Seven months after Edward Snowden’s stunning expose on the US National Security Agency’s mammoth global surveillance operation, the influential New York Times has called upon President Obama to treat the former contractor as a whistleblower and offer him some form of clemency.
Wading into the raging “traitor vs whistleblower” debate surrounding Snowden’s multitude leaks of classified documents, the Times noted in an editorial comment: “Considering the enormous value of the information he has revealed, and the abuses he has exposed, Snowden deserves better than a life of permanent exile, fear and flight.”
He may have committed a crime to do so, but he has done his country a great service. It is time for the US to offer Snowden a plea bargain or some form of clemency that would allow him to return home, face at least substantially reduced punishment in light of his role as a whistleblower” said the paper’s Editorial Board. , and have the hope of a life advocating for greater privacy and far stronger oversight of the runaway intelligence community,”
Snowden has been living in Russia for the past several months on a temporary asylum that the Putin government provided to the former NSA contractor who spent several weeks at the Moscow airport last summer while on the run from American charges of espionage and theft.
The Times stated that owing to Snowden’s efforts, the public has learned in great detail how the NSA has “exceeded its mandate and abused its authority, prompting outrage at kitchen tables and at the desks of Congress, which may finally begin to limit these practices”.
Snowden is currently charged in a criminal complaint with two violations of the Espionage Act involving unauthorized communication of classified information, and a charge of theft of government property. Those three charges carry prison sentences of 10 years each. The Times noted that when the case is presented to a grand jury for indictment, the government could slap more charges, probably adding up to a life sentence.
“In retrospect, Snowden was clearly justified in believing that the only way to blow the whistle on this kind of intelligence-gathering was to expose it to the public and let the resulting furore do the work his superiors would not,” the paper commented.
As for the contention of the “shrill brigade” that Snowden has done profound damage to US intelligence operations, none has presented the slightest proof that his disclosures really hurt the nation’s security, the Times said as it urged President Obama to find a way to “end Snowden’s vilification and give him an incentive to return home”.