Let me bring a different perspective to this discussion. First off, I am Canadian and thus may see things differently Hey! I was not alive during WWii and my parents were only young children living in separate areas of the world. I have no idea who Anthony Cordesman is as an audio reviewer or political commentator.
As for Edward Snowden, who cares its too late the damage, if any, is done. If the secrets he revealed were so important, then the people who should be shot or punished are those that failed to provide the safeguards to prevent a single person from accessing, downloading and leaking the information.
What I don't get is all the outrage and surprise about what Snowden leaked. The fact the NSA was spying on people's email and phone calls was public knowledge, there was a report by Frontline in May 2007 "Spying on the home front" exposing this whole operation. Was it the extent of it, the implication of Google, Microsoft or others, maybe.
What really get's me is that the Boston bombers were previously flagged by the NSA, the Russians even warned the US about the danger but still they were able to carry out the horrific acts. Billions of you tax dollars are being spent each year, and the rights of US citizens and others are being compromised and in the end you still don't prevent the terror.
Now my outrage, a little over a week ago here in a small town in Quebec, a train carrying over fifty tanker of crude oil was left unattended during the night and rolled back 12 km/ 8 miles down a hill into a curve and exploded levelling the town of Lac Megantic, the accident killed 50 people. Nearly everyone in the town lost someone in their family. The exact cause of the event has not yet been determined but it was not terrorism.
Similar accidents have occurred and will likely continue to occur throughout out the US, Canada and the world. BP comes to mind as a prime example, with the Deepwater Horizon disaster they killed 11 people and leaked millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf. That was preceded, 5 years earlier, by the Texas City Refinery explosion that killed 15 and injuring 170 people.
My point is that on a daily and continuous basis various industries are undertaking high risk operations that put the lives of hundreds or thousands of people at risk. Far less government money and resources are spent minimizing or eliminating these risks. Risks which when compared to the risk of terrorism are far greater.
Fighting terror touches an emotional string with voters whereas regulating industry slows the flow of campaign funding. Not to mention that most people can't understand or tangibly assess these risks. That is why after 9/11 it is reported that in the US air travel decreased in favour of automobiles despite that the fact the odds of dying in a car reck are 1:98 vs a plane crash 1:7178 (source USA Today).
Let me end with a Popper quote "We are democrats, not because the majority is always right, but because the democratic traditions are the least evil ones of which we know..."
As for Edward Snowden, who cares its too late the damage, if any, is done. If the secrets he revealed were so important, then the people who should be shot or punished are those that failed to provide the safeguards to prevent a single person from accessing, downloading and leaking the information.
What I don't get is all the outrage and surprise about what Snowden leaked. The fact the NSA was spying on people's email and phone calls was public knowledge, there was a report by Frontline in May 2007 "Spying on the home front" exposing this whole operation. Was it the extent of it, the implication of Google, Microsoft or others, maybe.
What really get's me is that the Boston bombers were previously flagged by the NSA, the Russians even warned the US about the danger but still they were able to carry out the horrific acts. Billions of you tax dollars are being spent each year, and the rights of US citizens and others are being compromised and in the end you still don't prevent the terror.
Now my outrage, a little over a week ago here in a small town in Quebec, a train carrying over fifty tanker of crude oil was left unattended during the night and rolled back 12 km/ 8 miles down a hill into a curve and exploded levelling the town of Lac Megantic, the accident killed 50 people. Nearly everyone in the town lost someone in their family. The exact cause of the event has not yet been determined but it was not terrorism.
Similar accidents have occurred and will likely continue to occur throughout out the US, Canada and the world. BP comes to mind as a prime example, with the Deepwater Horizon disaster they killed 11 people and leaked millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf. That was preceded, 5 years earlier, by the Texas City Refinery explosion that killed 15 and injuring 170 people.
My point is that on a daily and continuous basis various industries are undertaking high risk operations that put the lives of hundreds or thousands of people at risk. Far less government money and resources are spent minimizing or eliminating these risks. Risks which when compared to the risk of terrorism are far greater.
Fighting terror touches an emotional string with voters whereas regulating industry slows the flow of campaign funding. Not to mention that most people can't understand or tangibly assess these risks. That is why after 9/11 it is reported that in the US air travel decreased in favour of automobiles despite that the fact the odds of dying in a car reck are 1:98 vs a plane crash 1:7178 (source USA Today).
Let me end with a Popper quote "We are democrats, not because the majority is always right, but because the democratic traditions are the least evil ones of which we know..."