Hacker News Reader

Comment by bostonsre | Hacker News Reader

I wonder what Snowden thinks of having to live in Russia now with the war in Ukraine. It must be a little awkward.

I imagine it's awful considering that it wasn't his choice to stay there. He got stranded there in transit because his passport was revoked.

He appears to have went off the grid over the last 2 months. I imagine it's a very tumultuous time for him. Russia knows the US really wants to extradite him, and there will inevitably be rounds of negotiations as time moves forward. He may be a potential negotiating piece if the Russians are looking for concessions from Ukraine/NATO. (this is all speculation, but he has went dark)

he went off the grid because he had to choose between his safety or his public image/career. he wisely chose the former.

last tweet feb 27th

https://mobile.twitter.com/Snowden/status/149804957713120870...

> he went off the grid because he had to choose between his safety or his public image/career.

It is kind of weird that you suggest that (not, on its own, an implausible guess) and link to the tweet where he rather angrily denies exactly that characterization as support.

you know, he could dispel that rumor by ...tweeting again .

> He appears to have went off the grid over the last 2 months.

He really blew his credibility pushing the “Russia isn’t going to attack” propaganda line (ostensibly, as his own independent analysis of the situation), and his last tweet (3 days after the attack, his prior being 3 days before) was:

“I’m not suspended from the ceiling above a barrel of acid by a rope that burns a little faster every time I tweet, you concern-trolling ghouls. I’ve just lost any confidence I had that sharing my thinking on this particular topic continues to be useful, because I called it wrong.”

Snowden's access to reliable information dried up long ago. Anybody relying on his opinions on affairs outside the US played themselves.

Why? He used to work for the American government for god's sake

I'm biased but I think Russia's invasion and the way they are slaughtering civilians is a lot worse than the missteps that caused Snowden to disclose American secrets. Russia is also spiraling into an incredibly authoritarian police state that is much worse than what he was trying to prevent in America.

I'm not talking about the NSA spying on American citizens. I'm talking about America slaughtering civilians in half of the middle east.

Didn't he basically say "OK I was wrong, I'm gonna shut up" over the war?

That was because he had said he doubted Russia would invade Ukraine. I doubt he feels differently about seeking asylum, considering the alternative.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com