By Chris Benevento, News Staff
Eight days after he arrived at Moscow Airport, National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden broke silence on Monday with a series of statements directed at the Obama administration.
In these statements, Snowden condemned the administration’s cancellation of his passport as a breach of international law. He said that the United States was denying him a basic right.
“The Obama administration has now adopted the strategy of using citizenship as a weapon,” said Snowden in a statement issued through WikiLeaks. “Although I am convicted of nothing, it has unilaterally revoked my passport, leaving me a stateless person. 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.”
While I can appreciate what Snowden is trying to do and agree that the government needs to be held accountable for its actions, I can’t condemn the administration’s pursuit of Snowden.
Snowden is living in denial. Revealing himself to be the NSA whistleblower came at a price – a price he seems unwilling to pay. It seems as though he wishes to be the hero of this movement, yet wants to suffer no consequences for the cause.
For people to truly rally around the justification of the leak, somebody needs to take the fall. There needs to be some kind of martyr.
One has not stepped forward. Snowden leaked the information and promptly left the county looking for anyone who would take him in as a political refugee. He knew what he was doing.
If he didn’t want to be apprehended, why did Snowden reveal himself in the first place? Surely he could have let the story been published and chosen not to reveal his name. It would have made his life much easier and would’ve put all of the pressure on the journalists who published the information.
In my mind there are really only three possible reasons why Snowden would’ve wanted his name to be released. First, if he didn’t want the journalists to take all of the heat and sought to own the leak. Second, if he left enough of a trail that would ensure his culpability. Third, pride.
However, none of these reasons makes it any less right for the government to seek him out. Whether the cause is good or bad, Snowden has questions to answer and motives to explain.
When push comes to shove, Snowden betrayed the trust of the people that employed him – the United States government. Regardless of cost, for his actions to truly stick, he needs to face the music. If his accusations against the government are legitimate, then he will have the support of not the just the American public but the international community as well, if convicted.
While it sounds harsh, sacrifice is essential to any political movement of great magnitude. This was clear when Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned in 2008 in China for his call for political reform and the end of a single-party communist regime.
Xiaobo remains in prison but the international community has rallied around him and condemned the Chinese government for his imprisonment — the U.S. Department of State going as far as to demand his release. In 2010 Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
If Snowden wishes to garner this level of support, he needs to show that what he has revealed to the American people is more valuable than his own freedom. He has to be willing to put everything on the line to instigate change. Otherwise, this whole ordeal will just become fodder for political activists who lack any true conviction.
Addressing his “crime” in his home country will also help to ease the “traitor” accusations. Regardless of our present-day relations, landing in Russia with a laptop full of government secrets was not Snowden’s wisest decision if he was trying to avoid accusations of treason.
Snowden himself has admitted that he is only putting off the inevitable and that he cannot possibly run forever. That being said, it is time that he finishes what he started and make himself the “hero” he is trying to be.
