What were Assange and Snowden thinking?
As you can imagine, I get a lot of phone calls and emails about the columns I write. Some applaud my opinion on issues, others are downright mean and vulgar. I just shrug and say it goes with the territory. I love getting plaudits, of course, but I always respect the opinions of readers who disagree with me – if they can disagree without being disagreeable.
One reader some time ago told me she was sick and tired of hearing about the time I spent on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Perhaps I do frequently reference my experience of working 27 years for two Louisiana congressmen on the Hill, but having done so, I believe, gives me an insight into how our national government works. That experience allows me to pass along insight related to current events. So, here I go again.
When I was press secretary for U.S. Rep. F. Edward Hebert, D-New Orleans, he was a powerful member of the House Armed Services Committee and became chairman in 1970. Because of the sensitive material he was privy to regarding the military and national defense, I was required to have a top secret clearance. I respected that responsibility, and when Hebert, in discussions, said this goes no further, I knew that meant to keep my mouth shut and reveal that information to no one. I never did.
With that said, I am befuddled by the recent revelations concerning the release of classi ed and secret information by two individuals, namely Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. I wonder just what makes them tick. And, as I expected, based upon the reactions to some of my columns, some people regard them as traitors, others as heroes. How do you regard them? My inquiring mind would like to know.
Assange, an Australian, was a computer hacker as a teenager, then a computer programmer before becoming known as a journalist and editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks, which publishes submissions of secret and classi ed information from anonymous sources and so-called whistle-blowers. A U.S. soldier, Bradley Manning, was arrested and is charged with supplying WikiLeaks with classi ed information about the U.S. military and diplomatic dealings. He is currently on trial.
As a result, Assange, the subject of a European Arrest Warrant in response to a Swedish police request for questioning in relation to a sexual assault investigation and because the United States is considering prosecuting him for several offenses, he has been inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London since June 2012. If he leaves the embassy, he will be arrested by London authorities and extradited to Sweden. So, one has to ask, just what kind of life does he have? Was it really worth it to become internationally known?
That brings us to Snowden, a former employee of the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency). He has leaked details of top-secret U.S. and British surveillance programs to the press, mainly working with Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian in London, who published some of the information. Snowden’s leaks are said to rank among the most signi cant breaches in the history of the NSA. U.S. prosecutors have charged Snowden with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and with willful communication of classi ed intelligence to an unauthorized person. At age 30, he had a great job with Booz Allen Hamilton, a highly respected rm which delivers management and technology consulting services to its clients. Basically, his life is over. So, why did he do it?
One Obama Administration of cial has suggested that Snowden’s claim that he is focused on supporting transparency, freedom of the press, and protection of individual rights and democracy is belied by the countries in which he has potentially chosen to seek political asylum – China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. His failure to criticize these regimes suggests that his true motive throughout has been to injure the national security of the United States, not to advance Internet freedom and free speech, this of cial told The New Yorker.
The release of this sensitive information has created a worldwide restorm, and Snowden has been on the run ever since. First, it was reported he was in China. Now, he is in Russia seeking political asylum there or hoping that Ecuador will grant him political asylum as it did to Assange. His saga is ongoing.
It is impossible to get inside someone’s head, so we may never know what prompted Assange and Snowden to choose their course in life. Was it truly patriotic motives or was it arrogance and a desire for attention?
To be sure, being a whistle-blower is not always a bad thing. Exposing information that is harmful or illegal is sometimes necessary and bene ts society.
The Watergate scandal comes to mind. Granted, no matter what, the whistle-blower’s life will never be the same again. The question is, therefore, are Assange and Snowden traitors or heroes? My opinion? Traitors.
Lou Gehrig Burnett, an award-winning journalist, has been involved with politics for 44 years and was a congressional aide in Washington, D.C., for 27 years. He also served as executive assistant to former Shreveport Mayor Bo Williams. Burnett is the publisher of the weekly “FaxNet Update” and can be reached at 861-0552 or louburnett@comcast.net.
