This article from the Washington Post shines some light on the topic:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nat ... story.html

From page 2 of the article:

From page 4 of the article:

My comments in this thread have been specifically about Snowdon (as per the title of the thread) and his illegal & naive actions which in my (informed) and humble opinion, have put UK lives at risk (yes, some UK citizens may die) and will cost taxpayers £millions+

The widening of the thread's subject to involve Manning, Kelly, Local Councils and Social Services tends to muddy the water and detract from Snowdon's illegal activity. In addition, comparing Snowden's betrayal to that of the action of UK Prime Ministers is not helpful as it simply not relate to the same issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden



My Bold.

Snowden has leaked details of mass surveillance programs where US and UK Governments are collating data from email, telephone and other intercepts of their own citizens. This is miles away from leaking the names of Agents operating on dangerous territory. To be specific (from the British POV) he has provided details on Tempora which is a state surveillance program nothing more nothing less.

I am interested in how you feel it has put UK lives at risk?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempora


Interestingly the authorities down want you to know they are spying on you.





Presumably the US army think if they can't see it, then it has 'gone away'.....

Unfortunately, the discussion around Snowden, criminality, and treason does involve UK prime ministers. UK prime ministers and government departments work very closely with US presidents and US officials – so close that they have jointly hatched underhanded plans with which to justify waging illegal wars. And, it is the very same corrupt UK and US leaders and governments that implement the rules that make traitors of ordinary people who happen to have a sensitive conscience. The treachery of the political elite does also involve local authorities because they also engage in underhanded spying and bullying of ordinary folk in order to please their international political masters. Local authorities are the enforcers of treacherous international agreements, such as Agenda 21. As Snowden said, he doesn't want to live in a world where the State spies on its citizens and has total control over the people. And for that I applaud him.

In my previous post I deliberately provided several and far-reaching examples of underhanded official political policies and manoeuvrings in order to show just how dishonest and deceitful the political elite are across a broad front of policies. These elitist politicians, and that includes successive UK prime ministers and their government colleagues, are the very people who have the power to decide that others, such as Snowden and Manning, are sufficiently guilty to be tried for treason. When the real traitors are the political elite themselves.

As I said; we seem to so easily develop a hyper-sensitivity to the 'treason' of the likes of Snowden and Manning, but somehow we remain blind to the real traitors in our midst – the political elite themselves. There is nothing to be gained by banging up the likes of Snowden for a life-time if the real traitors are left to continue their treachery unrecognised. I can respect Snowden's decision to stand by his conscience, but I can't have any respect for the routine treachery of the political class that regards us, the electorate, with outright contempt and disdain, whether they be US, UK, EU, UN, or any other nationality of politicians; or even local authority politicians and officials who administer the dishonest policies of their national 'leaders'.

Why is it OK to so readily view Snowden as guilty of treason; while the likes of Heath, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Clegg, Milliband, and Cameron; either quite willingly standby and do nothing, or actually sign treaties and agreements with foreign powers that very effectively amount to outright treason? It seems to me that we are looking in the wrong direction. Or maybe the truth is just too much to bear.

In my service days I worked for a while on procurement. I knew four guys who leaked information to the press because they knew that that buying in [X] would be a waste of money and (therefore) the lives of soldiers.

They started by doing the right thing and passing their evidence up the chain but it was always quashed, 'mislaid' or heavily watered-down.

Their reward for telling their bosses the uncomfortable truth about [X] was usually an interview without coffee and a chest poking for their 'unhelpful' attitude. One of them was forced out -it would be called constructive dismissal these days- after being sent to Aberdeen to count stationary. Another claimed he was cornered in the toilets and threatened with a beating. Sounds incredible but I believed him.

Another was simply ignored. So in each case they went quiet for a bit then had a word with their mate's mate at The Telegraph.

They weren't rats or traitors - they simply valued their oath to the Crown above loyalty to their line manager. All soldiers swear an oath to the Crown not the Government of the day.

The really sad thing that in two cases we still bought [X] and the men responsible for buying [X] got OBEs and jobs with the firms that make [X] and as a result of buying [X] the evidence was ignored and lives were lost further down the line as has been predicted.

The funniest thing about this is I cannot tell you what [X] is as I would risk prosecution under the OSA.

Geezer, both you and I are probably aware of real-life situations in the UK where news blackouts have been imposed under threat of prosecution under the OSA; where those news blackouts were not imposed to protect the public, but to protect the authorities from the public.

I totally accept that the Govt have used all sorts of restrictions in the past to protect info that were not legitimate 'secrets'. But the D Notice committee is now history and information is much more regulated by legislation. I am not saying it doesn't happen now, but this sort of abuse wont be as widespread as it was.

The point is that our mutual friend Mr Snowdon has released seriously harmful stuff that is not widely available at present. This is stuff which is not public knowledge as to do so may cause harm to UKPLC and risk life.
If/when it is, it will all become apparent what I have been talking about.

I agree with Westonman, these are are the REAL traitors to this country and its people.

You may be right - its your opinion - that Heath, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown, Clegg, Milliband, and Cameron are all traitors. I cant argue with that. But that does not take away from what Snowden has done.

You will see in my post on the 18th August, I say that all will be revealed when more is made public. Well since then, the news has broken that he has leaked the presence of a joint UK/UK (& others) surveillance base in the middle east. This base is not yet fully up and running but will be used to monitor comms traffic from this politically volatile area - an area where many would-be terrorist intent on causing us - the UK- harm are inspired, based or undergoing training.

Those who support Snowden say he is a man of principle. He wanted to reveal the US prism project and in particular, how the US was stepping over the line legally. Again, that might be a view many subscribe to, but this admirable personal quality does not excuse leaking the location of secret sites which are there at huge expense to protect the west from harm.

IMHO, helping the enemy is one part of the definition of a traitor. Opening up these areas to AQ and their mad pals - our enemy - therefore must qualify him as a traitor

There are more such revelations of the location of secret sites in the pipeline. This cannot be good news for any of us.

Do you REALLY think that our "enemies" cannot/will not discover these "secret" locations for themselves - it's all a game of cat & mouse. The only "secrets" are the fact that our governments are involved in illegal activities against us!