US 'wants to kill me': Snowden

[KingCobra]

American whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has blown the lid on US massive spying operations at home and abroad, says US “government officials want to kill” him.

Snowden told a German television network that, “These people, and they are government officials, have said they would love to put a bullet in my head or poison me when I come out of the supermarket, and then watch as I die in the shower.”

The 30-minute interview with the German public broadcaster ARD TV was shot in Moscow and is to be broadcast later Sunday at 2200 GMT, with initial extracts to be released during an earlier talk show.

UPI (United Press International) news agency reported last week that two unnamed US officials, “one from the Pentagon and the other a National Security Agency analyst, were quoted by BuzzFeed as saying they wanted to kill Snowden personally.”

After the explicit death threats, Snowden's Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said the American whistleblower feared for his life. Kucherena had asked for better security for Snowden.

The Pentagon official, who was previously a US Army Special Forces officer, was quoted in the BuzzFeed article, titled “America's Spies Want Edward Snowden Dead”, as saying, “I would love to put a bullet in his head.”

“I do not take pleasure in taking another human being's life, having to do it in uniform, but he is single-handedly the greatest traitor in American history,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying by BuzzFeed.

In his interview, Snowden also said the NSA would spy on big German companies that competed with US firms.

Fearing for his life, Snowden fled the US -- before disclosing the information on National Security Agency’s spying operations -- first to Hong Kong and then to Russia where he was granted temporary asylum last summer.

US federal prosecutors have filed espionage charges against Snowden after the leaks.

US President Barack Obama said in December 2013 that Snowden’s leaks did unnecessary damage to America’s spying operations. “The way in which these disclosures happened has been damaging to the United States and damaging to our intelligence capabilities,” Obama said.

Snowden’s revelations have caused uproar in the US regarding privacy rights. They have also angered many US allies whose leaders were targeted by the NSA.

 

[KingCobra]

Good.

What good lol...

 

[KingCobra]

Very good.

What very good lol...

 

[harpoon]

Honestly..what did he expect after deciding to betray the sole superpower?

 

[scorpionx]

If one has taken oath of secrecy one should stand by to it to the end of his life. There are so many instances where operatives never came in public or spoke to any media because of their respect to the oath they took in the beginning of their service life. If you can not stand by your morale, be ready for anything. And Mr.Snowden, you must know that if you were a KGB employee, you would have been long dead.

 

[DarkPrince]

If one has taken oath of secrecy one should stand by to it to the end of his life. There are so many instances where operatives never came in public or spoke to any media because of their respect to the oath they took in the beginning of their service life. If you can not stand by your morale, be ready for anything. And Mr.Snowden, you must know that if you were a KGB employee, you would have been long dead.

mama these kind of jobs are stupid it may seem cool in movies but its not cool in real life

 

[scorpionx]

mama these kind of jobs are stupid it may seem cool in movies but its not cool in real life

It's true.Watch "The Good Shepherd". Excellent movie on espionage.

 

[Desertfalcon]

Mr. Snowden is somewhat correct. I don't want him assassinated. I want him returned to America to face charges for high treason and if found guilty, hung from the gallows. I would like those families of the agents and informants who were killed because of Mr. Snowden's treachery, to be there at his execution.

 

[vicky sen]

He must be given protection by Russians.
The CIA guys are murderous thugs.

 

[Nova2]

Not so surprised to hear this ,he's been a pain in the @$$ for the US ,they would luv to put him to sleep foreva. The anger of the US officials is justified ,no top indian or pak intelligence official would hv liked it if it would hv happend wid them ,i.e RAW or ISI .

 

[Spring Onion]

Mr. Snowden is somewhat correct. I don't want him assassinated. I want him returned to America to face charges for high treason and if found guilty, hung from the gallows. I would like those families of the agents and informants who were killed because of Mr. Snowden's treachery, to be there at his execution.

 

[DarkPrince]

sometimes i think nationalism is the most dangerous thing

but any kind of ideology is man made

 

[vicky sen]

Mr. Snowden is somewhat correct. I don't want him assassinated. I want him returned to America to face charges for high treason and if found guilty, hung from the gallows. I would like those families of the agents and informants who were killed because of Mr. Snowden's treachery, to be there at his execution.

Dream on! If Russians abandon him, there will be other countries to take care of him!!
What treason are you talking about, You guys spy on your allies.

 

[Desertfalcon]

Dream on! If Russians abandon him, there will be other countries to take care of him!!
What treason are you talking about, You guys spy on your allies.

Of course he committed treason. Why do you think he is in exile? He revealed top secret information and their sources, that he took an oath to keep secret. He violated his contract and security clearances he had obtained from the United States government. In doing so, he gave aid and comfort to our enemies.

And of course we spy on our allies. So does your country and every other country with a competent intelligence service. What does that have to do with treason?

 

[vicky sen]

Of course he committed treason. Why do you think he is in exile? He revealed top secret information and their sources, that he took an oath to keep secret. He violated his contract and security clearances he had obtained from the United States government. In doing so, he gave aid and comfort to our enemies.

And of course we spy on our allies. So does your country and every other country with a competent intelligence service. What does that have to do with treason?

He did not give aid and comfort to your enemies but only exposed you in front of the world.
The NSA was accused of going "beyond its core mission of national security" when articles were published showing the NSA's intelligence-gathering operations had targeted Brazil's largest oil company, Petrobras. The NSA and the GCHQ were also shown to be surveilling charities including Unicef and Médecins du Monde, as well as allies such as the EU chief and the Israeli Prime Minister.
The NSA was shown to be "secretly" tapping into Yahoo and Google data centers to collect information from "hundreds of millions" of account holders worldwide.
US had spied on Brazil, France, Mexico, Britain, , Germany, and Spain, as well as 35 world leaders, most notably German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said "spying among friends" was "unacceptable" and compared the NSA with the Stasi.

I quote Snowden."There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying ... 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."