I know I throw this word out there a lot on this forum, and for good reason I feel.
I know and recognize that people have
speculated for YEARS about what kind of observation/intelligence gathering capabilities the US has/uses
on their own citizens. I can remember when I was younger and being amazed, and also thinking that certainly it couldn't be true, that the Government
could listen to/record your phone call if a few keywords were said.
Unless you are a government employee for one of the major intelligence networks in the United States, or their IT guy with unlimited access (like
snowden, who DID have privac to almost EVERY SINGLE SERVER) .. I will no longer speculate and flat-out state that you did not have ANY clue as the to
magnitude OR depth of the programs they were actively employing against you.
NObody could have predicted all the ways they can keep track of you, even being able to watch you if the circumstance permits. I don't want to come
off as sounding like a Snowden supporter and keep a neutral bias here, but I would like to tell EVERYONE who has an interest in these matters to watch
Citizenfour. Won the Oscar for best docu, and it literally has the carmeras right there with Snowden as the story is breaking and he is giving out
details of the programs they use. Even going as far as to say that anybody on a computer working in the places he did could view a live feed from one
of MANY drones hovering all over the world. Didn't know the operation details behind the image, but could just watch/spy anytime they wanted, anywhere
they wanted. That's just your average desk-jockey in one of these programs.
Anyway, back to the point. I had never really looked at drone usage as a "global assassination program", even knowing they were armed with missiles.
As a typical American response, I guess I just sort of thought "well, good. we can kill those terrorists better now!".
Then I remembered reading that law that allowed them to use those drones to kill US citizens..on our OWN soil to boot. The distance wasn't so great
between here and there to me anymore. That's exactly what it is. It may have initially been a surveillance machine, but it's way more than that now.
In the minds of the people they are using these against frequently, it has to be PRETTY damn terrifying. Take into consideration that there are also
usually civilian casualties with their deployment. As a child, growing up with no stake in the conflicts, knowing that an American flying machine with
bombs/missiles could come flying overhead and kill you without you EVER knowing would be very traumatizing. They are part of exactly what he said they
are, a global assassination program, and regardless of your view on the ethics, you can't deny that. That's what they are, and that's what they are
used for.
It's not so much picking a side about Snowden himself, it's about seeing things how they ARE. The facts he has released, while some may not be as
damning as others, exposed the public to exactly what was going on in the dark corners of the government. I think he SHOULD be welcomed home as a
hero, and he is right. This country is no longer "governed by the people" as it was supposed to be. It's now more like the "Ruling" and the "Ruled"
and I hate it. I'm seriously considering becoming an expat and I've ALWAYS loved my country and been patriotic. He said from the beginning he didn't
want to become the focus of this and take the picture OFF of the Government and what they had done/are doing. That's why he revealed himself before
there was much headway into the investigation, to get it out of the way and give the government and the MSM less fluff to cloud the picture and
distract the public.
Believe him or not, he showed us the truth and let us know just how bad the global monitoring/flying death machine program had become. These things
are fact, and regardless of the messenger, the message remains the same.
edit on 3/12/2015 by Ensinger23 because: (no reason given)