This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 8, 2013: Edward Snowden, the National Security Administration computer contractor who leaked details regarding secret U.S. and British government mass surveillance programs to the press, has become a polarizing figure. This June, the U.S. government charged Snowden with such crimes as theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communication with an unauthorized party. Snowden left the country to avoid prosecution and has been given temporary asylum in Russia.
What I find so fascinating about the case is the reaction to what Snowden did. President Obama condemned the NSA leaks, claiming that Snowden is no “patriot.” Agreeing with the president are Secretary of State John Kerry, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Strange bedfellows! They have all called Edward Snowden a traitor.
John McCain. R-Ariz., explained another point of view when he said that Snowden was a “hero to young Americans” as he reminded them of Jason Bourne the fictional CIA agent. Coincidently, the reel life Jason Bourne, Matt Damon, also came out in support of the former NSA contractor. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has backed Snowden’s acts calling him a “civil disobedient” like Martin Luther King Jr. Others who have shown support for the informer, calling him a courageous whistleblower, include Michael Moore and Glenn Beck. Even stranger bedfellows!
A Quinnipiac University poll conducted in July found that 55 percent of Americans believe that Snowden is a whistleblower; only 34 percent viewed him as a traitor.
So as we begin October, which is National Cyber Security Month, we should examine whether he is a heroic whistleblower or a traitor to his country.
By definition a traitor is a person who commits treason by helping a foreign country overthrow, make war against, or seriously harm his own country. When Americans think of the word traitor, one man comes to mind … Benedict Arnold.
Arnold is best known for attempting to surrender West Point to the British during the American Revolution. When that plot was foiled, he joined the British army and fought against his fellow Americans. Arnold turned “traitor” because he believed he was passed over for promotion and for money (it’s always about the money).
Probably the second biggest alleged double-dealer in our history was Aaron Burr. In the early 1800s he tried to raise an army and create an independent country in the center of North America. He was arrested for treason in 1807 but acquitted due to lack of evidence. While vice president, he was charged with murder for killing Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in an illegal duel. He was never tried
Other notable quislings in American history have included:
- Julius and Ethel Rosenberg who passed information on the atomic bomb to the Soviets.
- John Anthony Walker, who as a U.S. Navy chief warrant officer, gave the Soviet Union information on U.S. Navy operations that significantly improved our enemy’s naval warfare capabilities.
- Aldrich Ames, a CIA counterintelligence officer, who became a spy for the Soviet Union and sold out his colleagues to the Russians, and
- Robert Hanssen, an FBI agent who spied for the Russians for 22 years. The Justice Department called him the most damaging turncoat in American history.
The motive in the cases of Walker, Ames and Hanssen motive was money, money, and oh yeah, money.
All the traitors noted above betrayed their country by directly aiding our enemies and for the most part they did it to increase their personal wealth or power. I have a hard time placing Snowden in with these turncoats.
A whistleblower exposes misconduct or dishonest or illegal activities in an organization. The word is derived from the whistle a referee blows to indicate a foul or penalty. America’s first whistleblowers were Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven, two U.S. Naval officers who squealed on their commander for torturing British captives during the American Revolution. They suffered severe retaliation for their actions. After that incident, the Continental Congress passed the first whistleblower protection act.
Our most famous “snitches” were Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press, and W. Mark Felt (Deep Throat) who disclosed information about the Watergate break-ins to the Washington Post.
These guys weren’t motivated by money or power like the traitors noted above. Why did they blow the whistle when others, out of fear of retaliation and concern about losing their jobs and jeopardizing their reputations, remained silent? I think they were driven by their consciences. They were motivated by a moral value - the desire to do the right thing.
In my opinion this is what prompted Edward Snowden to speak out. And interestingly enough he is not the first individual to go to the press with allegations of wrong doing at the NSA.
In 1971, Perry Fellwock, an NSA analyst informed the press about the existence of the NSA’s global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ESHELON). After he made this public, legislation was passed to stop the NSA from spying on Americans. However, the law was amended after the Sept. 11 attacks to expand warrantless surveillance of U.S citizens by our government.
More recently, William Binney, a former NSA intelligence officer, went to the press with disclosures about the NSA’s data collection policies, which he believed were unconstitutional.
I think that Fellwock, Binney and Snowden all believe that the NSA’s interception of private and commercial communications violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S Constitution. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. In 1967 in Katz v. United States the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment’s protections such as the warrant requirement extend to the privacy of individuals as well as physical locations. Justice Harlen, in summarizing the majority opinion, wrote that “electronic as well as physical intrusion into a place that is in this sense private may constitute a violation of the Fourth Amendment”.
Snowden was protecting our constitutional rights; and while our government needs to protect us, it needs to do so without invading our privacy. I don’t believe Snowden is a traitor. He is a courageous whistleblower.
John C. Wade, Wildwood, is a chief financial officer, amateur historian and self-proclaimed expert on the U.S. presidents. Wade is on a number of not-for-profit boards in St Louis including the World Affairs Council and Meds & Foods for Kids. He is a Churchill Fellow and on the board of governors of the National Churchill Museum.