Snowden touches down in Moscow ... tweeted by Wikileaks | Hacker News Reader

Snowden touches down in Moscow ... tweeted by Wikileaks

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86 pointsquackerhacker38 comments

Everyone seems to be going very public with his travel information. Either it's a way of making it harder for something "unfortunate" to happen to his (ie, for his safety) or this could be misinformation.

How likely is it that this is misinformation?

Given that he's been so incredibly honest and open so far, I doubt it's misinformation or misdirection. If he did try to mislead regarding his travel plans, no matter the reason or strategy, it could undermine his credibility in terms of other things he says. He seems intentionally very candid.

We'll see though.

Their gambit is likely if there's lots of press there, less chance for some clandestine CIA op to capture him.

This is going to be a movie someday, just hope it doesn't end with tragedy.

It already has ended with a tragedy. Our privacy rights and 4th amendment protections have been thrown out the window. The making of Snowden into a Kardashian spectacle is to distract us from this fact.

If anyone turned it into a Kardashian spectacle it was Snowden himself. His video interview and Q&A have only served to publicize himself. He could have easily and safely leaked incriminating documents to a journalist and achieved the same effect.

Also, by making his identity public, he made sure that "Booz Employee dies in car crash" does not happen, its hard to make a public figure "disappear" without a fair trial.

Snopes agrees with you, the 34 people listed by them on the following page who were associated with either Bill or Hilary Clinton all died of explainable natural causes, suicides or natural deaths during the 90s, mostly 1992 to 1994:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/bodycount.asp

Please don't drag that tired old conspiracy theory into this. If you start with just 500 people and kill them off at ~0.8%/year (roughly the annual US death rate), at the end of ten years close to 40 of them should be dead, and there are a lot more than 500 people "associated" with the Clintons.

Anonymous leaks happen all the time. They tend to be ignored.

Snowden calculated this for maximum media coverage and succeeded brilliantly. That he is a visible part of the story isn't a side effect, it's necessary for attention and credibility.

It has already been made (Under Siege) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133952/.

It is one of the most chilling movies I have ever seen, they were going to make a followup, about an attack on the World Trade Centers, but then reality court up with them.

Any ideas on why he have chosen Venezuela over Russia? Is russian government more likely to trade him for something with the USA? Or maybe he just was unable to obtain asylum in Russia on reasonable terms(e.g. russian government demanded him to disclose other classified information)

It isn't clear yet if Snowden has chosen Venezuela. He might be choosing Ecuador.

A few reports have been speculating that his next destination will be Cuba, for obvious reasons.

edit: Per reports, Cuba will be a layover before Venezuela, his final destination.

According to some sources, his final destination could be Ecuador.

Maybe a silly question, but is there any reason he couldn't have flown to Moscow in the first place?

Every decision Snowden has made has been very well thought out....

1. He pushed US media (WaPo) to publish by going to UK media (TheGuardian).

2. He released with reservation and regard to security, not all docs were published.

3. He voluntarily disclosed his identity for protection...if the public knows him, it'll be awkward, if he just disappeared.

4. [my opinon] He went to Hong Kong (specifically HK, not China), because it is still somewhat it's own country, yet a formidable adversary to the US through China's protection. Also, it's unbeknownst to us, if he released more information while in HK.

5. Russia recently had captured a CIA agent (although I thought it more comical then serious), and no extradition to the US. Again, another formidable adversary to the US, and it may have been a red flag for an intel agent to go to Russia.

By formidable, I imply that the US will not send a seal team in to these territories that have the military capability to strike back (I won't say the name - but Pakistan is what I'm implying here).

Uh, someone should learn the difference between "clandestine" and "covert".

The USA is most definitely capable of undertaking operations in "denied areas."

edit: typo.

No way to know this today, right? Any pointers to cladestine operations in russia since 1990 available? Those could help to debunk the claims that certain kind of those "cladestine every think is possible" ops are just marketing.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2324303/Russia-seize...

There is a great and current book describing our current posture. Check out "Dirty Wars" for a wonderful intro to our secret wars all over the world. JSOC is operating in many, many countries where we do not have active wars going.

And, dear reader, JSOC is not the CIA.

Snowden himself answered this here, the question is about Iceland but the answer is applicable to Moscow too: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/17/edward-snowden-n...

The NSA has to be given advance notice of international travel. There's no way they are going to grant him going on a vacation to Moscow.

Instead, he claimed Hong Kong had a treatment available for his epilepsy, which he used as cover to get NSA approval there. From there he knew he could buy time to figure out a full plan to get to his final destination, Iceland.

It looks like Venezuela may be another interim country before he gets there.

>Instead, he claimed Hong Kong had a treatment available for his epilepsy, which he used as cover to get NSA approval there.

Oh, that is the first I've heard of that. He never mentioned it in his Q&A.

He sold me on Hong Kong and now he's leaving. This doesn't look good for our protagonist!

Why? Hong Kong still appears to have been a brilliant move. It's one of the few places he could actually travel to pre-whistle-blowing and it has apparently allowed him to travel to a countries that are even less likely to extradite him.

It seems to me that he always characterized Hong Kong as a stalling tactic. He likely bought himself months or even years of time by exploiting the diplomatic situation and legal red tape. It turns out he only needed a few days. That's not a sign that he's in trouble - it's a sign that he's leaving an appropriate amount of leeway in his plans.

BBC is reporting Russian media as claiming a "diplomatic car" met Snowden's plane on the tarmac and he debarked directly into it. They're speculating he might be spending the night in the Venezuelan or Ecuadorian embassy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23022926 (in video, not mentioned in text at this time)

Okay now I've lost respect for him. I appreciate that he told us what the gov was secretly doing, but to now go to the enemy? Come on, that's treason.

Who's enemy?

I have no enemies. My government says that I do though.

Look, it's one thing to tell us our government is abusing its power, but it's another to go to another country, especially one that has a long history with us. Seriously, I don't understand the down voting, the guy is committing treason.

Perhaps that's where he won't get hung, shot, locked up in solitary, disappear in a car accident etc for telling the truth?

Calling treason on him is as bad as the original act the government committed.

If you work in infosec or even just maintain a popular website, 100% of your security problems come from either Russia or China.

Please refrain from statistics that are complete bullshit.

Thanks.

Very true! Seeing as you are a hacker like I am, it's not 100% accurate to say we are where our ip addresses are.

Hmm? I am not a hacker. I design t-shirts.

That's total bollocks.

I work for a large company with a big web presence. Most of our attacks come from Brazil, the US and rooted VPSs in Europe.

What else can you do when your own country vilifies you?

His country betrayed him long before he fled to Russia. He owes no allegiance to a country which has forsaken him and apparently rescinded his passport.

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