This may be a classic case of narcissism now. The whistleblower who has unravelled the secret policies of the NSA has got a job in Russia, where he has temporary asylum, and is offering to provide witness to the Germany government. You can kick NSA ass for what it does in America, but really, opening up the door for Russians and Europeans? Is this a legitimate act of a guy who cares about his own country or someone who’s gone cat lady crazy with paranoia?
Hans-Christian Stroebele, a member of the Bundestag, the German parliament, has unveiled the letter below from Snowden to representatives of the Federal Republic of Germany. Snowden says that he is encouraged by the reactions worldwide to his outing of the NSA, but nevertheless, he has been unjustly hounded out of his country.
It seems ironic, a little, that Snowden is so adamant that the US government is curtailing his rights to freedom of expression when Russia, his present home, ain’t no bucolic wonderland of happy, happy freedom loving, free people saying freedom-y things all their free time. And that whole thing about his situation being a humanitarian situation is just darn narcissistic.
So, he is offering to spread the truth about his allegations, in a responsible manner. Stroebele has been clear in saying that he believes Snowden is not hostile towards the US. Something about not wanting to harm his country, and thus, he would not testify before a committee of the Bundestag, preferring to go in front of Congress.
However, were he to have assurances about his status, he would consider going to Germany to testify meaning, if I can get out of Moscow, which is not as cool as I thought it would be, and get safe passage in Germany, sure, I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.
Obviously, Edward Snowden is a firm believer that both Russia and Germany see it in their best interests to make America happy, happy freedom land because, they have no agenda of their own.
The big problem remains that Snowden has no real status since the US withdrew his passport. Russia doesn’t give a crap about the US government so, it can keep him. Germany would love to have him, now, and to get him to testify agains the US, but they need an official residence for Snowden, and he has none. So, that’s a non-starter from day 1.
Needless to say, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, John Emerson, wouldn’t be too please to see Germany taking Snowden in, and has said, “I will not talk about what might happen if such a person is invited to Germany.” That’s about as ticked off as anyone can be in the diplomatic world. The German’s seem to be getting the message, clear as a bell.
But Stroebele is hooked on Snowden because, Snowden has told him his got a lot to say. He had tried to reach Snowden in July of this year, but had failed to secure the visa or the meeting. It seems a lot of the German press wants to do likewise, but they are not getting as much access as they would like. A more cynical person than me would think the guy is leveraging a better residency with his revelations.
You can dig the guy being a whistleblower but everything that he does just adds up to a lot of inconsistencies with regards to motive. You want to be a hero to the US, dude, face the music. If the US government has acted criminally, you have to believe in this country’s justice system. Heck, it’s better than Russia’s legal system.
And, this whole thing about spying on allies and enemies alike: it’s called spying for a reason. Is there anyone who doesn’t think that given half the chance, Germany would want to spy on the US, if it is not doing so already?
This guy isn’t my kind of hero. He’s agenda is all over the place. It is not consistent with the acts of a patriot or a concerned citizen. Heck, I’d love to stick it to the man, but I am not so naive as to think that my government owes it to me to be squeaky clean outside of this country or with the Russians and the Germans.
