the world can’t protect somebody like Snowden then they have no right to complain against whatever atrocities the US Government commits. They have NO right to complain against NSA surveillance.
Today I am – as we all must be - ashamed to be a part of this world, this race and the current feckless iteration of the human civilization. We have shown ourselves not worthy of the courage and sacrifices of people like Mr. Snowden. The way Mr. Snowden is being treated, it almost seems better not to do anything and leave this world to the fate it deserves. If there is not even one person or one country able to stand up to this tyranny, we are all doomed to exploitation and extinction andrightly so. If we don’t do something NOW, then the day is not far when there will be a Nazi concentration camp in each and every country on earth. No more Snowden’s will sacrifice themselves for us.
A Warning to Global Politicians
Let’s be very careful about who we call "traitor". Edward Snowden is one of us. Bradley Manning is one of us. They are young, technically minded people from thegeneration that Barack Obama betrayed. They are the generation that grew up on the internet, and were shaped by it. The US government is always going to need intelligence analysts and systems administrators, and they are going to have to hire them from this generation and the ones that follow it. One day, their generation will run the NSA, the CIA and the FBI. This isn’t a phenomenon that is going away. This is inevitable.And by trying to crush these young whistleblowers with espionage charges, the US government is taking on a generation, and that is a battle it is going to lose.(All emphasis mine)
Rest assured, people around the world are watching the Snowden case VERY carefully. The means adopted were peaceful and motives genuine. If they determine that the world politicians will not support honest conscientious people and their actions; if it comes to light that the world governments werepretending to be surprised while being neck deep with the NSA and US government in this quagmire, no one else will offer themselves at the altar – not so easily. If the US Empire and its minions think they can control the population by gathering information and spying on them, they are sadly mistaken. Truth is like a virus without symptoms and no cure – you will never know who has been infected and they WILL destroy your empire from the inside much like a termite slowly destroys grand structures. Snowden and Assange have only fired the first warning shots. The war has not even started yet.
The slaves – once aware – will conclude that the current global leadership must be dealt away with and their regimes will be overthrown and new governance installed. The clock is ticking on the current world order of FAKE puppet fascist “democracies”.
In the end the Obama administration is not afraid of whistleblowers like me, Bradley Manning or Thomas Drake. We are stateless, imprisoned, or powerless. No, the Obama administration is afraid of you. It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised — and it should be.(All emphasis mine)
Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
http://www.businessinsider.com/evo-morales-jet-leaves-austria-snowden-2013-7
Evo Morales' Jet Is Finally Leaving Austria — Furious Bolivia To File UN Complaint Over European Blockade
It appears that one of the more bizarre mini-tales of the Snowden affair is coming to an end.
Yesterday evening it was reported that the jet of Bolivian President Evo Morales was denied access to air space by France, Spain, and Italy, and was forced to land in Austria, on account of suspicion that his plane had Edward Snowden on board from Moscow.
Denying a head of state's jet access to airspace is a serious diplomatic incident.
The jet stayed in Austria all night, while it was apparently checked for Snowden (who was not found according to reports).
Per FlightRadar24.com, the Bolivian Dassault Falcon 900EX (F900) has just taken off from Vienna.
But the story isn't over.
Morales is evidently furious (and this is a humiliation to him and the Bolivian people) and they plan to file a complaint.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-02/airplane-bolivian-president-denied-passage-over-french-portuguese-airspace-due-snowd
Bolivian President Plane Denied Passage Over French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian Airspace Due To Snowden Suspicions
Update: Italy and Spain have also been confirmed as states that refused passage above their airspace to Bolivia's Morales on suspicions of harboring a patriot.
Moments ago a rather surreal episode of international diplomacy, or rather lack thereof, took place when the airplane of Bolivian President Evo Morales was forced to land in Austria over suspicions that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was on board, a claim Bolivian authorities denied. The reason: France and Portugal reportedly refused to allow the flight to cross their airspace due to concerns that Snowden may have been aboard the plane. It is what international law allows countries to deny their airspace to presidents of sovereign countries, when the only transgression is unproven speculation of harboring a whistleblower. Of course, with both insolvent countries bent over and in dire need of some all too precious Uncle Sam liquidity, we can see how they would do anything and everything to gain some favor with Obama.
Per RT, David Choquehuanca, the Bolivian Foregin Minister, refuted the idea Snowden was on the plane, saying "we don’t know who invited this lie, but we want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales."
Others in South America are also angry, with Ecuador foreign affairs minister Ricardo Patino taking the lead:
- ECUADOR NOT SEEKING SPY PROGRAM DETAILS FROM SNOWDEN: PATINO
- ECUADOR WON'T TRADE FAVORS WITH U.S. ON SNOWDEN ASYLUM: PATINO
- SOUTH AMERICA MUST 'REACT' TO BOLIVIA TREATMENT: PATINO
- U.S. PROTECTING ECUADOR FUGITIVES: PATINO
Then again, Ecuador's indignation would carry some actual weight if the country, which originally was supposed to be Snowden's final asylum retreat, hadn't mysteriously folded like a cheap lawn chair following Joe Biden's brief but focused visit.
Expect more indignation from all sides, and more diverted flights, until the Snowden story reaches it predictably sad resolution.
Finally, we would not want to be an international precious metal miner in Bolivia right now (wink wink Pan American Silver Corp, Sumitomo - which operates the third largest silver mine in the world at San Cristobal - and assorted peers).
http://rt.com/news/edward-snowden-asylum-moscow-559/
NSA leaker Edward Snowden has reportedly sought asylum in 21 countries, aiming to gain protection against US prosecutors. But nine nations have already rejected the whistleblower's requests, leaving him trapped in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
NSA leaker Edward Snowden has reportedly sought asylum in 21 countries, aiming to gain protection against US prosecutors. But nine nations have already rejected the whistleblower's requests, leaving him trapped in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
According to Wikileaks, Snowden has received outright rejections from four countries: Finland, Brazil, Poland, and India. New Dehli said on Tuesday that it has “no reason” to accede the whistleblower’s request. In his application to Poland, Snowden said that he risks facing the death penalty if he is returned to the US.
Spain, Norway, Italy, Ecuador, and Austria have also rejected Snowden’s applications, stating that asylum requests cannot be granted unless the applicant is already inside the country. Italy also stated that Snowden’s application was made via fax, which is not allowed, ITAR-TASS reported, citing a source in the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Other nations have yet to respond to Snowden’s asylum requests. Those countries include Bolivia, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, and Switzerland. Despite Wikileaks' claim that Snowden has, in fact, sought asylum in China, Beijing said on Tuesday that it is not aware of the request. France has also denied receiving a request.
Snowden previously asked for asylum in Russia, but withdrew the request after President Putin urged him to “cease anti-American activity,” the president’s spokesperson said in a statement. Putin has stated that Moscow will not extradite the whistleblower to the US.
At a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Brunei, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he had raised Snowden "from our point of view" despite the affair not being in their domain, Reuters reported.
But it seems the whistleblower shouldn’t give up hope just yet. In an exclusive interview with RT on Tuesday, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that his government had not yet received a request from Snowden, but would consider it once it was received.
“Bolivia is ready to give political asylum to people who expose spying activities, so to speak...if we receive a request, we are willing to consider it,” Morales said.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro expressed a similar sentiment, stating that Caracas is also willing to consider an asylum request from Snowden.
“This young man must be protected in terms of international and humanitarian law. He has a right to be protected, because he is being pursued be the US. By its president, vice president, and secretary of state. Why is he being pursued? What kind of crime has he committed? Has he launched a missile and killed anyone? Has he planted a bomb and killed anyone? No, he hasn’t. On the contrary, he is doing everything to prevent wars, to prevent any kind of illegal action against the whole world. Venezuela hasn't so far received an asylum request from Snowden - when we get it we are ready to consider it,” Maduro told journalists in Moscow.
The US has voided Snowden’s passport, making it impossible to leave the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. The whistleblower has reportedly filed his asylum applications through a legal representative.
Snowden has captivated the world’s press after leaking data on the NSA’s mass surveillance program in May. The whistleblower originally sought to evade US jurisdiction in Hong Kong but left for Moscow on June 23, traveling on special documents given to him by the Ecuadorian government as his US passport was voided.
However, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said on Monday that any help granted to Snowden had been purely accidental and that no more aid would be given to him. He stressed that the Ecuadorian consul in London acted outside their authority when they issued the travel documents to Snowden.
http://www.infowars.com/greenwald-new-nsa-bombshell-on-the-way/
Greenwald: New NSA Bombshell On The Way
Obama going after Snowden “To Intimidate Future Whistle Blowers”
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
July 2, 2013
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the Ed Snowden NSA revelations has urged Americans to brace for yet another bombshell story in the near future.
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
July 2, 2013
Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who broke the Ed Snowden NSA revelations has urged Americans to brace for yet another bombshell story in the near future.
Appearing on Fox and Friends Tuesday, Greenwald told Eric Bolling that more revelations are forthcoming regarding “vast programs of both domestic and international spying that the world will be shocked to learn about that the NSA is engaged in without democratic accountability.”
“You’re going to have to wait along with everybody else until our stories are published,” Greenwald said. Although he did not provide an exact timeframe, Greenwald added “just wait a little bit and you’ll have it.”
The reporter also accused the President of making an example out of Snowden in order to deter potential future whistleblowers.
“I think what the Obama administration wants, and has been trying to establish for the last almost five years now with the unprecedented war on whistleblowers that it is waging, and to make it so that everybody is petrified of coming forward with information about what our political officials are doing in the dark that is deceitful, illegal or corrupt,” Greenwald said.
“They don’t care about Edward Snowden at this point. He can no longer do anything that he hasn’t already done. What they care about is making an extremely negative example out of him to intimidate future whistleblowers because they think they’ll end up like him.” the reporter added.
While revealing that he had not had contact with Snowden since he left Hong Kong, Greenwald insisted that the leaker was eager to remain part of the debate surrounding government surveillance.
“Obviously he wants to stay out of the clutches of the U.S. government given the way that they’ve persecuted whistleblowers. He’s obviously trying to find a place where he can do that but his real goal is to continue to try to be part of the conversation about why he did why he did, what it is that he saw in the NSA, how these spying powers were being abused and to continue to make people around the world and his fellow citizens aware of what his government is doing,” said Greenwald.
Addressing claims from other so called journalists that he should be prosecuted for his role in outing Snowden’s secrets, Greenwald cited Thomas Jefferson.
“Jefferson, 250 years ago, said those who most fear investigations are the ones who attack free press first,” Greenwald said. “This is what journalism is about, shining a light on what the most powerful people in the country are doing to them in the dark. So we’re going to continue to do that no matter what David Gregory and his friends say.”
According to the latest reports, Ed Snowden is still stuck in “no man’s land” as it were in Moscow. After applying to 21 countries for political asylum, only 11 remain possibilities, with Venezuela looking the most sympathetic to his plight.
“[Snowden] deserves the world’s protection.” Venezuela’s new president Máduro told Reuters during a visit to Moscow.
“We think this young person has done something very important for humanity, has done a favour to humanity, has spoken great truths to deconstruct a world that is controlled by an imperialist American elite.” Máduro added.
http://www.infowars.com/snowden-fears-death/
Snowden Fears Death
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
July 2, 2013
Infowars.com
July 2, 2013
Obama demonstration by the German Pirate Party. Photo: Mike Herbst
On the run whistleblower Edward Snowden fears he will face execution if his asylum requests are rejected and he is sent to the United States to face prosecution.
“It is unlikely that I would receive a fair trial of proper treatment prior to trial, and face the possibility of life in prison or even death,” he told The Telegraph today.
Holland, Finland, Brazil, Poland and India have declined his requests for asylum. Ecuador, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and Spain have said they would consider his application for asylum only if made while in those countries.
Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, said during a trip to Russia that his country has not received an application for asylum from Snowden. While voicing support, Hugo Chávez‘s successor said he would not use his plane to ferry the whistleblower out of Russia.
“He did not kill anyone and he did not plant a bomb,” Maduro told legislators and reporters at the Russian Parliament. “He only said a big truth to prevent wars.” Maduro said Snowden deserves protection under international law.
Snowden is allegedly holed up at in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. Russian president Vladimir Putin has said that the former Booz Allen Hamilton analyst would have to stop “harming US interests” if he wanted to stay in Russia.
“He abandoned his intention and his request to receive the chance of staying in Russia,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in Moscow. “Hypothetically, Snowden could have stayed but on one condition – that he gave up his intention to carry out, one way or another, anti-American activity inflicting harm on the United States.”
Snowden told the British newspaper there is a concerted effort to intimidate those who would offer asylum to whistleblowers and make it virtually impossible for them to escape prosecution for espionage in the United States.
“Although I am convicted of nothing, (the United States) has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person,” he said. “Without any judicial order, the administration now seeks to stop me exercising a basic right. A right that belongs to everybody. The right to seek asylum.”
“Their purpose is to frighten, not me, but those who would come after me.”
In recent days, a number of people have said Snowden deserves to die for revealing the NSA’s formerly secret Prism surveillance program.
“I think Snowden is a terrible threat, I think he’s a terrible traitor, and you know what we used to do in the good old days when we were a strong country — you know what we used to do to traitors, right?”Donald Trump said on Fox News.
Former Congressman Ron Paul said last month that he fears the government will assassinate Snowden. “I’m worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile,” Paul told Fox. “I mean, we live in a bad time where American citizens don’t even have rights and that they can be killed, but the gentleman is trying to tell the truth about what’s going on.”
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