US SURVEILLANCE LEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER’S IDENTITY REVEALED
US: A 29-year-old government contractor was identified on
Monday as the source of bombshell leaks about US monitoring of Internet
users and phone records. Edward Snowden told The Guardian newspaper he
was motivated solely by a desire to inform the public about the “massive
surveillance machine.”
“I have no intention of hiding who I am because I know I have done
nothing wrong,” he said. But with the US government seeking a criminal
probe into the leaks, he admitted: “I do not expect to see home again.”
The newspaper, which posted a video interview of Snowden clearly
showing his face, said it was revealing his identity at his request.
A former technical assistant for the CIA, Snowden worked for four
years at the National Security Agency as an employee of various outside
contractors, including Dell and Booz Allen Hamilton, his current
employer.
“My sole motive is to inform the public as to that which is done in
their name and that which is done against them,” Snowden said.
Three weeks ago, he packed his bags for Hong Kong and left a salary
of about USD 200,000, a girlfriend with whom he lived in Hawaii, a
stable career and a loving family, according to The Guardian.
“I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good
conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom
and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive
surveillance machine they’re secretly building,” Snowden said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America’s most
consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley
Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the
world’s most secretive organisations – the NSA. In a note accompanying
the first set of documents he provided, he wrote: “I understand that I
will be made to suffer for my actions,” but “I will be satisfied if the
federation of secret law, unequal pardon and irresistible executive
powers that rule the world that I love are revealed even for an
instant.”
He does not fear the consequences of going public, he said, only that
doing so will distract attention from the issues raised by his
disclosures. “I know the media likes to personalise political debates,
and I know the government will demonise me.” He added: “My sole motive
is to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that
which is done against them.”
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper earlier called for a
criminal probe into the leaks, slamming the “gut-wrenching” disclosures
for causing “huge, grave damage” to US intelligence capabilities.
“The NSA has filed a crimes report on this already,” Clapper told
NBC, referring to the leaks to The Guardian and The Washington Post.
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