Hacker News Reader

Comment by mirimir | Hacker News Reader

Maybe he watched it ;)

He did plan, and took considerable risks to get the access that he needed. That is what's so bloody impressive.

Every interview with Snowden, as a pseudo-clinical paranoia-level security nerd, I tried to critique his security decisions, but I was surprised to see that he really did think through every decision he made. That is what impressed me.

A generally impressive human, in many ways.

If Snowden had been less clever or resourceful he'd be stuck in solitary confinement right now instead of giving interviews. Playing chicken with the mightiest organizations on the planet and getting away with it is extremely impressive and in many ways it shows the dangers to powerful organizations like these: individuals, acting on impulse or because of convictions.

And that's precisely why all that data collection is so scary, such individuals will be shunted onto dead-end tracks long before they even realize they are such individuals in the future.

Indeed, we have seen well-meaning but overly impulsive whistle-blowers like Bradley Manning get utterly ruined by their "mistakes".

Chelsea Manning.

No offense intended. I (poorly) chose the more common name with regard to the incident I referred to. I was speaking more of the situation rather than the person.

Yes. And he didn't do it for money!

Read his posts as "TheTrueHOOHA" on Ars :)

Edit: spelling

Link?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/nsa-leaker-ed-sno...

TheTrueHOOHA

Ars Scholae Palatinae

The one question I never had an answer to, and maybe he answered it somewhere. But neither China nor Russia seemed like good destinations. It feels like maybe he could've chosen one of the extradition free countries he eventually wanted asylum in as his first destination... since nobody knew what he had done before he left the country.

Did he ever give an answer to that?

I think he has said that he believed Hong Kong was the best destination to avoid raising flags before he left the US that would've prevented his travel (and possibly to lead to his arrest and the seizure of the documents before they were released) and to avoid being extradited once he made the reveal.

>But neither China nor Russia seemed like good destinations.

They're actually the only countries that he could have escaped safely to and only countries where he could lead a relatively safe life due to their security apparatus. There isn't a single other country in the world that could have resisted the full pressure of US government. Not a single one! Yes, I know that Ecuador offered him asylum but they cooled down on it [0] and backtracked when US State Department started bearing down on them. Venezuela is also not a great option due to their instability (US friendly gov is only one coup away) and due to the fact that it's crawling with mercenaries.

>It feels like maybe he could've chosen one of the extradition free countries he eventually wanted asylum in as his first destination... since nobody knew what he had done before he left the country.

Extradition-free doesn't mean that he'd be safe from pressure of the US legal/espionage/economic power, spies, assassins, mercenaries and so on. [1] Which country do you think would shelter him if it risked economic sanctions from US, NATO and EU?

>Did he ever give an answer to that?

No, but Assange said that getting him to Russia was their priority because it was the only safe option for him and they'd be able to withstand the pressure of US diplomacy and law enforcement. He owes his life to Sarah Harrison and Julian Assange. [2] Without them he'd probably be dead or in prison or in some black site being tortured. He is also incredibly lucky that US started sanctioning Russia before he decided to seek asylum there so a threat of sanctions didn't phase Putin in the slightest.

[0] http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/28/edward-snowden-...

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/29/julian-assange-...

[2] https://www.rt.com/news/313829-assange-advise-snowden-russia...

You forget Cuba, which he sort-of alluded to at various points. "Old Cuba" would have taken him in a heartbeat, but looking at how the country is shaping up atm, I think in the end Russia was a much better choice for everyone (Cuba needs US trade right now).

You're right, of course.

My opinion is that Cuba didn't want him either because Raul Castro wanted to normalize relations with the US and not antagonize Obama's administration. I think Obama is due to visit Cuba soon as well. All that would not have been possible with Snowden there.

Snowden would also have a really hard time getting to Cuba from Hong Kong. Maybe on a ship through Panama? But ships can be easily intercepted and boarded by the US Navy in international waters.

And living in Cuba, which is economically depressed, would have been really hard for him. He wouldn't even have a stable internet connection to pilot his presence robot or give talks.

Another possible option was North Korea, and while he would have been safe there from the long arm of the US law, his life would have been horrible and he probably would have ended up brainwashed and would have become some kind of a propaganda puppet for Kim.

All in all, he picked the best option and a lot of it is due to sheer luck.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com