President Vladimir Putin has refused to extradite the American and Russian officials have delighted in his success in staying out of the United States' clutches since revealing details of secret U.S. government surveillance programs.
But Moscow also has made clear that Snowden is an increasingly unwelcome guest because the longer he stays, the greater the risk of the diplomatic standoff causing lasting damage to relations with Washington.
"He needs to choose a place to go," Ryabkov told Reuters. "As of this moment, we do not have a formal application from Mr Snowden asking for asylum in the Russian Federation."
Ryabkov told Itar-Tass news agency separately that Russia "cannot solve anything for him" and the situation should now be resolved "one way or the other".
His remarks echoed comments by Putin, who has urged Snowden, 30, to leave as soon as he can.
This is bad news indeed for Snowden because as of yesterday most of the countries from whom he requested asylum had turned him down and those remaining seem unlikely to take him in as well.
I think that the time is fast approaching when Snowden will have no choice but to hand himself over to the American authorities.
Any dissenters?
He is a traitor - should be brought back to the U.S. - put on trial and killed! He is leaking national security information and is scum as far as I'm concerned!
ReplyDeleteSarah I know he's sucking the air out of possible air time for you, but really.
DeleteTraitor/?
DeleteHow about the people who got us into Iraq?
How about the people who crushed our economy?
How about the state legislators who are hell bent on creating anti-abortion laws requiring vaginal ultrasound scopes and other controls on decisions that should be between a woman and her doctor? With laws like that in place, it will be easy to use all the phone and email records collected to prosecute individuals and medical professionals who don't follow the overreaching laws.
DeleteAnons at 8:16 pm and 3:52 am. Well, the neocons who got us into Iraq and out of a healthy economy and the the legislators, state and national, who would subject women to hell on earth are no better, that's for sure, but that does not obviate Snowden's crime. And Snowden's fear of getting punished for what he did simply shows him to be a coward too. He's painted himself into a not very pretty corner.
DeleteBeaglemom
Beaglemom,
DeleteHow much did Snowy hurt you and me?
The banksters and bushies sure did.
The article says that Ryabkov stated that Snowden has never asked for political asylum in Russia but you didn't publish that bit.
ReplyDeleteSo much "he-said-she-said" bull but never a single solitary word from Snowden?
So many experts, so little time, eh?
read the third paragraph
DeleteAre you an expert? Perhaps energy? Maybe Sex Trafficking? She-said-Todd-said?
DeleteEven if a country would accept him, who would want to hire him?
ReplyDeleteWho can trust him - or who would trust him?
DeleteYou two sound like old women in a knitting circle. "Well at least he's not a negro."
DeleteSome of us trusted gthe people who got us into Iraq<
DeleteI think he should be a hero like Daniel Ellsberg.
ReplyDeleteEllsberg didn't run to a foreign country to escape charges like espionage or felony theft. Ellsburg stood up to power here at home and didn't try to leverage his position be threatening to publish the truth. He fought for the right to publish the truth, all the way to the Supreme Court.
DeleteSnowden took a "look at me and how I snookered Booz and the NSA and made $200K, blah blah blah". Snowden enjoyed the riches of his deception for several years before his "conscience" finally kicked in, only as his house of cards was beginning to tumble.
Yes, we need to have serious discussions about security matters and oversight of those peering into the background of data collected by intelligence agencies. Snowden isn't a kid and as an adult and an employee entrusted with national security matters, he has flaked out and broken his oath.
He's a small-time swindler who should lose his security clearance and face a similar length of sentence as others who have leaked information to foreign governments--- in the neighborhood of 2-5 years, although its likely he would serve less than that.
And how about the bankster swindlers, crushing our economy?
DeleteThe swindlers getting us into Iraq and gifting us with the national insecurity state?
Greenwald should put him up in Brazil.
ReplyDeleteA James Bond wanna-be who is actually just a self-righteous little punk in my eyes who believes he is so superior that HE should be the ONLY person in the world to decide WHEN and WHO should get WHAT information. He is for sale! I believe given the chance and power Snowden would become exactly what he thinks he's saving the world from. He is NOT a hero. Any one of thousands of others working with sensitive information could have done what he did.
ReplyDeleteI really could care less which country he goes to or comes back here.
Maybe I watch too many movies and we will NEVER know what really goes on in the world of spies, but here's something I wonder. Where is he physically carrying this data he's threatening America with - on a laptop? on a tiny thumb drive stuck up his butt? He's obviously had to eat Chinese and Russian food. How do we know that their spies hadn't spiked his food/drink rendering him unconscious then went through all his belongings, scanned his body and got all his info anyway without him ever knowing it. If something like that happened maybe it's already on the down low and that's why he is no use to any other countries. I know that might sound like a stupid question but couldn't some scenario like that really happen?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2355132/STEPHEN-GLOVER-Assange-Snowden-heroes-No-theyre-just-hypocrites-moral-cowards.html
Linking to the Dailymail is liking asking someone to smell your shit.
DeleteYou said it! I couldn't agree more. I said from the very beginning that he was scum and I haven't changed my mind. He's a punk with a huge narcissistic streak and a need for massive attention that he obviously wasn't getting enough of. He spun a little story in his head and got caught up in his own story of 'saving the world' and ended up fucking up everything, with the help of the other scumbag Greenwald. They BOTH should be prosecuted and jailed. Greenwald is the bottom of the barrel and has been for years and this just underlines his worthlessness.
DeleteLike the punks who got as into Iraq?
Delete8:17 pm
DeleteThank you, Dick Cheney.
I think we should encourage Russia to keep him and give him the hospitality he deserves by housing him in the lovely town of Oymyakon.
ReplyDelete(the coldest village in the world).
And you'r smart>
DeleteSurely you mean Fargo, ND.
Traitor should be brought back to the US and tried for his crimes. He obviously is not as smart as he thinks he is. The smug SOB should be punished.
ReplyDeleteIs Daniel Ellsberg a traitor? You do realize you sound like Dick Cheney.
DeleteWhen a person claims to have the ability to hack into any government computer and has already proven himself to be a lying and uncontrollable blabbermouth, what sane country would take him in for asylum – let alone commit to paying his room and board for the next 50 years???? I seriously see this guy wearing an orange suit and handcuffs, with the only question being where and when.
ReplyDeleteNo jail time - death to him!!!! He is a traitor and giving away national security information that is detrimental to the USA. Hell awaits him!
Deletethat would be the US.
DeleteTo those who believe in hell, hell is already here,
Deletethe national insecurity state.
Cheny and the banksters are the real vilans, not Snowy.
Snowden – shiny object
ReplyDeleteissue not being discussed – Patriot Act
This is your brain on MSM
Every country is keeping records on phone patterns, social media data etc. Snowden is pretty naive if he thought he had discover something nobody knew about.
DeleteNow had the government really been spying on the people and knew the content of what was being said, they would have known about Snowden's plan- and would have known about his lying about being sick and needing 12 weeks FMLA leave just 3 weeks after being hired, and they would have known that he had already got himself to Hong Kong before NSA realized that their new hire was a problem.
You win.
DeleteBest comment so far.
Snowden wore out his welcome with the Russkies almost as fast as Snowbilly Grifter did with *real Americans* (those with a lick of sense).
ReplyDeleteI presume he knew what he was getting himself in for when he decided to do what he did. If not, oops.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I suspect that his ego got in the way of his common sense and instinct for self preservation.
DeleteHe thought he could make as big a splash on the international scene as Assange did, but had none of the infrastructure, backup plans, or contacts that Assange had set up. He probably also thought he would become an international celebrity and have his pick of tropical paradises to retire in but forgot that the US still has a lot of power all over the world and is not afraid to pressure allies when it comes to dealing with traitors.
At 29, he has an awfully long life ahead of him and, as of now, no place to spend it.
My heart bleeds for him. Oh, wait, no it doesn't.
The scuttlebutt now is that he went in with the intentions of collecting secrets to leak in the first place, which means he signed his confidentiality agreement under false colors so to speak...which means he should be prosecuted.
Deletehttp://fw.to/OZbGJYF
No investigations into the machinations of banksters?
DeleteBut a kid who did no harm to you and me is judged by many commenters without an understanding how our national insecurity state came about?
Prosecuted like Dick Cheney?
Delete5:22 and 5:43 -
DeleteI completely agree that Cheney (AND Bush) as well as the bankers/speculators who caused our financial meltdown should all be held accountable. I am angry that they have never been forced to answer for their actions. However, just because they haven't doesn't mean Snowdon shouldn't either.
I don't know what other information he stole besides that of the domestic spying and THAT is the material that concerns me. There is a reason that China and Russia were so willing to allow him in their countries. The revelations of domestic spying (which should be no surprise to anyone with an IQ higher than a cabbage) are embarrassing, but the other information he very well could have stolen could easily put our country and many lives in danger.
what are the bumps in the wall at his ear level in the photo?
ReplyDeleteIt's a padded and tufted headboard of the bed that he is sitting on- the bumps are the buttons that make the headboard tufted. :-D
DeleteAlaska prides itself on freedom and independence yet gets a check every year from the government for just existing. Snowden is too good for Alaska.
ReplyDeleteYou know if Alaska declared independence from the U.S. and nationalized its oil resources it could become one of the wealthiest nations on earth. It could be the birth place of a new American experiment. A new Constitution, a new Bill of Rights, free from corporate and government surveillance, free from taxation to support endless war, endless surveillance and endless foreign aid.
ReplyDeleteToo bad the glaciers will all melt first. The earthquakes and tsunamis will be relentless. Too bad Alaska couldn't speak up and stand up to people like the Palins and find true independence from the corrupt. Palin loves her death lake, fishing platoon style and will relish total destruction or doing time in a Federal country club.
DeleteGryph's just jealous he can't listen to the Palin girl's phone calls and read their e-mail like Snowden could.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
DeleteFunniest comment and also deep methinks.
I think he seriously failed to plan anything and jumped the shark by his choices of countries to seek asylum in. Hong Kong has ties to China, Cuba, and now Russia. He's the same as Assange, only really stupid. He got his fifteen minutes of fame! I think his best option right now is to voluntarily hand himself over to the United States.
ReplyDeleteAgree + + + +
DeleteAnd you're just jealous you are a nobody lol.
ReplyDeleteHe is trying for Iceland but his best bet is remote Russia, close to Palin's Alaska. Siberia for a man of 30 will be an adventure. He is already useless to those that used him. Everyone has what they want. He is lucky they are keeping him around. It must be fun to toy with that dude.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/us/job-title-key-to-inner-access-held-by-snowden.html?_r=1&
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/04/france-spying_n_3546226.html
ReplyDeleteFor you?
ReplyDeleteIn 2010, while working for a National Security Agency contractor, Edward J. Snowden learned to be a hacker.
ReplyDeletee took a course that trains security professionals to think like hackers and understand their techniques, all with the intent of turning out “certified ethical hackers” who can better defend their employers’ networks.
But the certification, listed on a résumé that Mr. Snowden later prepared, would also have given him some of the skills he needed to rummage undetected through N.S.A. computer systems and gather the highly classified surveillance documents that he leaked last month, security experts say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/us/resume-shows-snowden-honed-hacking-skills.html?_r=2&
In addition to everything else that is bizarre about Snowden and his behavior is the fact that he is now in a hotel in the Moscow airport, in a country where every hotel room was (and, who knows, maybe still is) wired for eavesdropping. I wonder if Russian hotels still have the elderly concierge ladies on each floor to track all of the guests' comings and goings. He went from meta data collection to all over minute data mining! I suspect that Snowden knows very little about history; maybe he should have stayed in high school.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
I traveled to Russia three times during the 80s and early 90s and I clearly remember those older women in the hotels. There were also women in every room of every museum we went to. The day after one of the high school students I was chaperoning sat on a display platform in one of the museums, two Russian 'college students' joined our group and spent the rest of the trip with us, supposedly to practice their English. That excuse seemed strange because they never talked to any of us. And if they were really college students, they had spent a decade too long trying to get their degree!
DeleteI know for a fact that some of our telephone conversations were monitored when we called home from Kiev a few days after the explosion in Chernobyl. When any of us mentioned the accident, the lines became full of static and cleared up as soon as we changed the subject!
RUT-ROH!
ReplyDelete...nobody likes a tattle-tale.
Yes, he is using our mighty industrial military complex.
ReplyDeleteInstead honing in on Snowy, could we think how we arrived via the Cheney adm. at our current insecurity mess?
Moscow Is No Place for a Defector In fleeing to Russia, Edward Snowden joins a long, unhappy litany of American dissidents
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newrepublic.com/article/113757/snowden-case-unhappy-history-american-defectors-moscow#
Does Anyone In The World Actually Want Edward Snowden?
ReplyDeleteThe former government contractor has applied for asylum in more than 20 countries. An updating tally of how each country responds.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jtes/will-anyone-welcome-edward-snowden
Edward Snowden’s nightmare comes true
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/edward-snowden-nsa-93742.html?hp=f2