From the little information available online surrounding Edward Snowden, one wonders how this young man advanced so far and so quickly in our prestigious intelligence establishments in so little time and with no formal education.
Here is an amazing time line that illustrates the phenomenal rise in position and wealth in two of the most prestigious intelligence agencies of the US government by a young man who had less than a high school diploma:
June 21, 1983
Born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Mother, clerk in U.S. District Court, MD
Father, officer in U.S. Coast Guard
1999
At 16 years old, he and his family moved to Ellicot City, MD where he studied computing at Anne Arundel Community College to obtain his high school diploma.
He dropped out.
Later he obtained his G.E.D. (Where?)
May 7, 2004
At age 21, he joined the U.S. Army
September 2004
Discharged from the army because of two broken legs suffered in a training accident
Employment
No dates available
N.S.A.
Security Guard at a covert facility at the University of Maryland.
What covert facility is at the University of Maryland??
Why did he take a job as a security guard, when later we learn his works on IT security with the C.I.A.?
He went from being a security guard at N.S.A. to I.T. security at the C.I.A. Strange.
He went from being a security guard at N.S.A. to I.T. security at the C.I.A. Strange.
C.I.A.
Worked on IT security.
Where did he get the qualification to work on IT security? Unknown, since all we know is that he earned a G.E.D. after dropping out of Anne Arundel Community College where he was trying to earn his high school diploma.
2007
C.I.A.
At 24 years old and with nothing more than a G.E.D., he is placed by the C.I.A. in Geneva, Switzerland, WITH DIPLOMATIC COVER.
His job: Computer network security.
Why would he need DIPLOMATIC COVER for an I.T. position?
2009
Snowden left the C.I.A. for a private contractor (who?) inside a N.S.A. facility on a U.S. military base in Japan.
May 2013
Snowden worked for Booz, Allen, Hamilton less than 3 months as a system administrator at a N.S.A. facility in Hawaii earning, according to B.A.H., $122,000/year.
June 10, 2013
Snowden has said that he has a "predisposition to seek asylum in a country with shared values," and that his ideal choice would be Iceland. But that looks increasingly unlikely. The other two "shared values" countries he may seek asylum in are China (Hong Kong) and Russia. Two countries with totalitarian governments.
This may be true, in some limited way, but the overriding fact is that Hong Kong is part of China, which is, as Snowden knows, a stalwart adversary of the United States in intelligence matters. Snowden is now at the mercy of the Chinese leaders who run Hong Kong. As a result, all of Snowden’s secrets may wind up in the hands of the Chinese government—which has no commitment at all to free speech or the right to political dissent. And that makes Snowden a hero?" --Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker
*****************
I find it exceedingly strange that Edward Snowden could have held positions with the C.I.A. and N.S.A. without any obvious academic credentials or demonstrated technical expertise. As of now, I am unable to find where he received his training for his IT jobs. I'm still looking, but there isn't a lot out there on this young man.
The most glaring anomaly is his DIPLOMATIC COVER given to him by the C.I.A.
The link from Wikipedia says this on diplomatic cover:
"In espionage, an official cover operative is an operative who assumes a position in an organization with diplomatic ties to the government for which they work. Official cover operatives are granted a set of governmental protections, and if caught in the act of espionage, they can request diplomatic protection from their government. In other words, official cover operatives are agents officially recognized by their country."
More:
"Among the questions is how a contract employee at a distant NSA satellite office was able to obtain a copy of an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, a highly classified document that would presumably be sealed from most employees and of little use to someone in his position. A former senior NSA official said that the number of agency officials with access to such court orders is 'maybe 30 or maybe 40. Not large numbers.'
[skip]
'The spy you want in an organization may not be the executive assistant to the secretary of state; it may be the guy in the bowels of the IT department because he has system-administrator privileges and because that person is also in a position to insert malware into your system to facilitate remote access,' Brenner said. Further information about Snowden’s personal and professional life was scant Monday."
*******************
Maybe there are explanations for all the questions in this post. I'm still looking. But I do find all of what we DO know very curious. How did Edward Snowden get so far so quickly with so little?
I know what I'm thinking. Is anyone else thinking the same?
The Talented Mr. Ripley could learn a few tricks from the very talented Mr. Snowden.
26 comments:
Mr. Snowden is simply one of many hired guns that work in our privatized intelligence industry.
Lord only knows what they have access to.
But there is an awful lot of money being funneled to this industry and as the government directors retire they just hire on to the contracting companies and it all goes round. Very incestuous.
Good article but it doesn't provide any answers, if there are answers to be found.
It is acceptable to be a whistle-blower against illegal activities unless the activities are committed by the federalists. Is storing emails and conversations illegal, that has to be determined.
Is Boehner so upset because he thinks Snowden or because they got caught.
We want to remain safe and have a competent intelligence system as long as it doesn't interfere with our privacy. Of course no one who is outraged by the NSA's actions has anything to hide so it must be the other guy/gal. We just haven't come to terms with the fact that we have to give up something to be safe.
I just can't believe the NSA has enough manpower to listen to billions of calls and emails, unless of course you are a conservative which means you are a target (kidding on that one, kinda)
"I just can't believe the NSA has enough manpower to listen to billions of calls and emails..."
It doesn't. It collects them.
Skudrunner... "Any society that would give up a little freedom to gain a little security will deserve neitherand lose both.". Benjamin Franklin
Is anyone else thinking the same thing? Here is my take: I am hard pressed to decide whether Snowden is a pathological narcissist or an anti-social personality (read: sociopath) without conscience, or more likely a bit of both. The narcissism of the man is obvious and palpable:
According to his former employer, Booz Allen, Snowden was dismissed for ethical violations, and his claimed salary was grossly exaggerated.
His biggest error in judgement: Outing himself (read: grandstanding) on an international stage after he had been fired. After a job termination, one might call this behavior a "revenge reaction." In outing himself, every hostile country would court him as an intelligence asset - a position any opportunistic narcissist or sociopath would relish.
What surprises me is how he was able charm (read: con) himself into the positions he held.
Two years ago, I started having serious reservations about Mr. Greenwald too.
According to Snowden's neighbors in Hawaii, he and his girlfriend kept to themselves, kept the shades down on all their windows, and rarely went out.
I find that behavior strange as well. Snowden was making $122 thousand a year at 29 years of age and was living in Hawaii with his girlfriend, and his behavior was characterized by his neighbor as reclusive?
Is that normal behavior of a 29 year old making that kind of money in a paradise like Hawaii?
Very strange, IMO.
Josh Marshall at TPM:
"...just who is Snowden, in the context of the US Intelligence Community? Did he have access and visibility into quite as much as he suggests? He suggests that as a computer technician he essentially had a view into basically everything. That’s not inherently implausible given the role of specialized technical knowledge. But that makes me skeptical. I have little doubt that people in the IC will try to present him as a more marginal figure than he described, regardless of whether it’s true.
But that’s another point that has me curious. It seems pretty clear, based on what he’s already leaked, that he had some fairly high clearance, if only to have access to the stuff he leaked. But again, these are points I’m very curious to hear more about."
So am I.
A comment on your previous post that weighs upon this discussion: "Tell Me What is Being Done in My Name."
Anyone who thinks government must operate in a state of total transparency is utterly naive. Organizations behave much like living organisms: They have a will to survive and, when cornered or in a state of emergency, will exhibit a "primordial mean streak" no matter how enlightened or principled they may appear on paper. Governments will even betray their own principles as necessary. Look towards American history for examples: The suspension of habeas corpus during the American Civil War, the internment of Japanese citizens during WWII, and the legal concept known as "eminent domain" which can deprive people of their property.
Why should this shock and surprise us? Classical Greek philosophers understand 2,400 years ago this primordial aspect of government, and even gave it names: "Noble lies" and "Pious Deceptions" (Plato).
Any knucklehead who does not understand these concepts knows little of history.
(O)CT(O)PUS,
Yes. Even our own American history is filled with examples.
As I wrote elsewhere on this blog, when did presidents start these extra-constitutional moves?
They started with our second president, John Adams.
"Signed into law by President John Adams in 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress as America prepared for war with France. These acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government."
Jefferson and Madison opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts through the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions:
"These resolutions were passed by the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 and were authored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, respectively. The resolutions argued that the federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated to it in the Constitution.
The Virginia Resolution, authored by Madison, said that by enacting the Alien and Sedition Acts, Congress was exercising “a power not delegated by the Constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is leveled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right.”
However, when Jefferson became president, he HIMSELF used the Alien and Sedition Acts to punish his political enemies!
You're correct, (O)CT(O)PUS, this sort of thing has a long, long history in this country. And we have survived.
Most Americans know next to nothing about their own history and the presidents who went around the Constitution for political and national security reasons.
Have people forgotten how J. Edgar Hoover kept dossiers on Americans he suspected of being Communists?
"Tim Weiner's book, 'Enemies: A History of the FBI,' traces the history of the FBI's secret intelligence operations, from the bureau's creation in the early 20th century through its ongoing fight in the current war on terrorism. He explains how Hoover's increasing concerns about communist threats against the United States led to the FBI's secret intelligence operations against anyone deemed 'subversive.'
If he [Hoover] was going to attack the enemies of the United States, better that it be done in secret and not under law. Because to convict people in court, you have to [reveal] your evidence, [but] when you're doing secret intelligence operations, you just have to sabotage and subvert them and steal their secrets — you don't have to produce evidence capable of discovery by the other side. That could embarrass you or get the case thrown out — because you had gone outside the law to enforce the law.
Hoover started amassing secret intelligence on 'enemies of the United States' — a list that included terrorists, communists, spies — or anyone Hoover or the FBI had deemed subversive."
A building in Washington is named for this guy who illegally kept dossiers on Americans whom he suspected were subversive.
Does anyone think Hoover worried about those Americans' 4th amendment rights?
More from Tim Weiner's book:
On Hoover's list of gays in government
"Hoover's war on gays in the government dates back to 1937 and lasted all his life. He conflated — and he was not alone — communism with homosexuality. Both communists and homosexuals had secret coded language that they spoke to each other, and they had clandestine lives, they met in clandestine places, they had secrets. And in certain cases, such as the British spy ring that penetrated the Pentagon in the 1940s and early 1950s, they were both communists and homosexuals. Hoover didn't see a dime's worth of difference there. They were one and the same. This was hammered into him when the FBI dealt with one of the most famous informants — Whittaker Chambers — who helped bring down secret Soviet espionage rings in this country. He was a well-known writer at Time magazine. Chambers was a secret homosexual and a secret communist. Hoover saw a nexus there, and he never let that thought go."
Times must be changing. I knew an
Army officer, a chem warfare fellow, who failed to get a TS
clearance because his grandfather
was born in the Ukraine. Yet, this
strange lad of questionable personal background flies right
into a sensitive spot?
BB Idaho,
I've been told by someone who may know more about that sort of thing that what Snowden achieved is not that unusual for the C.I.A. or the N.S.A.
I have no other input on this.
But I still find it strange.
As of yet, I don't know where he got his I.T. training.
So far, I've been unable to find out what he did after his discharge from the army and his employment with the N.S.A. as a security guard at the U. of Maryland.
Just found this on US New and World Report:
"Education: He did not complete high school. He told The Guardian that he studied computers at a community college and obtained a general equivalency degree. A spokesman for Anne Arundel Community College confirmed that a student with the same name and birth date took classes there, from 1999 to 2001 and again in 2004 and 2005."
So now we know he took classes for 2 years at the community college. Then after a three-year gap, he took classes again from 2004 to 2005.
Probably in computer technology.
Also this:
"Snowden self-identifies as a spook. "I've been a spy almost all of my adult life," he told the Washington Post.
In his communications with a reporter, he used a code name — "Verax," or truth-teller in Latin. He's worried he's being watched and puts a red hood over his head and laptop when he enters passwords, The Guardian reported."
The Talented Mr. Carlyle
Should have known you wouldn't have to dig too deep to find this parcel of rogues.
(O)CT(O)PUS,
You nailed this guy, Snowden:
"By Kristina Cooke and John Shiffman
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - Long before he became known worldwide as the NSA contractor who exposed top-secret U.S. government surveillance programs, Edward Snowden worked for a Japanese anime company run by friends and went by the nicknames "The True HOOHA" and "Phish."
In 2002, he was 18 years old, a high-school dropout and his parents had just divorced. On the tiny anime company's website, he wrote of his skills with video games and popularity with women.
As an adult, the former CIA employee has not left much of a digital trail on the Internet. Snowden, who turns 30 later this month, does not appear to be active on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter - at least not under his own name.
But the website of Ryuhana Press, a now defunct start-up that had sold anime art, offers a glimpse of Snowden as a youth. As its web editor, Snowden's profile page is a mix of truth, sarcasm and silly jokes.
For example, he listed his correct birthday - June 21, 1983 - and noted that it falls on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. But he also claimed to be 37 years old and to have fathered two preteen children.
"I really am a nice guy," Snowden wrote on his profile page. "You see, I act arrogant and cruel because I was not hugged enough as a child, and because the public education system turned it's (sic) wretched, spiked back on me."
Reuters viewed the website on Tuesday and contacted former company employees for comment. On Wednesday, the website had been taken down.
Snowden wrote that he favored purple sunglasses and praised the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
"I like my girlish figure that attracts girls," he wrote, "and I like my lamer friends. That's the best biography you'll get out of me, coppers!"
Photographs uploaded by friends for Snowden's 19th birthday show a young man pulling down his pants for his colleagues, putting a clothespin on his chest, and dancing. A blog entry from a company employee teased, "Who is he? What does he do? Does he really love himself as much as his shameless marketing would have you believe?"
Snowden wrote on his profile that he liked online role-playing games (RPG). "I always wanted to write RPG campaigns with my spare time, but I'll get about three missions in and scrap the world for my next, better, powergamin' build."
He joked that he "got bullied" into being an editor on the website by a gaggle of artists and "beautiful nubile young girls."
Snowden said he liked playing the popular fighting video game Tekken. He was so skilled that he attracted a gathering of fans at the 2002 Anime USA convention, wrote a co-worker on another part of the site. "He tends to spontaneously be a ray of sunshine and inspiration. He's a great listener, and he's eager to help people improve themselves."
The co-worker did not reply to inquiries from Reuters on Wednesday. Ryuhana closed in 2004 as the primary proprietors went off to college and opened a new business in California, according to the website. Other contributors to the site could not be reached for comment.
The defunct company listed an address in Fort Meade, Md., next door to the National Security Agency. "
What a difference a couple of decades make!
The generation that gave this country Jane Fonda and Daniel Ellsberg is now coming down very hard on the side of "the establishment." I wonder what would have been the psychological evaluation of Jane Fonda at the time?
This reminds me of Bill Frist and his "diagnosing" Terri Schiavo:
"Here is my take: I am hard pressed to decide whether Snowden is a pathological narcissist or an anti-social personality (read: sociopath) without conscience, or more likely a bit of both. The narcissism of the man is obvious and palpable:"
As far as academic background, lets not forget that in the world of tech, lots of very successful people, like David Karp of Tumblr never graduated from high school and he just sold Tumbler to Yahoo for 1.1 billion dollars!
Thus, a techie without a high school degree is not odd at all.
He must have had a very impressive skill set because he was hired by the CIA and a very reputable consulting services firm. He also did get security clearance(s).
So now the 60's generation finds themselves face to face with a "radical" from the current generation and we have become our parents, or "the establishment."
The issues he brings up are very important issue in light of the fact that with the internet and electronic processing of everything in our lives we are facing "the new frontier" and it is a very important conversation to have.
Jane Fonda and Daniel Ellsberg force our country to ask some pretty hard questions during our youth and now Eric Snowden, with all his faults and worts, is asking the same of this generation.
Sadly, we are not young anymore...
A couple of things TAO,
Snowden is no hippie radical, or even leftist radical. He identifies himself as a libertarian, a supporter of Ron Paul, y'know, of the family that doesn't believe in government of any size or of government that interferes in anyone's life, even if that "anyone" wants to discriminate.
As for Jane Fonda, she and everyone else understands that what she did was colossally stupid, and that Americans would never forgive her for it.
But here we have Snowden (while on foreign soil) who let the intelligence-gathering cat out of the bag when he let the Chinese Communists know that the US was hacking into their computers.
What I want to see is how those who condemn Jane Fonda- for almost 50 years--have to say about Snowden giving the Communist Chinese THAT information--American secrets to them.
Glenn Beck calls him a "hero." But I bet he still thinks Jane Fonda is a traitor. She merely showed up in North Vietnam and gave them aid and comfort. Snowden gave the Communist Chinese information on US intelligence gathering.
Daniel Ellsberg reported what was happening via the Pentagon Papers to the American people, and HE DID NOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY to escape the consequences.
Yes, Snowden is forcing the American people to think about very important issues.
But I don't think he's as brave as Daniel Ellsberg or the sort of "hero" Ellsberg is.
BTW, TAO, the Des Moines Register has the same concerns that I have about Snowden's background:
"If the stories that have emerged about the self-confessed leaker, Edward Snowden, are to be believed, the true scandal is inside the NSA and the CIA: Based on Snowden’s telling, the United States government entrusted a high school dropout who began his career at the National Security Agency as a security guard with some of the most sensitive national security secrets with potentially explosive international repercussions."
First off, Shaw, exactly how many of these tech people at the CIA/NSA have employment histories not much different than Ed Snowden? Trust me, he is in the majority.
As far as the comparsion of him to Jane Fonda and or Daniel Ellsberg, first its time to acknowledge that most of the "radicalism" today is from the right; most techies are big into Ron Paul and the belief that the internet is changing the world and making things more transparent and leading to some sort of globalized world order.
Yes, he and they want to change the world and naively he chose China, which you cannot call "COMMUNIST CHINA" as if it is some evil thing considering that they are our biggest trading partner and as such, if they are the evil empire as you want to project them as, then we need to quit spending so much money supporting this evil empire. Number one trading partner and 2nd largest holder of US Government bonds and you want to paint them as an enemy?
Explain to me the logic of on one hand claiming that COMMUNIST CHINA is a threat and on the other allowing ourselves to become so economically dependent on them for our livelihoods?
Snowdon represents the new radicalism of the 21st Century. The radicalism of the times is anti government and right wing.
As far as the "most sensitive" and "explosive" nature of the secrets that he has produced, well guess what, its been known since 2002 that the government wanted to know as much about each and everyone of us as they could:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/14/opinion/you-are-a-suspect.html
TAO,
Why I believe this Snow Job person is character-disordered (hint: it has nothing to do with intelligence): He was dismissed from his job for ethical violations. He lied to the public about his salary. He abandoned his girlfriend who wrote: “My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass.” He compromised national security. He betrayed an intelligence secret to the government of Communist China (which has been hacking American intellectual property assets at the rate $300 billion per year). This breach of foreign intelligence has no bearing whatsoever upon "privacy, freedom, and liberty" on American soil. He lies. He has a demonstrated callous disregard of people without conscience or remorse. Chest-thumping grandiosity is the ego food of a narcissist.
Through intelligence and charm, Snow Job parlayed himself into a successful con man. The same intelligence and charm is what turned Ted Bundy into a successful serial killer. They share the same personality type.
Thank you, (O)CT(O)PUS, for that answer. I couldn't have said it better.
TAO, the reason I emphasize "Communist" China, is because many loud-mouths on the right, who see Snowden as a hero, are very happy to pin that label on President Obama, (and some of the more idiotic commenters on some conservative blogs have labeled me the same).
But the fact is, trading partner and debt holder notwithstanding, the government of China is Communist and totalitarian.
Period.
And Snowden has publicly made his choice to stand with that foreign country against the United States.
This country has its faults and flaws, but tell me honestly, who would admire and call "hero" someone who did what he did.
I find it very curious and not a little hypocritical.
Shaw,
The folks on the right; the people who were the most supportive of the Patriot Act back in 2001, the folks who screamed the loudest about patriotism and giving the government the maximum tools to know every detail of our lives are now claiming that Snowdon is a "hero?"
The folks that want to believe that only Ron Paul and Rand Paul and somehow by default, the Republicans, are the only folks that defend our civil liberties even though the actual voting records of Congress show that Russ Feingold is the only senator that voted against the Patriot Act twice and the Democrats were the overwhelming majority of the minority that voted against the Patriot Act?
THAT looks to me like a battle with stupidity and you can't win that one.
The folks that were all for "Free Markets" and still might want to see "Communist" as evil and a threat to our national defense? Without realizing that free markets make the term "national" obsolete?
Sorry, I personally believe the best hope for that bunch is that they are old and haven't reproduced!
Now, I do believe that the Libertarians have SOME points that all of us need to think about; as crazy and as absurd as the majority of their ideas are.
Snowdon will pay for his crime but Pandora's box has been opened; just like Jane Fonda and Daniel Ellsberg opened their respective Pandora boxes.
The kid will end up as a footnote in history; a change agent of history who will be forgotten.
Whatever Snowdon's personality traits, whatever his motivation, (and lets not forget that Ellsberg was painted as a nutcase also) we do need to be concerned about government power and its intrusion into our personal lives.
If Snowdon can pull the stunt he did imagine what another employee of the NSA could do with your data if they didn't like you?
Innocent people can be destroyed and their lives ruined with the data that the NSA collects.
If Snowdon can pull off his escapade then obviously we need better control and oversight of the NSA.
As far as the malcontents go; well hell, there are those who glorified Bonnie and Clyde too!
Octo
"He lied to the public"
Looks like he is setting himself up for a career in politics.
Do you really believe that China did not know they were being spied on by the US. Just because they speak a different language they are not stupid.
I assume he signed a non disclosure so he should be prosecuted for that and if he gave up any "government secrets" he should be hung for treason.
His girlfriend is lost but it sounds like that happened years ago and Jane Fonda cost American lives during a war, a lot of difference.
I am sure the current administration will do the right thing with this, the IRS, Bengazi, Syria. If all else fails they can just blame Bush.
Amazing how many intelligence experts there are on the internet who have all this inside information.
What intel are we protecting?
We gave the government the right to invade our privacy. Now we cry foul because we view that as unconstitutional? We are living with the consequences of our decision and we don't like it. Grow up CITIZENS.
Skudrunner,
These days, anyone can say anything and get away with it – but not you this time.
Comments without attribution, assertions without citations from reliable and reputable sources, disjointed analogies without logical connections, saying anything just for the sheer hell of it - these amount to little more than a string of non sequiturs for attention-getting self-amusement. What is the logical connection between Lindsay Mills and Jane Fonda? Do you understand a difference between national security concerns versus theft of commercial assets? Or the trollishly bad faith tactic of tossing off-topic subjects into the same salad – always with smug cynicism.
There is a point beyond which a contrarian’s sarcasm ceases to amuse. It just becomes pointless, tedious and tendentious beyond reason, and annoying.
Post a Comment