Themuch anticipated interviewbetween Brian Williams and Edward Snowden broadcast on Wednesday night . It ’s interesting . It ’s also revealing in a nuanced agency , bringing flashbacks to 9/11 and vignettes of this past class ’s worth of NSA divine revelation . Most of all , though , it ’s a rare peek into the whistleblower ’s mind .
At the top of the minute , Snowden answered an of import question about the scathe that his leaks may or may not have caused . Snowden told Williams that he did n’t know of a undivided instance in which his disclosures ache an American . “ If there is , I ’d personally wish to make love about it , ” he said . And he ’s got a point .
It rest to be ascertain what the long - lasting repercussions of Snowden ’s escape actually are . What we do know is that this 30 - year - honest-to-goodness former government contractile organ leaked some important document , and they enchant the world ’s tending . Snowden chuckled when Williams asked him if he still had access to these documents . “ If I ’m jaunt through Russia , ” he said , “ I depend like Tweetie Bird to Sylvester the khat with all these document . ” He added , “ That ’s a very life-threatening thing to me . ” In other words , he does n’t want anything to do with keeping these written document shut any more .
So Snowden fetch it . He did not play softball . He get a huge stash of highly tender documents that could compromise national security if made public . But he also say that he tried to tell the regime about the louche surveillance programme before the leak even pass off . “ I really did go through duct , and that ’s document , ” order Snowden . Brian Williams reassert that Snowden did place at least one email to his superiors , notifying them of his concerns . Snowden ’s narrative of that summons is worth quoting in full :
I raised these complaint , not just officially in writing through email … but to my supervisors , to my colleagues , and many of these individual were offend by these programs . And the ones that had [ heard of them ] cash in one’s chips , ‘ You know these things are really occupy , but if you say something about this , they ’re run to ruin you . ’
This is not a surprise . Snowden is not welcome at menage , and if he did come home , there ’s a good probability that the government activity would shed the account book at him . Nevertheless , Snowden still wants to return to the United States . “ If I could go any stead in the world , ” he told Williams , “ that plaza would be home . ”
And so , this beg the question : How did Snowden ’s leak impress the United States ? Did he really compromise national security ? Did he make home less dependable ?
Snowden says : No . The information published in the press ground on his leaks has all been specifically take so as not to compromise national security “ There ’s nothing that would be published that would harm the public interest group , ” he said . “ These are programs that need to be understood , that necessitate to be know … but they ’re of vital public grandness . ”
The former politics contractile organ also conceded , “ Anyone can secondly guess my sagacity , ” he said , unwavering . “ Again , I ’m a human being . Anyone can second infer my judgment . ”
And the American mass certainly are . So here ’s this whistleblower , all alone in Russia , declaring very publicly that he ’s done the governing a avail . In fact , Snowden told Williams in plain English , “ I ’m still working for the U.S. political science . ” He also does n’t of necessity agree with the extent to which the NSA has been vomit in a regretful brightness . “ the great unwashed have below the belt demonize the nsa , to an unneeded extremum , ” he said .
At the goal of the day , though , Edward Snowden is human being . ( Or at least , Edward Snowden want you to know that he ’s a human being . ) He necessitate his downtime , too . Snowden , stuck in Russia , says he enjoys watching television . “ Right now I ’m watching a show , The Wire , about surveillance , ” he said . “ Second season ’s not so keen . ”
Watch the rest of the interview at NBC News .
Edward SnowdenSecurity
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