America, the land of the free. The land that was made off the idea that the people should be in charge of themselves, of their own government, and have a say in the decisions. The founding fathers that helped put us in charge of ourselves are heroes. In recent times, there was a man that wanted America to be in charge of itself, just like our founding fathers did. Edward Snowden is a hero for exposing what our government was doing behind our backs without our consent. He is responsible for the largest leak of confidential information in United States history. He revealed about 1.7 million classified documents that were private to the public. He showed the people what their votes and taxes were going towards that they were not aware of. Edward …show more content…
Getting to the point that he was safe enough to leak the confidential documents was a long time coming. The idea to expose operations like that of the NSA was produced back to position in Geneva. Regarding the sensitivity of the situation of revealing secret documents, Snowden needed to be secretive with his plan in order for it to go public. Of course the best person to contact with the intention of getting information to the public is a journalist. One of the journalists that Snowden had contacted about the documents was filmmaker Laura Poitras. He went and made sure he took every precaution in order to not be discovered, he of all people would know how to not have the messages intercepted. Contact with those individuals continued, Snowden would give them documents but was not ready for them to be published. They waited for the right time, when Snowden was safe, to put the information on the internet and let it spread. Snowden took a temporary leave to “treat his epilepsy” (Mitchell, NBC). That is when he gave his team electronic interviews, and left the United States for China. Snowden was charged with violating the U.S’s Espionage Act. The right time to put his whole plan in motion had arrived because China’s laws allowed him the right of asylum, a person persecuted in their own country may be protected by …show more content…
The reaction from the public is exactly what he was looking for. The motive behind releasing these documents was not about the information that was leaked. Now that the public knows of some of the operations, they can now have an opinion on it. Should America not be allowed to have an opinion on the complete invasion of privacy it had been already conducting for years? Snowden believes that Americans should have more than just an opinion about it, but a say on whether the country deems said privacy invasions constitutional. America was made for the people. America was built on the foundation of democracy, a tradition to help keep a government’s integrity. Snowden has made a statement about whistleblowing. He had been criticized for attempting to give his moral opinion on the work his employers were doing and asking him to do. He wasn’t afraid to speak out. He knows what it feels like to not have a say in what the government does. But now that he has succeeded, no one else should be scared. He only gave the public 1% of the documents he discovered. He had the opportunity to leak it all, but that wouldn’t fix it. Snowden wanted to be the
Can you imagine being convicted of first degree murder at only 17 years of age? Adnan Syed couldn't believe it either. In fact he was mortified when they charged him of brutally suffocating, his ex-girlfriend Hea Min Lee, to death. Adnan Syed was a pawn that the Baltimore detectives played with, a mere dupe to cast off as the true killer. Syed is like many Americans, he was never granted a fair trial. There is some actors that make Syed guilty, but perhaps it was just pure coincidence that got Adan wrapped up in this whole mess. One simply can't overlook the major factors that make him innocent enough to grant him a second trial. Adan has spent half of his life in prison, due to a wrongful conviction that happened many
It is my opinion that Edward Snowden should be pardoned for leaking classified information. Snowden found himself in a unique position to confirm and provide proof of pre-existing suspicions by the American citizens towards their Government. Snowden was not the first whistle blower. He just happened to have top secret “privileged” access to classified information and documents as an infrastructure analyst working for the NSA. Some of his titles in his career over time included System Administrator, System Engineer, System Officer, and he had held positions in the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency. He obtained documents that confirmed that for the cost of “security” American citizens unknowingly lost they rights to liberty and freedom over time.
Jerry Sandusky, Penn State football coach that was under the legendary Joe Paterno, founder of the Second Mile, a model citizen of his community, convicted on forty-five counts of child sex abuse (Crandall, Parnell, & Spillan, 2013).
Recently in global news, the name Edward Snowden has became quite popular as he snatched millions of people’s attention along with breaking news headlines. Snowden released numerous documents via internet that were private to the NSA; these leaks revealed the dirty work the NSA and government have ...
After September 11th, Americans looked to the government for protection and reassurance. However, they did not expect to find out thirteen years later that the government did this by using technology to spy on Americans, as well as other countries. George W. Bush began the policy shortly after the terrorist attack and Barack Obama continued it. There have been many confrontations over the years about the extent of the N.S.A.’s spying; however, the most recent whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, leaked information that caused much upset throughout America (EFF). It has also brought many people to question: is he a hero or a traitor?
Yes, legally Edward Snowden did break a law however, when the law he broke is looked at it makes people a little uneasy. Legally Edward Snowden broke the U.S Espionage act however, when looked at this law it seems a little unsettling to people. Under this act, no person shall let the American people know of any kind of government affair (PoliticalUSA). No matter what it is, no matter what it could mean for the American people, or no matter who horrible it is, if that organization of government doesn’t want people to know than legally then no person no matter who it is shall tell. This law is extremely dangerous in the hands of people who will abuse its power, which has already been proven is the U.S government. This allows them to be able to get away with anything they please no matter what. They can go about the horrible things that they are doing in secrecy but, this law allows them to be able to get away with it. They are doing things that the American people need to know however, under this act it allows them to do it. A lot of people think that this is okay because, they don’t want people telling important American military strategies to the wrong people. However, this act and those wishes are two very different things that they are trying to cover up. Military strategies do need to be able to kept secret because, our troops do need to be able to keep safe overseas fighting for our country. This however, is having whatever they do become such an important thing. Things like the NSA spying on its own citizens are being throw under the rug. This act, which was passed during 1917 during the first world war, goes against the first amendment (OWS). The first amendment states that no law should be passed that diminishes a person’s right to free speech, right to free religion, and freedom of speech. However, the espionage act is somehow in affect in todays world and
In May of 2013 Edward Snowden who was then working at a National Security Agency office in Oahu, Hawaii began copying top secret documents that belonged to the American government as he believed the documentation contained unethical and immoral content that he believed the American people and the world in general needed to know about. (Snowden, 2014) The documentation that he collated contained information regarding projects such as Prism, which is a top secret NSA surveillance program that has the ability to access the data servers of some of America's large...
In the past few years the National Security Agency has been all over the news, and not in a good way. Former contractor of the National Security Edward Snowden leaked classified documents to several media outlets on such a scale the world took notice. The day the world learned about the Prism program among others was June, 5, 2013 when Ed Snowden gave the specifics of the programs to The Guardian, and the Washington Post. Ed Snowden turned those secrets over as a member of the NSA but fled the country before the leaks so he would not be imprisoned by the authorities. Immediately after the leaks Ed Snowden became infamous with around the clock watch as to what country would grant his asylum, he currently resides in a Moscow airport pending appeal (Staff, 2013). He claimed he “did not want to live in a society like this” that’s why he decided to turn over states secret for all the world to see (Staff, 2013). Now that you know the man behind the leaks it is time that you find out about the program, and the reach and impact it really had.
We all heard of 9/11. I mean who hasn’t heard of 9/11, do you guys know who planned and attacked the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and try to hit the U.S Capitol. It is Osama Bin Laden the dead terrorist and the leader of Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist that bombed the U.S and the western philosophy by attacking U.S embassies, the Oklahoma city suicide attack and a lot more suicide attacks that are really dangerous. He was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 1957 or 1958.
Now, as to who the breach went to. At first he planned on telling the story to the New York Times, but in the end he decided not to because he found out that the New York Times had a great scoop in “the election year of 2004- that the Bush administration, post 9/11, allowed the NSA to snoop on U.S. citizens without warrants- but had sat on it for a year before publishing.” Snowden said that “this was the turning poin...
Primarily, the facts that are needed to address what exactly did Snowden wrong is what actually was inside the leaks. Edward Snowden did not dump sensitive data onto the Internet for the entire world, including enemies of America, to see. Snowden meticulously vetted the documents and data he collected to make sure that the leaks released contained only that which pertained to the N.S.A’s illegal collecting of phone logs, user data, and other private information. Even with the monitoring of overseas and foreign officials, N.S.A’s sweeping data collection technologies pulled out millions of private details from prominent U.S based internet companies, including Facebook, Google, and Yahoo. All of these activities were completed without specific warrants from courts that would otherwise either allow or deny these collections. The lack of oversi...
MATHEW, J. (2013 , November 15). Edward Snowden Leaked up to 200,000 NSA Top Secret Documents. Retrieved from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/522484/20131115/edward-snowden-nsa-scandal-keith-alexander.htm
The American government used to be able to keep the people in happy ignorance to the fact that they watch every move they make. After certain revelations of people like Edward Snowden, the public knows the extent of the government spying. On June 5, 2013 Edward Snowden leaked documents of the NSA to the Guardian (The Guardian 2). The whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed to the world how the American government collects information like cell phone metadata, Internet history, emails, location from phones, and more. President Obama labeled the man a traitor because he showed the world the illegal acts the NSA performs on US citizens (Service of Snowden 1). The government breached the people’s security, and now the people are afraid because everyone is aware of how the US disapproves of people who do not agree with their programs. Obama said that these programs find information about terrorists living in the US, but he has lit...
To give the full picture of Edward Snowden I must start before his role in the government. Edward Snowden never graduated from high school, nor did he graduate from community college (Yann 1). In 2003 He joined the U.S. Army briefly until he was discharged when he broke both his legs in a training accident (BBC 1). His first job with the NSA was as a security guard, until he took a job at the CIA dealing with computer security (Yann 2). Edward’s final job, the one that gave him access to the leaks, was in Hawaii with a six figure salary (BBC 2). Snowden was a systems administrator, meaning he had the responsibility to go through the NSA database and move extremely sensitive documents to a secure location (NPR 1). His position was the perfect place for him to leak all the secrets the NSA held close. Edward Snowden’s activities were seen by the NSA the entire time, he didn’t have to hide that he was taking the documents it was his job (NPR 2). Mr. Snowden left for Hong Kong after he leaked his information, but once there he flew to Moscow because Hong Kong had a treaty with the...
It is reasonable to argue that, governmental institutions or people with authority are subject to withhold a great deal of information from society. Many may argue that secrets are kept to ensure the safety of the nation. Thus, upholding the governmental duty of protecting the nation against possible threats. On the other hand, many believe that secrets may exist which violate our constitutional rights. Over the last year, Edward Snowden, has made headline news for leaking sensitive governmental information to the press. Edward Snowden is a 29-year-old high school drop-out, who was a tech specialist for the National Security Association. Snowden had discovered and later exposed the NSA for monitoring the nations e-mails, phone calls, and internet searches. As the allegations spread like wild fire, Edward Snowden sought asylum in Russia for one year. Snowden had a valid and justifiable reason to expose the NSA to the world because they were in violation of our fourth Amendment rights to unreasonable searches and seizures. The government called him a traitor, while others viewed him as a hero for exposing the government. Edward Snowden is a whistle blower because he felt that it is up to society to decide if governmental practices are just or unjust. Snowden does “express the highest respect for the law”, and he wanted to protect the right of privacy for American citizens.