Edward Snowden and the Selling Out of America

For those who call Edward Snowden a hero, I’d like to hear if that is still the label you wish to use when describing him.  Beginning with the Guardian placing Snowden upon a pedestal because he exposed the National Security Agency (NSA) capture of computer information.  He was labeled as a hero because he exposed the secrets and brought their operation out into the open.  While some may have a point that no government agency shall operate in secret and that those they represent, the American public, should be aware of what any agency is doing in their name, it appears that they did not take in consideration of the results of his stealing of secrets and releasing them.

One of the most dangerous results that was argued can now be proven from an article titled “Russia and China broke into Snowden files to identify western spies, says MI6” as presented by The Observer.  The article reports that “Downing Street believes that Russian and Chinese intelligence agencies have used documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden to identify British and US secret agents, according to a report in the Sunday Times.  The newspaper says MI6, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, has withdrawn agents from overseas operations because Russian security services had broken into encrypted files held by American computer analyst Snowden.  Snowden provided the Guardian with top secret documents from the US National Security Agency (NSA), which revealed that western intelligence agencies had been undertaking mass surveillance of phone and internet use.  He fled to Hong Kong, then to Moscow, and the Sunday Times claims that both Chinese and Russian security officials gained access to his files as a result. The files held by Snowden were encrypted, but now British officials believe both countries have hacked into the files, according to the report.

The newspaper quotes a series of anonymous sources from Downing Street, the Home Office and British intelligence saying that the documents contained intelligence techniques and information that would enable foreign powers to identify British and American spies.”

If you still wish to try and compare Snowden to other whistleblowers first please take into consideration that the information was leaked to news agencies which first looked over the documents to insure that no damage to this country or its allies would be the result of them making those documents public.  This is not the case in the Snowden leak and now all allies and this United States has to be on alert and try to counter and vital information lost to countries like Russia and China who may use this information to harm, injury or kill those mentioned in the reports.  Snowden and all others who now have access to this information appear to not have taken the time to check or prevent possible life-threatening information from getting into the wrong hands.

Now let’s not get it twisted, every country including Russia and China has their spies all over this continent.  They are collecting the same kind of information about us that the NSA was collecting about them except Snowden has not assisted America or its allies in getting the same information he has seemed to turn over to Russia and China.  Could this be the primary reason, he escaped to China then Russia in the first place and does he have a responsibility to insure that while exposing government secrets, he does not open agents to a high possibility of injury or death?  Is this what we call a hero?