Thread: John Bolton: Snowden "Ought To Swing From A Tall Oak Tree"

John Bolton: Snowden "Ought To Swing From A Tall Oak Tree"

BILL HEMMER: Officials considering amnesty for Ed Snowden in exchange for their stolen security documents. The controversial deal to return the NSA leaker to the U.S. and General Keith Alexander doesn't think it is a good idea. John Bolton, former Ambassador to the U.N. Good day to you.

I don't know why they are talking about this publicly. Is there a possible back room deal that is happening now?

JOHN BOLTON: It is possible, but I must say absent some other important piece of information, it has to be one of the dumbest things that I’ve seen in a long time to be speculating about it publicly even if they are contemplating a deal with Snowden some kind of amnesty. The last thing people ought to do is speculating about it publicly. It will inevitably make it a political football and enhance Snowden's bargaining power.

HEMMER: Why are they doing it then?

BOLTON: I think it is a big mistake. I have no idea. In my view, Snowden committed treason and ought to be convicted of that and ought to swing from a tall oak tree. Even if you don’t believe that, if you’re gonna say anything publically, that is closer to what you should be saying to enhance our own bargaining leverage. We don't know how much of what Snowden has he gave to the Chinese and Russians or they took from him and he doesn't even know about. We have a big problem here contemplating amnesty that he may have sold the data twice already.

HEMMER: 1.7 million documents, is that possible?

BOLTON: It is entirely possible. I don't underestimate how severe the intelligence problem is here. It is hard to speculate about it publicly. My instinct is anyone who does this to the United States doesn't deserve any amnesty from us. If we need to go through an expensive procedure to change the way we do things, we ought to do it. I wouldn’t give this guy air to breath.


video at link below

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vid..._oak_tree.html



Sounds like they want to stop any more information from coming out....

An Open Letter from Eric Snowden

Posted by Joe For America on Dec 17, 2013

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An open letter to the people of Brazil, from Edward Snowden

Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s camera. I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what we say. I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live.

My greatest fear was that no one would listen to my warning. Never have I been so glad to have been so wrong. The reaction in certain countries has been particularly inspiring to me, and Brazil is certainly one of those.

At the NSA, I witnessed with growing alarm the surveillance of whole populations without any suspicion of wrongdoing, and it threatens to become the greatest human rights challenge of our time. The NSA and other spying agencies tell us that for our own “safety”—for Dilma’s “safety,” for Petrobras’ “safety”—they have revoked our right to privacy and broken into our lives. And they did it without asking the public in any country, even their own.

Today, if you carry a cell phone in Sao Paolo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world. When someone in Florianopolis visits a website, the NSA keeps a record of when it happened and what you did there. If a mother in Porto Alegre calls her son to wish him luck on his university exam, NSA can keep that call log for five years or more. They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target’s reputation.

American Senators tell us that Brazil should not worry, because this is not “surveillance,” it’s “data collection.” They say it is done to keep you safe. They’re wrong. There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement — where individuals are targeted based on a reasonable, individualized suspicion — and these programs of dragnet mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and save copies forever. These programs were never about terrorism: they’re about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They’re about power.

Many Brazilian senators agree, and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens. I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful, but unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so — going so far as to force down the Presidential Plane of Evo Morales to prevent me from traveling to Latin America! Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak.

Six months ago, I revealed that the NSA wanted to listen to the whole world. Now, the whole world is listening back, and speaking out, too. And the NSA doesn’t like what it’s hearing. The culture of indiscriminate worldwide surveillance, exposed to public debates and real investigations on every continent, is collapsing. Only three weeks ago, Brazil led the United Nations Human Rights Committee to recognize for the first time in history that privacy does not stop where the digital network starts, and that the mass surveillance of innocents is a violation of human rights.

The tide has turned, and we can finally see a future where we can enjoy security without sacrificing our privacy. Our rights cannot be limited by a secret organization, and American officials should never decide the freedoms of Brazilian citizens. Even the defenders of mass surveillance, those who may not be persuaded that our surveillance technologies have dangerously outpaced democratic controls, now agree that in democracies, surveillance of the public must be debated by the public.

My act of conscience began with a statement: “I don’t want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded. That’s not something I’m willing to support, it’s not something I’m willing to build, and it’s not something I’m willing to live under.”

Days later, I was told my government had made me stateless and wanted to imprison me. The price for my speech was my passport, but I would pay it again: I will not be the one to ignore criminality for the sake of political comfort. I would rather be without a state than without a voice.

If Brazil hears only one thing from me, let it be this: when all of us band together against injustices and in defense of privacy and basic human rights, we can defend ourselves from even the most powerful systems.

video at link below

Read more at http://joeforamerica.com/2013/12/ope...1OJzveo67Sc.99

DOD official: Snowden ‘stole everything — literally everything’


Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden stole vastly more information than previously speculated, and is holding it at ransom for his own protection.

“What’s floating is so dangerous, we’d be behind for twenty years in terms of access (if it were to be leaked),” a ranking Department of Defense official told the Daily Caller.

“He stole everything — literally everything,” the official said.

Last month British and U.S. intelligence officials speculated Snowden had in his possession a “doomsday cache” of intelligence information, including the names of undercover intelligence personnel stationed around the world.


“Sources briefed on the matter” told Reuters that such a cache could be used as an insurance policy in the event Snowden was captured, and that, “the worst was yet to come.”

The officials cited no hard evidence of such a cache, but indicated it was a possible worst-case-scenario. Some version of that scenario appears to have come true.

“It’s only accessible for a few hours a day, and is triple encrypted to the point where no one can break it,” the official said of the data cloud where Snowden has likely hidden the information.

According to the official, there are at least two others in possession of the code to access the information, and, “if we nail him — he’ll release the data.”

“Everything you don’t want the enemy to know, he has,” the official said. “Who we’re listening to, what we’re after — they’d shut us down.”
The damage would be “of biblical proportions,” the official said.

Another official from the NSA task force commissioned to assess the data stolen and leaked by Snowden said on television recently that granting Snowden amnesty is “worth having a conversation about” in order to secure any potential stolen data.

Director of the NSA Gen. Keith Alexander said on “60 Minutes” Sunday that he opposes the idea, and said that people need to be held accountable for their actions. The White House stated Monday it would not be changing its policy regarding Snowden.

The NSA director has repeatedly testified before Congress about the revealed programs, and continues to state that the leaks have compromised U.S. national security.

Alexander announced in October he would be retiring as NSA director and head of U.S. Cyber Command effective March, and a recent White House task force charged with improving NSA transparency has suggested appointing a civilian head to steer the signals intelligence agency.

The official said that following Alexander’s retirement, he doesn’t “know how (the amnesty conversation) is going to play out.”
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Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/17/do...#ixzz2nqxjmtwj




Well if that is the case then I guess the agency can just be totally shut down.Who needs it. Now that would be "biblical proportions". Like that would ever happen talk about full of crap!!!

Corporate-Gov’t Spying Is To Target YOU Later! Snowden’s Open Letter to Brazilians (FULL TEXT)

Wednesday, December 18, 2013 8:28

“


In Edward Snowden’s open letter to Brazilians released Tuesday, he asserts that the primary reason for spying is to later target people. Ruining a target’s reputation – through lies, fabrications and magnifying any human error - is a primary tactic used on innocent Targeted Individuals by corporate government community agents, “foot soldiers.”

“They even keep track of who is having an affair…, in case they need to damage their target’s reputation,” Snowden says in his open letter (below the video on this page).

ACLU says to take action to halt this fascist spying, that includes people in communities stalking and spying on most private activities.

[See who's stalking and spying in your neighborhood to covertly ruin innocent lives (by destroying reputation, property, finances and/or eventual imprisonment...) here.]
“When you think about it, Santa Claus and the NSA have a lot in common—both can tell when you’ve been sleeping and know when you’re awake… ” ACLU’s Nick Romero said in an email Monday. “So our civil liberties elves here at the ACLU decided to make an NSA version of that classic holiday tune, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, taking a cue from Santa’s own secret surveillance program. And we want you to have the first peek at the hysterical new music video! (Below)“This new video (directly below) is the perfect way to show your friends that while Santa’s spying operation may be magical, the NSA’s is very real—and why we should all care.”

Also see Snowden’s letter to Brazilians, eloquently relaying the same message, below this video.



An open letter to the people of Brazil, from Edward Snowden:

Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s camera. I shared with the world evidence proving some governments are building a world-wide surveillance system to secretly track how we live, who we talk to, and what we say. I went in front of that camera with open eyes, knowing that the decision would cost me family and my home, and would risk my life. I was motivated by a belief that the citizens of the world deserve to understand the system in which they live.

My greatest fear was that no one would listen to my warning. Never have I been so glad to have been so wrong. The reaction in certain countries has been particularly inspiring to me, and Brazil is certainly one of those.

At the NSA, I witnessed with growing alarm the surveillance of whole populations without any suspicion of wrongdoing, and it threatens to become the greatest human rights challenge of our time. The NSA and other spying agencies tell us that for our own “safety”—for Dilma’s “safety,” for Petrobras’ “safety”—they have revoked our right to privacy and broken into our lives. And they did it without asking the public in any country, even their own.

“The tide has turned, and we can finally see a future where we can enjoy security without sacrificing our privacy.” - Edward Snowden

Today, if you carry a cell phone in Sao Paolo, the NSA can and does keep track of your location: they do this 5 billion times a day to people around the world. When someone in Florianopolis visits a website, the NSA keeps a record of when it happened and what you did there. If a mother in Porto Alegre calls her son to wish him luck on his university exam, NSA can keep that call log for five years or more. They even keep track of who is having an affair or looking at pornography, in case they need to damage their target’s reputation.

American Senators tell us that Brazil should not worry, because this is not “surveillance,” it’s “data collection.” They say it is done to keep you safe. They’re wrong. There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying, legitimate law enforcement — where individuals are targeted based on a reasonable, individualized suspicion — and these programs of dragnet mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and save copies forever. These programs were never about terrorism: they’re about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. They’re about power.

Many Brazilian senators agree, and have asked for my assistance with their investigations of suspected crimes against Brazilian citizens. I have expressed my willingness to assist wherever appropriate and lawful, but unfortunately the United States government has worked very hard to limit my ability to do so — going so far as to force down the Presidential Plane of Evo Morales to prevent me from traveling to Latin America! Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak.

Six months ago, I revealed that the NSA wanted to listen to the whole world. Now, the whole world is listening back, and speaking out, too. And the NSA doesn’t like what it’s hearing.

The culture of indiscriminate worldwide surveillance, exposed to public debates and real investigations on every continent, is collapsing. Only three weeks ago, Brazil led the United Nations Human Rights Committee to recognize for the first time in history that privacy does not stop where the digital network starts, and that the mass surveillance of innocents is a violation of human rights.

The tide has turned, and we can finally see a future where we can enjoy security without sacrificing our privacy. Our rights cannot be limited by a secret organization, and American officials should never decide the freedoms of Brazilian citizens. Even the defenders of mass surveillance, those who may not be persuaded that our surveillance technologies have dangerously outpaced democratic controls, now agree that in democracies, surveillance of the public must be debated by the public.

“Six months ago, I revealed that the NSA wanted to listen to the whole world. Now, the whole world is listening back, and speaking out, too. And the NSA doesn’t like what it’s hearing.” - Edward Snowden

My act of conscience began with a statement: “I don’t want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded. That’s not something I’m willing to support, it’s not something I’m willing to build, and it’s not something I’m willing to live under.”

Days later, I was told my government had made me stateless and wanted to imprison me. The price for my speech was my passport, but I would pay it again: I will not be the one to ignore criminality for the sake of political comfort. I would rather be without a state than without a voice.

If Brazil hears only one thing from me, let it be this: when all of us band together against injustices and in defense of privacy and basic human rights, we can defend ourselves from even the most powerful systems.

http://beforeitsnews.com/war-on-terr...in.info%2FgQDL

Liberty Calling With Judy Morris shared Toni Samanie's photo.


Snowden "These programs were never about terrorism..."