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| The President and the 'Hacker' |
| 2013-06-29 |
| Keith Alexander, the general in charge of the National Security Agency, told ABC News on Sunday that intelligence revelations by fugitive contractor Edward Snowden had "caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and to our allies." But no worries, President Obama seems to think it's no big deal. "I have not called [Chinese] President Xi personally or [Russian] President Putin personally" about the case, Mr. Obama said on Thursday in Senegal. And why not? "Number one, I shouldn't have to," Mr. Obama said. "Number two, we've got a whole lot of business that we do with China and Russia, and I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues." Oh, and he doesn't want to "be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker." That's a revealing answer, and not in a good way. Mr. Obama has invested precious diplomatic capital trying to "reset" relations with Russia and personalize relations with China's leaders, including this month with Mr. Xi in Palm Springs. Hanging with dictators can't be Mr. Obama's idea of a good time, but if there's a point to the exercise it's precisely so he can pick up the phone and intercede with Vlad and Jinping over this kind of issue. It's worth wondering whether Mr. Obama didn't make the calls because he feared a personal rebuke, or he wants to downplay the national-security and diplomatic humiliation, or he thinks the Snowden affair is beneath his dignity and best handled by consular officials filling out paperwork—or because he really thinks Gen. Alexander is exaggerating the damage Mr. Snowden has done. If it's the latter, Mr. Obama could do the public a service by confirming that Mr. Snowden hasn't put the crown jewels of U.S. intelligence in foreign hands. Especially because that's not the view emerging from other government sources. The Washington Post reports that U.S. analysts fear Mr. Snowden stole much more than he's disclosed. "They think he copied so much stuff—that almost everything that place does, he has," a former government official said. Several reports quote intelligence sources as saying that al Qaeda and terrorist groups have gained insight into how to avoid NSA detection. The Russian and Chinese intelligence services almost certainly copied whatever Mr. Snowden hauled with him to Hong Kong and Moscow. Nearby on these pages, journalist Edward Jay Epstein connects a few dots and suggests that Mr. Snowden took his consultant job with plans to steal and that he may have had help. In short, there is much more to this debacle than we know so far. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #12 Snark all you like, but the fact remains: Snowden's admirers were played for fools. From the vfery start, this was obviously a case of espionage. People who cheered on this disgusting little sh!t as a way of scoring points against the president deserve our scorn. Snowden (and if there's any justice, Greenwald) will end up in prison in due course. Whether his foolish admirers will ever admit they were duped is another matter. |
| Posted by: Lex 2013-06-29 23:48 |
| #11 Exactly correct OldSpook, and no one did a damn thing about it. Just like no one did a damn thing about the outing ST-6 by Leon Panetta. As a worthless little fok, Eddie Snowden stands in very good company. :-( |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-29 16:31 |
| #10 Besoeker, you realize when and why Bin Laden was tech phobic? He used a sat phone from 1996 until 1998. But he stopped in 1998 after a little dick senatorial aid tried to make himself look like he ha a bigger one, by bragging to a reporter that we could geolocate and track him and who he was talking to by use of that sat phone. Then the reporter did what any moron would do, he published it with no regard or consideration of the consequences. With that, our ability to get SIGINT, Geolocation and ELINT on OBL ceased. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2013-06-29 15:26 |
| #9 It's worth wondering whether Mr. Obama didn't make the calls because he feared a personal rebuke, or he wants to downplay the national-security and diplomatic humiliation I'll take " He doesn't have the balls for $500, Alex." |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2013-06-29 09:55 |
| #8 Try Lennon and McCartney I am the walrus dude. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2013-06-29 09:41 |
| #7 ...and ego stroking from his sycophants. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2013-06-29 08:33 |
| #6 "Can anyone tell me what is important to Mr. Obama?" Tee-time. |
| Posted by: Barbara 2013-06-29 08:28 |
| #5 President Obama 2013 on national security : "Number one, I shouldn't have to," Mr. Obama said. "Number two, we've got a whole lot of business that we do with China and Russia, and I'm not going to have one case of a suspect who we're trying to extradite suddenly being elevated to the point where I've got to start doing wheeling and dealing and trading on a whole host of other issues." Punt Candidate Obama 2008 on Abortion “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.” Punt Can anyone tell me what is important to Mr. Obama ? |
| Posted by: Au Auric 2013-06-29 08:23 |
| #4 Billy Joel? Try Lennon and McCartney... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2013-06-29 05:22 |
| #3 Champ doesn't want Eddie back in the States. Time and distance are key elements of successful deflection. Oh, flew in from Miami Beach B.O.A.C. Didn't get to bed last night On the way the paper bag was on my knee Man I had a dreadful flight I'm back in the U.S.S.R You don't know how lucky you are boys Back in the U.S.S.R - BILLY JOEL |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-29 04:27 |
| #2 "I have not called [Chinese] President Xi personally or [Russian] President Putin personally" Because they no longer take his calls? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2013-06-29 04:14 |
| #1 Several reports quote intelligence sources as saying that al Qaeda and terrorist groups have gained insight into how to avoid NSA detection. Sorry, flag down: Bin Laden was famously insistent that no phones or computers be used near him, so the eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency kept coming up cold. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-06-29 04:09 |