The Effect of Weakness

I have learned to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery.
            Aeschylus

Edward Snowden was not a member of the National Security Agency but a contractor who worked in intelligence.  As he was a contractor of the NSA, Mr. Snowden was put through a screening process and was notified that the information he work with would be of a secret nature and therefore, any release of said information would be in violation of the law.  No doubt, as a condition of his employment, he took a vow or pledge to uphold the security of the United States and abide by the NSA’s rules and regulations regarding secret information.  Then, like Daniel Ellsberg and the release of the Pentagon Papers, Mr. Snowden came to the conclusion that his interests superceded that of the United States and the exercise of his “conscience” outweighed the dangers in which he placed other Americans throughout the world.   

Since the Second World War, there has been an emphasis on the importance and right of members of any government to not follow orders which contradict their moral beliefs or their sense of right and wrong.  Edward Snowden, upon entering the National Security Agency was shocked, shocked to find spying going on and in rather hypocritical righteous anger, took it upon himself to release secret documents that not only embarrassed and put at risk the goals and objectives of the United States but also put in danger the men and women tasked with carrying out those directives.  I claim hypocrisy because here is a man who willingly entered a service known and created for the purpose of collecting intelligence, among other things.   

Given the stated purpose of the NSA, Mr. Snowden’s claims of a conscientious drive to unveil the actions of the United States rings hollow.  There are two possibilities at play here.  One, Mr. Snowden was not aware of the nature of espionage and of the core objectives of the NSA.  This seems rather strange that one would go through all the rigmarole of passing through background checks and applications and the like without any real understanding of what he was signing up to do.  The second possibility is that his intention was more heinous – that he went through the laborious process and worked his way into a delicate and sensitive area of intelligence for the sole purpose of revealing it.  In short, he is either one of the more naïve people formally of the U.S. government or a spy of the worst character.   

There are many who are shocked by the Mr. Snowden’s activities and stance, as well as the actions of Wikileaks’ founder Julian Assange and Army Private First Class Bradley Manning.  People are even more dismayed at their attitude, ranging from blasé to defiant, about their actions.  Famed author C.S. Lewis once said, “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.”  This is an example of what happens when we culturally dismiss the notions and ideas that created our country.  Some commentators have suggested we are the Rome of 200 CE.  At times, it seems we stand at a precipice.  What was valued is no longer and our country seems to be more directionless than ever.   

However, I honestly believe that is an illusion.  I believe that the majority of Americans out there still value honor, valor, loyalty and patriotism.  However, as a society, we have allowed certain elements to creep in and fester.  Mr. Snowden needs to be held accountable for his actions.  How this will be done, I’m not sure.  He is playing a “catch me if you can” game and the Russians, a bit secretly, and the Chinese, more blatantly, are reveling in our inability to get at him and the embarrassment he is causing.  His father is announcing that demands need to be made before his son could comfortably surrender to American authorities.  I hope the Obama administration does not allow a potential traitor and his father to dictate terms.  This man is charged with one of the worst crimes that can be committed in espionage and putting at risk the lives of Americans serving abroad.  He needs to be treated as such.