Security Haven
"We are extremely disappointed that the Russian Federation would take this step. Obviously this is not a positive development.A long history of law enforcement co-operation -- between the White House and the Kremlin? That will be news to many. Now, if he spoke of a long history of conflicted resolutions, unhelpfully malicious opposition, strident demands, imploring entreaties and failed expectations that might have seemed more reflective of the state of "co-operation" between Russian and American authorities.
"We are evaluating the utility of a summit."
The Russian decision to give official haven to Edward Snowden "undermines a long history of law enforcement co-operation...".
White House press secretary, Jay Carney
Slight exemptions exist, as in, for example, the intelligence that was forthcoming from Russian authorities to Americans at the time of the Boston Marathon bombings. That was then, this is now, and it's like apples and oranges; they're not the same fruit. When it comes to threats recognized by he United States against its interests; think North Korea, Iran, Syria; Russia is non-co-operative.
And while the United States fulminates and blusters, issues statements of disappointment and regret with undertones of returning the compliment, might even the most casual of international observers feel that the United States, with reversed situations, would happily hand over a Russian who had absconded with Russian intelligence, prepared to hand it over to the United States?
Of course, Vladimir Putin is strategically playing both to ends; on the one hand he cagily insists that Russia has no interest whatever in taking possession of any of the purloined documentation, and forbids Edward Snowden under pain of ejection from his safe haven, should he release any further documents, and on the other, he has finally appeared to relent in the face of the young man's dilemma, offering him asylum.
Edward Snowden will not pay the price of choosing to betray the trust placed in him as a secure risk in American intelligence gathering, if the Kremlin has anything to do with the matter. And since Edward Snowden's erratic flight took him to the various venues where he was certain national disinterest in furthering the interests of the United States could be assured, their reaction did have a great deal to do with denying America its prosecution of a traitor.
And as of two days ago, Edward Snowden was politely escorted out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport to the safety of Russian-shielded anonymity, while accused by his country of espionage activities. The Russian Federal Migration Service has issued a document passing as a passport, good for one year, but eminently renewable. And permitting the man who prefers Russian-style democracy and government respect for the rule of law, judicial, corporate and social corruption to that of his native land's.
Of course this has nothing whatever to do with any kind of objective respect for human rights, privacy, protection from government surveillance of its citizenry or conflicting political stances between the two countries. It is, simply, Russia's larger, broader, more all-encompassing concern for truth and justice. While America seeks to prosecute an insider who accuses it of peeking into peoples' privacy, Russia has earned its reputation as an abuser of the press; worse, complicity in deadly brutality against journalists.
But the United States is capable of rallying civilized world opinion against the Kremlin's decision to prosecute and persecute their already-hidden gay community, taking steps to ensure that the international community arriving in Sochi for the Winter Olympics know that they too will be targeted for prosecution under Russian law if they so much as wink at one another.
None of this is the work of Vladimir Putin, needless to say.
The decision, insists Yuri Ushakov, an aide to the great man, rested solely with immigration officials. "It has nothing to do with the president or his administration", said Mr. Ushakov. Surely he crossed his heart, crossed his fingers and toes, when he said that. Crossed his eyes and winked insanely?
As for the United States administration in defence of its huge Internet, email, smartphone scrutiny in the interests of public safety and the net of danger cast over America by Islamist terrorists...how other than by using this wide-net system would they ever have come to the conclusion through picking up Internet messages that a new jihad-attack plot has been hatched by al-Qaeda, leading to the temporary closure of American missions in selected Muslim countries?
Um...yes!
Labels: Communications, Controversy, Hypocrisy, Internet, Islamism, Russia, United States
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, August 03, 2013
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