"My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them."
He has had "a very comfortable life" that included a salary of roughly $200,000, a girlfriend with whom he shared a home in Hawaii, a stable career, and a family he loves. "I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building."
On May 20, he boarded a flight to Hong Kong, where he has remained ever since. He chose the city because "they have a spirited commitment to free speech and the right of political dissent", and because he believed that it was one of the few places in the world that both could and would resist the dictates of the US government.Even though Hong Kong has its own system, it answers to the Chinese government -- which, on paper at least, is Communist. Who'd a thunk we'd ever see the day when...?
Let's get back to Snowdon and the Damnedest Article Ever:
In the three weeks since he arrived, he has been ensconced in a hotel room. "I've left the room maybe a total of three times during my entire stay," he said. It is a plush hotel and, what with eating meals in his room too, he has run up big bills.So who is paying those bills? If he's surviving on his savings, then what does he plan to do when the cash runs out? I'm guessing that this guy has made an arrangement with the Chinese government -- in which case, he seems more defector than whistleblower (although the two roles often overlap). In other words, the great NSA revelations should be viewed as an adjunct to the growing cyber-war between China and the U.S.
He worked in the US intelligence world for almost a decade.The kid's 29. Did he hit the NSA directly after the high school prom?
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