Snowden: Heroic Or Villainous?

Therefore, Snowden’s true intentions are evident by his rash decision to trade significant information to other countries in return for his financial and personal safety. This is not surprising of “A grandiose narcissist,” who saw an opportunity for fame under the excuse of “serving his country” (Toobin 1). Moreover, any educated individual knows that “the entire mission of the agency is to intercept electronic communications” (Toobin 1). Therefore, Snowden can be characterized as a villain because he not only disrupted a legal process because of his ignorance but also sabotaged his own homeland. As can be seen, Snowden is, above all, a traitor; he deserves to be punished for his irresponsible, illegal, and rash action. If his idea was doing what is morally right, then he could have achieved it legally inside his own country, even if it took twice as long. That is what heroes do; they don’t inflict damage on their nation and simply run away from reality. If the

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 is a whistleblower from the 21st century. Snowden was a man who had outstanding IT skills and eventually landed a job at the NSA. He gained access to numerous files that showed the crimes the NSA was committing against its own people and against other countries as well. They were spying on people’s privacy and claimed that it was for the national security that would benefit all people. Snowden said that he could not let this

After reading the article, "Why Edward Snowden is a Hero," by John Cassidy, it brings a new

First of all, in the contents of this debate, we support that Snowden’s actions were necessary. We understand that there must be a balance between privacy and national security. However, the NSA and government were overstepping their mandate to protect American citizens. Checks and balances in intelligence agencies deteriorated, resulting in secrecy, abuse of power, and stretched interpretations of the

Former NSA agent, Edward Snowden, empowered U.S. citizens by releasing top secret governemnt files documenting the government’s unwarranted, illegal surveillance on ally countries and unknowing american citizens. His act of courage brought an era of awareness to the masses of the unconstitutional acts of the sovereign. Today, U.S. citizens can thank Snowden for confirming previously far-fetched conspiracy theories and for giving the people a chance to fight back against oppressive government tactics.

Snowden along with two others, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning, are just a few of many people who have released documents changing our views on the government. All of these men leaked top secret documents hidden from the world by the NSA. They all showed what the NSA is really like.

Edward Snowden, was a former US(NSA) contractor, now lives in Russia after fleeing the United States via Hong Kong in May, having revealed extensive internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence.

To wrap it all up Edward Snowden is a traitor. He has violated the trust the CIA, NSA, and his bosses had in him to keep this information a secret. This means he has put us citizens in danger. Some might think that his spreading of this information is heroic. However, now that this information has been released there is a greater possibility that it could fall into the wrong hands and families would be put in danger of terrorist attacks. Now he is on the run and the U.S. government must catch him before he and the information he leaked are captured by terrorists and America’s

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 came to international attention after stories based on the material appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. Further disclosures were made by other newspapers including Der Spiegel and The New York Times. Snowden is a computer professional, former CIA employee, and former government contractor who copied classified information from the United States NSA and United Kingdom GCHQ for public disclosure in 2013. The information revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and Five Eyes with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments. Snowden communicated using encrypted email, and going by the codename "Verax". He asked not to be quoted at length for fear of identification by stylometry. According to Gellman, prior to their first meeting in person, Snowden wrote, "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions, and that the return of this information to the public marks my end.” Snowden also told Gellman that until the articles were published, the journalists working with him would also be at mortal risk from the United States Intelligence Community "if they think you are the single point of failure that could stop this disclosure and make them the sole owner of this

Thesis Statement: Edward Snowden is a brave man who stood up for what he believed was morally right, exposed a broken system so that the world could benefit, and never once questioned his actions, despite what others have said.

In 2013 a young man left the CIA to expose the corruption of the government. The government's surveillance companies have been spying on people without them knowing. Edward Joseph Snowden is the mastermind that leaked the truth to the United States, he is a hero for letting people know the truth about what our government has been keeping from us, it is also illegal for the government to be spying on us because of the fourth amendment.

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?

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.