Snowden Granted 3 More Years of Russian Residency 266
SiggyRadiation writes Edward Snowden is allowed to stay in Russia for three more years. According to the NYPost:"His lawyer, Analtoly Kucherena, was quoted by Russian news agencies on Thursday as saying Snowden now has been granted residency for three more years, but that he had not been granted political asylum. That status, which would allow him to stay in Russia permanently, must be decided by a separate procedure, Kucherena said, but didn't say whether Snowden is seeking it." The question that remains, of course, is did the Russians use this as leverage over him to get to more information or influence him? Or is the positive PR in itself enough for the Russians in the current climate of tensions and economic sanctions relating to the Ukraine crisis?"
Russia will never kick him out (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyone who thinks that Russia would deport Edward Snowden does not know much about the long history of Russian spycraft.
Meanwhile ... (Score:4, Insightful)
Your matters weren't private before Snowden since the govt. was violating the 4th amendment without your knowledge. Just because the revealing of an illegal practice modifies the behavior of others does not make that illegal practice legitimate.
Not about leverage or influence (Score:5, Insightful)
Russia isn't using this to leverage information or to influence Snowden. Russia is using this to stick it to the US. And if, every once in a while, they can trot him out like a useful puppet (like they did during Putin's televised Q&A), then all the better
Yep. He's now a pawn and a prisoner (Score:2, Insightful)
The Russians are never letting him go - at least not for free. They'll have to get something to give him up. Snowden probably couldn't leave Russia even if he wanted to.
But the Russians will treat him well - to make an example of him: "Leak classified US data and the Russians will take care of you."
At least until the US offers Russia something substantial for him - then the Russians will ship him back.
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Since I prefer freedom over safety, it looks to me like you have no valid point, even if what that article is saying is true. Snowden releasing the information was morally right. It is not wrong to tell people about the immoral/unconstitutional activities of the government, even if they're doing it to keep us 'safe.' And that's a big "if."
We are supposed to be 'the land of the free and the home of the brave,' after all. We can't be free or brave if we trade away our freedoms for security and allow the government to violate the constitution. Snowden released the information, and now it's up to all of us to stop the government's activities.
Why That Question? (Score:5, Insightful)
The question that remains, of course, is did the Russians use this as leverage over him to get to more information or influence him?
Why is that a question? Has there been any indication that anything like that has happened? No? Well then why does that question come up for you? I believe it is because you know that if you said what you are implying outright, the unanimous response would be, "Citation Needed!"
Don't propagate bullshit suggestive questions [wikipedia.org] that try to make a point you don't have the balls (or the evidence) to present in a forthright manner. Leave that kind of rhetorical crap to the downward spiral that is major media news. Here, you will be held to a higher standard.
Re:Russia will never kick him out (Score:2, Insightful)
Anyone who seriously uses the word 'spycraft' has read too many Tom Clancy novels. HAND.
Re:First post (Score:5, Insightful)
The traitors are those in power who have operated using unlawful actions. Nothing is more dangerous than a government operating outside of law. Get your priorities straight.
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Snowden didn't need to leak that much information to make his point.
Yes, he did. We deserve to know exactly what how our government is violating the highest law of the land, and that includes details of the program. Both so we can better defend ourselves against this (if only be being aware of it) and so we can see what needs to be done to prevent it from happening again. Knowing all the details lets us make better informed decisions.
You are a coward.
And it seems as well Snowden is prefering safety over freedom.
Alright, what freedoms is Snowden saying that we should sacrifice to the government in exchange for safety? You're a moron.
Re:Not leverage, but payback (Score:4, Insightful)
damned traitor.
Would you really like to live in an alternate reality where all the Snowden's revelations would never have happened?
Re:First post (Score:5, Insightful)
The government also tends to _pass laws_, I don't know if you noticed. The "law" is supposed to be rooted in morals and ethics, and it is entirely possible to act in a lawful and yet unethical manner. In this case the government has been lying to us for years, but revealing that the government is behaving unethically yielded a witch hunt for the lone unlawful rebel instead of a scandal about how the government has been acting all along.
This is like a king yelling "Traitor! To death!" when evidence is published that the king behaved wrongly for years.
Re:First post (Score:5, Insightful)
Snowden broke the law, and must be held accountable for his actions.
Just like Schindler should have been held accountable for illegally saving the lives of all those Jewish factory workers?
The Nazis should have thoroughly put an end to the idea that the law is right and people should always be law abiding. Seriously, I know Goodwin's law is about this cliche, but the thing is the Nazis provided all the best counter arguments to your line of reasoning, because they showed empirically what happens when you follow your reasoning to the letter.
For some reason however when people like you year "Nazi", instead of thinking "oh hey actually my reasoning has some really unfortunate potential consequences", they instead thing "omg you compared me to the nazis get a real argument I'm not listening".
What Snowdon did was absoloutely morally the correct thing to do. He did it for his country and the greater good of its citizens. The only account he should be held to is the one where he gets the medal of congress for putting his life on the line for blowing open large scale illegal activities in the government.
How hard is that to understand?
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Your absolute freedom?
Our constitutional and fundamental freedoms. You know, the things that the government is violating.
Then you go on to list a bunch of irrelevancies that have nothing to do with Snowden, other than the fact that he's... currently in Russia, I guess?
You Snowden lovers are finding it tougher and tougher to defend his crimes.
It's as easy as ever, because law does not equate to morality, even assuming he did break laws. The sooner you fools learn that, the better.
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:2, Insightful)
Beside the name calling thing, it is not true he needs to leak that much information to make his point. He is going far beyond his point with the GB of information he has leaked than just proving the NSA has violated the Constitution.
For the freedom, it seems obvious to me Snowden has given up on his freedom since he is locked in Russia for an undetermined time in exchange of his security. Talking coward here...
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Beside the name calling thing, it is not true he needs to leak that much information to make his point.
Yes, it is, and I explained why. Without knowing the full extent of the program, it becomes more difficult to defend oneself until it stops, and it also becomes more difficult to stop it from happening again by having the right protections in the right places. Besides that, The People need to know how, exactly, the government is violating the constitution.
For the freedom, it seems obvious to me Snowden has given up on his freedom since he is locked in Russia for an undetermined time in exchange of his security.
You are confusing surrendering everyone's freedoms to the government with going to Russia because your own government will likely strip you of your freedoms if you do not. There is a difference between someone choosing to go to Russia and the government violating people's freedoms. Try to keep up.
Talking coward here...
You or I have done nothing even close to what Snowden has, and likely never will. He's not the coward here.
Re:First post (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Huge nit to pick (Score:5, Insightful)
That's a false dichotomy that needs to die.
No, it's an important point. By saying you prefer freedom over safety in general (which isn't a false dichotomy, by the way), you make it clear that the issue isn't about safety, but about freedom. That is, even if their programs were *proven* to keep us safe, you would still oppose them out of principle, as people who want to live in a free country should do.
While it's sometimes important to point out when the programs don't actually do what they say they do (whether it be the NSA's surveillance, DUI checkpoints, the TSA, etc.), I feel that it's much more important to let it be known that these things aren't okay under any circumstances.
Re: Meanwhile ... (Score:5, Insightful)
The Patriot Act was Al Qaeda's greatest achievement.
Over two hundred years of American History, many many thousands of people dead in civil war, world wars, cold war under the threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction and we let the greatest threat to the US Constitution and the future of Liberty in the United States end up being twenty guys with razor blades and the morally vacant people that use their terrible acts of murder as an excuse (and an opportunity).
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:4, Insightful)
The idea of punishment is that being punished is more expensive to you than keeping the law. Else, why bother being a law abiding citizen? If all I have to fear when I get caught shoplifting is to pay the price for the item I stole, why bother paying unless you got caught?
Consider the surplus of information revealed the punishment the US got.
Course of action (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Meanwhile ... (Score:3, Insightful)