U.S. warns countries against Snowden travel

Sometimes we should talk softly and ….

We should be treating Snowden like the irritating little narcissistic pr***k he is.  We should not be contributing to the narrative that he is some kind of martyr and cult hero (or worse, a patriot).  It pains me to listen to the press tracking this world wide man hunt with the taunts of "catch me if you can."

We should quietly hunt him down.  And I would think if we were quieter about it, we might actually get some cooperation from other countries. 

V/R
Dave

U.S. warns countries against Snowden travel

Sun, Jun 23 2013

By James Pomfret and Lidia Kelly

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/23/us-usa-security-flight-idUSBRE95M02H20130623

HONG KONG/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was seeking asylum in Ecuador on Sunday after Hong Kong allowed his departure for Russia in a slap to Washington's efforts to extradite him on espionage charges.

In a major embarrassment for President Barack Obama, an aircraft thought to have carried Snowden landed in Moscow on Sunday, and the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said he was "bound for the Republic of Ecuador via a safe route for the purposes of asylum."

Earlier, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, visiting Vietnam, tweeted: "The Government of Ecuador has received an asylum request from Edward J. #Snowden."

It was a blow to Obama's foreign policy goals of resetting ties with Russia and building a partnership with China. The leaders of both countries were willing to snub the American president in a month when each had held talks with Obama.

The United States continued efforts to prevent Snowden from gaining asylum. It warned Western Hemisphere nations that Snowden "should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States," a State Department official said.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer charged that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely knew and approved of Snowden's flight to Russia and predicted "serious consequences" for a U.S.-Russian relationship already strained over Syria and human rights.

"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States - whether it is Syria, Iran and now of course with Snowden," Schumer, a New York Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union" program. He also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Snowden leave the Chinese territory despite the U.S. extradition request.

ECUADOR ROLE

Ecuador, which has been sheltering WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange at its London embassy for the past year, once again took center stage in an international diplomatic saga over U.S. data secrecy.

Ecuador's ambassador to Russia, Patricio Alberto Chavez Zavala, told reporters at a Moscow airport hotel he would hold talks with Snowden and Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks representative.

Hours later, shortly after midnight (2000 GMT Sunday), the ambassador emerged from a business-class lounge near the hotel and refused to say whether he had met Snowden or make any other comment. Shortly before he appeared, a cart with three plates of salmon and a Starbucks bag were rolled into the lounge.

Snowden, who had worked at a U.S. National Security Agency facility in Hawaii, had been hiding in Hong Kong, the former British colony that returned to China in 1997, since leaking details about secret U.S. surveillance programs to news media.

U.S. authorities had said on Saturday they were optimistic Hong Kong would cooperate over Snowden.

U.S. authorities have charged Snowden with theft of federal government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, with the latter two charges falling under the U.S. Espionage Act.

A source at Russian airline Aeroflot said on Sunday that Snowden was booked on a flight scheduled to depart for Havana on Monday at 2:05 p.m. (1005 GMT) from the same Moscow airport where the flight from Hong Kong arrived, Sheremetyevo.

The chief of Cuba's International Press Center, Gustavo Machin, said he had no such information though pro-government bloggers heaped praise on Snowden and condemned U.S. spying activity.

Venezuela, Cuba and Ecuador are all members of the ALBA bloc, an alliance of leftist governments in Latin America that pride themselves on their "anti-imperialist" credentials.

HONG KONG VIEW

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/23/us-usa-security-flight-idUSBRE95M02H20130623

Game Set Match: 'US loses as Snowden slips from their hands

The 5 minute You Tube video from Russian TV at the link below and the title of it in the subject line makes me think that  we really need to consider taking a different path than we are currently following.  This is not a game nor the US is not going to lose.  If I were able to make a recommendation for strategic communications and a strategy for dealing with Edward Snowden it would be along these lines.

First I think we should recognize that beyond Snowden being a narcissist (and I do not mean that as an ad hominem but an objective assessment of his actions that leads to a judgment of his character) he and the people with whom he is working (e.g., Wikileaks and perhaps Foreign Intelligence Services) are trying to do the maximum damage to the United States and our intelligence Community (IC).  He is trying not only to expose the methods of the IC but also to discredit and embarrass it by attempting to show that he can be one step ahead of the US government both in terms of his movements as well as in terms of strategic communications.  Based on that understanding I would consider the following both as a strategic communications message as well as a transparent explanation of the US government strategy for the way ahead in this ongoing situation. 

Statement/strategy:  The US has again suffered a compromise of classified information that damages national security.  There is a long history of incidents such as this and while damage does occur in every case the United States suffers no long term damage and counterintuitively is often strengthened by such incidents because they reinforce the strength of our democratic institutions.  

Edward Snowden has broken United States law and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.   

However, the US government has assessed the information that Snowden has leaked.  It has also assessed the information that he illegally obtained and is known to be in his possession with an intent to release it publicly at some time in the future.  Again, while the release of any classified information is illegal and will be damaging on a number of levels, the US government has mitigated the damage that has and will occur and there is no need to further discuss this information.  In fact from the US government perspective any future release of information will be a non-news event.  There will be no need for US government personnel to respond to the release.  It is understood that the release of this information is merely an attempt to call attention to Edward Snowden and the US government will have nothing to comment on regarding him or has actions until after he is apprehended and given a fair trial.  

On the other hand the US government welcomes public debate on the best way to support and defend the Constitution of the United States all enemies foreign and domestic.  United States government personnel to include those professionals in the Intelligence Community remain committed to its defense.  The information that Edward Snowden released concerned the legal actions of the Intelligence Community as authorized by the elected representatives of the American people.  The officials of the US government’s three branches look forward to the robust policy debates that this event may inspire and if the electorate demands changes, changes will be made.  But rest assured that the Patriots who serve in government are committed to the defense of our nation.  That is the nature of democracy in our great Republic.   

However, Edward Snowden, by his illegal actions and by fleeing his country has marginalized himself and forfeited his place in the debate and the US government will no longer respond to his accusations, actions, or the public release of information in his possession and will simply get on with the business of protecting our nation and its people from national security threats. 

The bottom line is that we have to not play the game that Snowden and Wikileaks are playing. We have to attack his strategy and his strategy rests upon him being a public figure who is made into a hero and a martyr.  He is not a patriot or a whistleblower and US actions and statements should not support the development of that narrative.  We need to undercut his legitimacy and the best way to do that is to discuss the facts and not discuss him or his actions.  We need to quietly pursue him and allow law enforcement, intelligence,  and diplomatic personnel to do their jobs while not making Snowden a news event.  The members of the press that continue to do so may in fact marginalize themselves and expose themselves to accusations of sensationalizing the news.  The journalists who focus on the issues and the healthy debate surrounding the pros and cons of US policy will have their credibility enhanced.

V/R

Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORAW7ZYaXwk

Game Set Match: 'US loses as Snowden slips from their hands'

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Published on Jun 23, 2013

The outsourcing of U.S. intelligence raises risks among the benefits

If I were conducting unconventional warfare to try to subvert the legitimacy of the US government I would be grateful for this event.  What a great way to attack a key US institution.  Of course no one could have foreseen this event but that does not mean that it won't be exploited by our enemies.

I can imagine the ripple effects through the intelligence community as this undermines the legitimacy of the community (and dependence on contractors per the article below  and I can see a real slow down as new processes and procedures are implemented to try to prevent anyone else from acting like Snowden.  We could see the intelligence equivalent of TSA airport procedures put in place that will do nothing except create long lines of intelligence analysts trying to get their intelligence processed with no real improvement in security except for an appearance of such.  

If I were a bad guy I would be looking for a way to exploit the blind spots we are going to create for ourselves over the next year or two as we work hard to protect ourselves from ourselves (e.g., future leakers).  This could be one of the finest examples of subversion not directly caused by our enemies.  We have met the enemy and he is us.

Then of course there are the larger political questions that could rip apart our political processes as we debate securing our nation against terrorism versus the perception of violation of fundamental values such as privacy, free speech and free press.  I can see the debate emerging about the efficacy of our Bill of Rights in the modern technological society and what should take precedence; securing our nation from the terrorist threat (is it an existential one that requires suspension of Constitutional protections?) versus supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic?  Perhaps this would be a good time to remind ourselves of the oath that members of the US government take.

V/R

Dave

The outsourcing of U.S. intelligence raises risks among the benefits

By Robert O’Harrow Jr., Published: June 9

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-outsourcing-of-us-intelligence-raises-risks-among-the-benefits/2013/06/09/eba2d314-d14c-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_print.html

The unprecedented leak of National Security Agency secrets by an intelligence contractor, including bombshells about top-secret programs to collect telephone records, e-mail and other personal data, was probably an inevitable consequence of the massive growth of the U.S. security-industrial complex.

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old man who identified himself as the source behind stories in The Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers, has worked at Booz Allen Hamilton and other intelligence contractors. Before entering the private sector, he says he held a series of technical jobs at the Central Intelligence Agency.

In a statement Sunday, Booz Allen said, “Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.”

Snowden was among tens of thousands of private intelligence contractors hired in the unprecedented push to “connect the dots” after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. They work side by side with civil servants as analysts, technical support specialists and mission managers. An unknown number have access to secret and top-secret material.

Several years ago, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence estimated that almost one in four intelligence workers were employed by contractors.

The growing reliance on contractors reflects a massive shift toward outsourcing over the past 15 years, in part because of cutbacks in the government agencies. It has dramatically increased the risk of waste and contracting abuses, government auditors have found, in part because the government has repeatedly acknowledged that it does not have a sufficient workforce to oversee the contractors.

But given the threat of terrorism and the national security mandates from Congress, the intelligence community had little choice. In a briefing presentation several years ago, the ODNI estimated that 70 percent of the intelligence community’s secret budget goes to contractors such as Booz Allen Hamilton.

“We Can’t Spy . . . If We Can’t Buy!” the briefing said.

The former director of naval intelligence, retired Rear Adm. Thomas A. Brooks, said in a report in 2007 that private contractors had become a crucial part of the nation’s intelligence infrastructure.

“The extensive use of contractor personnel to augment military intelligence operations is now an established fact of life. . . . It is apparent that contractors are a permanent part of the intelligence landscape,” he said.

Since Sept. 11, more than 30 secure complexes have been constructed to accommodate top-secret intelligence work in the Washington area. They occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons, about 17 million square feet.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/the-outsourcing-of-us-intelligence-raises-risks-among-the-benefits/2013/06/09/eba2d314-d14c-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_print.html