Snowden made himself a pariah. Two wrongs don't make a right, fleeing to Russia was a bad choice. Your suggestion that we are falling for some grand scheme or propaganda unless we subscribe to your opinion is dishonest.
Snowden said he was trying to get to Ecuador, but the Ecuadorian government would have handed him over to the US for the right price, just like they did with Assange. EU countries are too cozy with the US, and would never have given him asylum. In fact, when the US thought Snowden might be on the President of Bolivia's plane, it got a bunch of EU countries to deny overflight, forcing the Bolivian President to land and submit to a search of his plane. Snowden's only realistic option was to seek shelter in a large, powerful country with a poor relationship with the US.
It's amazing how the "American whistleblower randomly ended up in Russia during transit" revisionism is being pushed.
> Why do you take the words of Snowden as gospel?
I am not sure who could possibly be more of an authority on the intentions of Snowden than Snowden himself.
I mean if he:
* says he was on his way to Latin America
* was in an airport transit zone for a short length of time before;
* having his passport revoked (which he couldn't control), and;
* after applying for asylum in latin american countries, and also notably;
* had not applied for asylum in Russia (or China).
Yeah, I kinda take his word for it that he knew where he wanted to go.
Here is my original comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37095083
Maybe they were tired of him smearing shit on the walls of their embassy.
Unlike the US, Russia requires one to carry an ID.