Edward Snowden Leaks

Edward Snowden took advantage of his access the government’s vast electronic surveillance operations. Snowden had access to more sensitive information than Manning but, in his dealings so far with the Washington Post and The Guardian, he has made a key point of not releasing all the documents he had which is saving him from harsher punishment. ("What Bradley Manning Leaked.”) Many of the documents that Edward Snowden had exposed were related to our military capabilities, operations, tactics, techniques and procedures. Even a confidential Pentagon report written by military intelligence officials claims that Edward Snowden's leaks had put U.S. soldiers at serious risk and encouraged terrorists to change their strategies. ("Snowden Leaks Could Cost Military Billions: Pentagon.") However, in the middle of 2014, the NSA's director, U.S. Navy Admiral Michael S. Rogers, said that while some terrorist groups had changed their communications to avoid surveillance techniques revealed by Snowden, the damage done was not significant enough to claim it as an immediate threat or danger. Still, in February 2015, “the NSA director said that Snowden's disclosures created "blind spots" in the NSA's surveillance by revealing U.S. strategies to monitor terrorism”.( "What NSA Director Mike Rogers Doesn't

Edward Snowden is responsible for exposing these government secrets. Many call this an act of treason, but it can also be seen as an act of civil disobedience. The most peaceful nature of his rebellion, and the unconstitutional behavior that it consequentially exposed qualify his actions. Although it was wrong of him to escape the consequences of his actions by fleeing to Hong Kong, his actions were ultimately beneficial to the American public. Being spied upon by the government is a direct violation of our right to privacy, and hiding it from the public is wrong as well. From John Cassidy’s article, “Why Edward Snowden is a hero,” he quotes Ellsberg; “‘This wholesale invasion of Americans and foreign citizens’ privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we are trying to protect.’” The act of bringing these facts to light is an act of trying to preserve our liberty, and that’s what civil disobedience is all about.

Edward Snowden isn’t the only person who believes what the U.S. had done was wrong, but also many American leaders, and other nations around the world. The United States had not only been collecting data on their own citizens, but also of other countries leaders and citizens. The release of these documents had strained political relationships between the U.S. and other allied nations. The knowledge and truth other leaders and nations had gained

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.

I am not too familiar with Snowden, besides the headlines he made a few years back, which state that he released information about the NSA domestic surveillance activities. I don’t think he is a traitor to the country, because he released the truth, that we are being monitored.

Snowden is now seen as either a traitor or a hero by many. As a result of what snowden did, some persons see his actions as being unethical because of the fact that he may have violated a secrecy agreement but it can also show that the law was unjust and unconstitutional. In addition, the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, also did not find Edward’s rationale to be very convincing. He stated, “He broke the law. He caused harm to our national security and I think that he has to be held accountable for his actions.”

Edward Snowden was formerly part of the National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden leaked documents that detailed how Americans were being observed, including the PRISM program. The United States has filed multiple charges against Snowden and he has since found asylum in Russia. Four Reasons why Snowden’s actions should be considered ethical are: 1. Snowden was trying to protect the rights of the American people and make sure everyone is being treated equally.

Critics of Edward Snowden label him a traitor and a coward. They condemn him for irreparably harming government security operations and setting of a worldwide chain of events that weakened the American position on the world stage. While America now has blight on its records due to the leaks, the topic that should be addressed is should the whistle-blower, the man who uncovered and exposed the questionable and wrong activities, be blamed or should those who allowed the illegal and immoral activities be held accountable for what they started. Edward Snowden had the justification and conviction to do the correct thing and present the incriminating evidence straight to the public. When one takes in consideration everything that Snowden has lost because of his decision, there was little gain for him to make the immoral activities public. Snowden’s crime is breaching the trust of his government contract to expose egregious monitoring by the government on the American public. In an interview conducted by the Washington Post, Snowden speaks out about his goal in releasing the files: “All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed,”

Snowden would view his actions as right in according to the Deontology Duty Theory. The Duty Theory believes that an act is morally right if it in accord with a duty or obligations. With this said many would view Snowden as a Whistle Blower and Patriot, since he took action when he believed that it was his duty to reveal that N.S.A. was secretly invading the privacy of the people.

However, The NSA and US government have no proof that the data Snowden disclosed has made any damage. Off course it has brought embarrassment to NSA because NSA itself was carrying out worldwide, domestic and constitutional violations. Obviously as Near and Miceli explained that administrators may oppose the wrongdoing on the grounds that generally would raise doubt about their administrative decision authorities. Snowden tried his best to follow the built up methodology for conveying this essential data to the overall population. However, they didn’t work.

Although Snowden’s intentions were meant for “public awareness”, he stirred up a little too much awareness than he imagined. During the first year of the leak, people had increased distrust with their own government. “.. The world began to learn the vast scope of the National Security Agency’s reaches into the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the globe, as it collects information about their phone calls, their email messages, their friends and contacts, how they spend their days and where they spend their nights.”(The Editorial Boardjan) People like to live in blissful ignorance and once they find out that their privacy has been compromised, paranoia takes

Edward Snowden was placed in a very difficult position. On one hand, he could follow the law but know he was letting unethical conduct continue, and on the other hand, breaking the law. Regardless of his decision, I guarantee he put great though into each choice and alternative.

According to American philosopher and psychologist, William James, “there can be no final truth in ethics anymore than in physics, until the last man has had his experience or said his say” (William James). In regards to this quote by William James, the ethical concerns brought to light by Mr. Snowden “having his experience and saying his say” are numbered; therefore, I will elaborate upon two, which I deem deserving of comprehensive speculation. For example, the first ethical issue raised is seen through Mr. Snowden sharing his exposure of classified information, privileged only to the National Security Agency, and its employees. Indeed, Mr. Snowden took it upon himself to divulge these personal known truths for all to acknowledge, which in short; enlightened all American citizens to what the National Security Agency was doing, “behind closed doors.” Thus, Mr. Snowden displayed genuine, upright conduct in relation to his concerns about what was happening each day to the people of the United States. For as United States citizens, we befittingly have a right to know when our privacy is being infringed upon, and furthermore, should have to agree to it. Yet; at the same time we are presented with another equitable complication, which is Mr. Snowden should be held accountable for his actions of wrong doing. Consequently, he should have to stand trial in order to pay retribution for the crime he committed. In order to bring

The government, specifically the NSA and Obama Administration have been embarrassed by the leaks. Their aim is to bring Snowden back to the US for prosecution and have him be the next target under the Espionage Act for whistleblowers. Under the Obama Administration there have been double the amount of people prosecuted under the act than any other previous administration in history since the enacting. (Greenberg, 2014) It seems that Snowden has seen an unfairness and gross abuse of power and has felt compelled to bring these things to light for the public interest, and for the global stage. The need for change from such actions, the employment of fear to strip the public’s rights and privacies, and the use of mining centers to take all our data to whatever government end has all been shown. They (the government) is not particularly happy with the revealed truths behind their hidden programs. The fact they label it under the Espionage Act as to say Snowden has aided our enemies in breaching national security is, to the open minded and intelligent, a cowardly move, since our “enemies” already have known

Edward Snowden is a United States citizen and former employee of the National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden leaked information about the NSA to the media in 2013 and is now in Russia where he was recently granted three years of asylum. The NSA uses cryptology and others forms of information gathering to enable various networks to make advantageous decisions for the Nation and our allies under all circumstances. The NSA operates undetected by civilians, and uses global monitoring so broadly defined that it has allowed for unscrupulous behavior that was witnessed by contracted employee, Edward Snowden. Snowden believed that as the public gained knowledge of the illegal intelligence gathering by the government of domestic citizens, and abroad, he would gain protection from the public. Snowden did receive protection from people including powerful lawyers, journalists, and privacy advocates. Analysis of the Edward Snowden case