Anthonyn Cordesman on Edward Snowden

Dear Bifwynne,
Taking into consideration the handicaps of your occupation I will keep it simple and to the point.
I hope you have better support for your legal arguments than b-rate Cold War flick. Even the Russians wouldn't have driven around with hot warheads on the back of a pick-up truck.
Any threat requires an assessment to determine the real risk. The fact is we have lost a very small number of people to terrorism. We have lost considerably more in our reaction to this very small threat by going to war for 10 years. This has been a gross over reaction to a perceived threat. During that same 10 year period 6 million people have died from heart disease, 6 million from cancer, 1.5 million from respiratory disease, 1 million from accidents.
I haven't even addressed murders.
This "war on terror" can only be supported with a nice Hollywood production, because the facts sure don't add up.

If the U.S. Government wants to use undercover intelligence to cure heart disease or cancer or any of a hundred other things that are killing our citizens, I will let them put cameras and mikes throughout my home.

I do not want to give up ONE of our precious liberties that thousands of our people HAVE died for unless the threat is extraordinary and legitimate.
Factually speaking, your chances of dying at the hands of a terrorist are less than being hit by lightning.

We should all be vigilant protectors of every last liberty that our past generations defended with there lives.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day
God Bless America

Zen...., of course I agree with what you say in principle. 100%. Nevertheless, I believe the risk that a looney group getting its hands on a WMD and using it is NOT just the stuff of Hollywood B-movies. We have 9/11 to prove that. But of course, I hope you are right. I really do.

In the meantime, how about paying attention to legitimate diplomatic effort and taking preemptive action when warranted and seriously kicking ass when needed! That Boston tragedy was just that and shouldn't have happened. What the hell kind of diplomacy is preventing the US Gov. from acting on tips and info it receives from friendly nations whether they're allies or not? Problem is there's too many free agents out there in positions to exercise their own agendas. Like it or not, we're now actually living in a 'global' community. It's now 'us' against them. Call me a theorist but I don't believe for one second that Britain and Germany are unaware of the US' clandestine operations. We need them as much as they need us.

Our envious foreign policy has led us to most hated nation on the planet status. The only countries that tolerate the U.S. are on the payroll. It's like the Yankees finishing last every year. Do you think it might be time for a change in direction?
100 years of exploiting the planet through sheer tyranny. The billions of dollars we send in aid gets stuffed in some Saudi kings vault or a straw presidents pocket. Very little gets to the streets. Make no mistake people around the world hate us. Just look at Egypt, we have never been more reviled there.

Zenblaster - It is common knowledge that everyone else hates us because they hate our freedom. Or that's the meme conveyed by the corporate press. I'm more inclined to agree with you in your assertion that they hate us for meddling in their politics and stealing their natural resources.
Edward Snowden looks to me like a man of conscience and conviction who risked his life to alert us all of what was coming ---- sort of like Paul Revere. Now the corporate press is focusing on him and glossing over the crimes he revealed..... talk about shooting the messenger.

Mr. Cordesman is a diplomat to his core. Even his audio reviews were remarkably diplomatic. Unlike me, he has gone very far in life knowing what not to say.

To much of the world, the U.S. is the schoolyard bully who steals their lunch money and makes them live in fear.

So I'm not condemning my country but just expressing disappointment about learning that we aren't what schoolroom lessons told us we are.