WASHINGTON, D.C. June 27 (DPI News Analysis) — America’s standing in the world is taking a drubbing with Edward Snowden’s disclosures of US spying, which has allowed China and Russia in recent weeks to ascend unfamiliar moral high ground.
America’s black eye may sting now, but several factors already suggest L’Affaire Snowden will ultimately benefit America — and reinforce its position as the nation most committed to human freedom in the world.
1) Specifics of what Snowden has revealed – beyond the fact that the US collects data about phone usage from telecom companies, both inside and outside the country — hardly suggest that the US was employing tactics for anything other than monitoring possible terrorists, a surveillance activity many Americans condone.
In fact, on the occasions that Bradley Manning — and now Snowden — have stolen and distributed state secrets, the result has been less than earth-shaking: So far the US has come across in its spying activities as little more than a benign bureaucracy, an innocent neighbor. Yes, America knows a lot about its neighbors and rivals; Vladimir Putin is a boor even in private. But there’s little evidence that the US has been up to no good in the world — and “no good” might include attempts to destabilize regimes or despots.
That was apparent in the Manning episode, and seems to be reinforced now with the Snowden disclosures.
2) The US is probably – probably – more careful with its secrets than L’Affaire Snowden suggests. What secrets? Nuclear-missile launch codes, for starters, as well as military and defense plans. Political secrets are little more than briefly valuable bargaining chips; there will be more such currency to spy on in a few weeks.
It’s true the US has a clunky and overstaffed security apparatus — a product in part of a private sector that since 9/11 has bamboozled elected officials and the public. Yet it’s still not clear how much of the information shared with private firms such as Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, compromise national security, and whether the disclosures are indeed damaging.
3) The Manning and Snowden episodes will eventually spur some young Russian or Chinese tech nerd to do the same — pick up his laptop and tell the world what the regime he lives under is doing. Thousands of such techies exist; as we’ve seen with the Snowden case, it only takes one.
When a Russian or Chinese techie pulls a similar stunt, that poor soul will die or disappear at the hands of his national-security apparatus — and one that will make America’s look civilized, Queensberry-ruled, by comparison.
And America, once again, will look like what it is: An utterly imperfect nation which, because of its traditions and institutions, is more committed to respect for individuals, human rights and the rule of law than any in the world. Comment boards veer in their partisanship, but many of the most trenchant and insightful comments reflect the fact Americans remain among the most free, the most informed and most articulate in the world.
(Most recommended from 6/14 NYTimes.com — 220 Recs) Wake up! Snowden is no hero. At best, he’s is a terribly naive 29-year old tech analyst who thinks- after working just a few months as a contractor at the NSA – that he has a full grasp of the US’ national security interests and global geopolitics.
I honestly don’t know what’s worse – Snowden having access to such sensitive information in the first place, or him taking it upon himself to be judge and jury for the United States’ foreign and domestic intelligence operations. It’s really preposterous, when you stop and think about it.
Whether or not you personally approve of U.S. covert intelligence gathering operations, the threats facing us from various corners of the world make those tactics an unfortunate necessity. Through his arrogance and stupidity, Edward Snowden has put our entire national security apparatus – and by extension, all of us – at grave risk.
I much prefer living in the United States – with all its foibles and dysfunctions – than being subject to the tyrannies of the Chinese or Russian governments.
Meantime, with Snowden still apparently in a diplomatic no-man’s-land in Russia, and with the US Justice Department formally filing espionage charges, the matter is likely to fade until Snowden himself is taken into custody.