Snowden/Prism - Who benefits

I was not sure in which forum I should post this, because the subject relates to: conspiracy, social unrest, political unrest.

First of all, I'm furious about the state our privacy is in at the moment.

But I do wonder if the Snowden affair was setup with a certain agenda in mind. We see:

• Social unrest in the populus about their privacy
  
• Unrest between nations:
  • Germany finds out it's a mayor target of surveillance.
    
  • France postponing the EU trade negations with US.
    
  Is this fake?
  
• Full news coverage. Propaganda?
  
• Snowden applying for asylum in several EU countries, which is useless. You need to be in the EU country to apply and most EU extradite to the US.
  
• Snowden hiding in Moscow airport before the customs. Russia/Poetin does nothing?
  

Am I too paranoid?

Opinions?

reply to post by athun


I don't think anyone on the American side set this up in any way at all. I've wondered if Snowden might have had more than one employer in the end...but if that's the case, his other half sure isn't being helpful.

I think Snowden figured he'd be received far better than he was and he VERY badly underestimated the power and reach of what he used to be a part of and thought he could betray and then run. He'd have had a better time and much better luck doing what Ellsberg did and NOT running afterward, IMO. The American people would have helped protect and support him if the whole idea of U.S. intelligence handed directly to foreign hands had never become an issue.

Oh well... now he sees other nations are willing to basically kidnap a head of state on US request. That's how far they're willing to go... Although I still don't think the kid realizes it. Anyone he even stands in the same room with, outside a nation like he's in now, is in mortal danger for every moment he's in their presence.

reply to post by athun


I'm as outraged by the spying as anyone else but Snwden didn't reveal anything new and he didn't discuss a lot of material that is already public like ECHELON.

This doesn't seem to make sense so the question who benefits, how and why are important.

This has stirred up a lot of discussion including an enormous amount of disinformation. Some of the people that think Snowden is a hero may accept the disinformation without question. The most obvious is that this enables them to act as if ECHELON now called Prism started after 9/11 which isn't true.

It might also spur some much needed reform that is even in the best interest of those that have been going to extremes and it might enable them to have people that will minimize the damage to themselves and impede reform if it goes farther than they want.

It also provides them an opportunity to study the way people respond to this as a psychological research project which they ahve been doing a lot of.

Its getting into a circus. Ransacking the Ecuadorian plane, spying on the Ecuadorian embassy .. seriously?

The nerve! Who the hell pointed the US out as an universal police force? Are they some kind of über-star-trek dudes who is to control everything?

This sh!t is beyond me! ... for the moment...