7
Street roots
July 18, 2014
Edward Snowden and the biggest trove of classified documents in history
important, and some e-mails are simply
worthless. This particular correspondent
he saga of whistleblower Edward
asked Greenwald to install encryption
Snowden continues to unfold. The
software. Greenwald is a brilliant writer and
May 29 edition of The Seattle Times
astute analyst of political affairs but he
carried à front page story of Snowden’s lacked the technical know-how to encrypt ?
recent interview with NBC anchorman his laptop. Busy with other pressing
Brian Williams. A year ago, this young,
projects, Greenwald let the request slide. In
unknown National Security Agency (NSA)1
doing so he nearly lost what would be the
contract employee, who claims to have also
biggest news story since the release of the
been “trained as a spy,” unleashed a
Pentagon Papers.
staggering volume of top secret documents
Greenwald’s procrastination led the still
that he had downloaded from the NSA’s *
unknown Snowden to approach filmmaker
labyrinthine network. It was the biggest
Laura Poitras: “At the end of January 2013,
security breach in history. This avalanche of Snowden tried a different way to get to
information revealed the broad domestic
(Greenwald). He sent an e-mail to Laura
and international reach of the NSA’s
Poitras. He was hoping to open an
sophisticated snooping powers. Contrary to
anonymous channel to the documentary
the statements of officials that there were
film-maker, who was Greeriwald’s friend and
no deliberate bulk spying programs on
a close collaborator. Poitras was another
leading critic of the U.S. security state —
American citizens, Snowden’s cache of
material proved otherwise. All kinds of data
and one of its more prominent victims.”
and content were being “hoovered up” by a
Because of her trenchant films, Poitras
voracious system, making a mockery of
had often encountered difficulties
reentering the U.S. She had been detained
constitutional restraints on such invasive
at airports on about 40 different occasions.
practices.
For his action, Snowden has been called a She would soon take the mystery man’s
communiqués very seriously: “He said he
traitor by some. Others tout him as a
defender of the U.S. Constitution and a hero had got hold of Presidential Policy Directive
20, a top secret 18-page document issued in
for free speech and government
October 2012. It said that Obama had
transparency. His revelations have sparked
secretly ordered his senior national security
an intense arid often strident global
conversation on crucial matters of individual and intelligence officials to draw up a list of
potential overseas targets for U.S, cyber-
privacy and national security in a complex
attacks. Not (defense), but attacks. The
digital age. Since June 2013, thè exiled
agency was tapping fiber-optic cables,
Snowden has resided in Russia where he
intercepting telephone landing points and
was granted temporary asylum. His exact
bugging on a global scale, he said. lie could
whereabouts in that country remain
prove all of it. ‘I almost fainted,’ Poitras
unknown.
says.”
In “The Snowden Files,” The Guardian’s
She contacted Greenwald, making him
Luke Harding has produced a brisk
intelligence veteran. Instead they were
confronted by a fellow who looked like he
could still be in his teens. Snowden proved
he was genuine.
On June 5, 2013 The Guardian published
its first story detailing a court order
compelling Verizon to hand over data: “The
implications were massive. The Verizon
secret court order was dated 25 April 2013.
It forced one of the U.S.’s largest telecom
providers to hand over to the NSA the
telephone records of millions of its U.S.
customers. Verizon
was passing on private
details on an ‘ongoing
daily basis.’ It was
giving NSA
shattering exposé shews the
information on all calls USA to he a most formidable
in its system, both
player, il ls bat one entity in
inside the U.S. and
an lateraatleaal espionage
between the U,S. and
other countries. It was f reM or-all In which an ecean
sensational apparent
el Information about
proof that NSA was a
ind
lw in als. > b <1 myriad
dragnet collecting the
organlxatlons
Is cellecteiy
records of millions of
U.S. citizens,
stored and analyx©<
regardless of whether
they had committed
any crime or been
involved in terrorism.”
This was just the start of astonishing
revelations demonstrating the vast, web óf
intelligence and data gathering pervading
the planet. Although Snowden’s shattering
exposé shows the NSA to be a most
formidable player, it is but one entity in an
international espionage free-for-all in which
an ocean of information about individuals
and myriad organizations is collected, stored
chronicle of the bombshell leaks from the
ultra-secret NSA. Harding details the
unveiling of Snow den’s colossal trove of
. promises to place at least some control over
BY JOE M A RTIN
/ CONTRIBUTING WRITER
a
The Snowden
Files: The Inside
Story of the
World’s Most
Wanted Man by
Luke Harding
take a fresh look at the Internet seeker who
had been trying to connect with him for
months. Poitras knew nothing of Snowden’s
clandestine material.
It started in December 2012, when
notable U.S. journalist Glenn Greenwald,
writing then for Britain’s The Guardian,
received a cryptic email: “I have some stuff
you might be interested in.” Greenwald gets
a horde of e-mails every day. Often senders
claim to have critical information.
Frequently the material is riot that
earlier attempts. Now aware of the gravity
of What they were dealing with, Greenwald
and Pojtras would eventually fly to Hong
Kong where they would meet in secret with
their intriguing informant. The duo was j /
accompanied by journalist Ewen MacAskill.
At first none of. them could believe that this
young man could possibly be behind the
leaks. All were expecting an older
and analyzed. The USA Freedom Act is
making its way through Congress and
the NSA’s warrantless data collection. What
will happen if another atrocity like 9/11
explodes somewhere on U.S. territory? Will
we once again ignore rampant violations of
the U.S. Constitution in the name of
security? Those are exigent questions for
our time.
____ _______
Reprinted for Real Change Newspaper, Street
Roots’ sister paper in Seattle, Wash.
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