Why President Obama Won't, and Shouldn't, Pardon Snowden
lawfareblog.comObama will never pardon Snowden.
The popular perception of him is liberal, but he is in reality one of the most hawkish men in Washington. He sends Hellfire missiles like the rest of us send email.
Obama will never go against the security state. He is the progeniture of the security state.
His belief is that if we wish to avoid large-scale wars, then some people must silently disappear, or be quietly erased from the sky.
Is he wrong? I don't know. It may be lesser of many evils. President Obama is strategically brilliant. Is he going to condone someone who endangered his entire philosophy of national defense?
No way.
TLDR; His revelations of unconstitutional government surveillance activity were valid and beneficial to all, but also "the damage to U.S. intelligence operations [were] enormous". So he shouldn't be pardoned.
Frankly, a disgusting argument.
Carefully read the author's bio and decide for yourself what biases he may have.
The author says that a pardon decision hinges on what is good for society. So, the question is: does the benefit of the disclosures outweigh the costs?
I considered the pros and cons and decided to sign the pardon Snowden petition, for what little that is worth.
So what he is saying is that we don't know what the damages are, and that we know that the revelations did a lot of good, and then says that the damages are huge.
Ok then.
So many basic errors! Sharing is not stealing. Disclosure is not loss. Secrecy is not security. Information is not intelligence.