Russia and Snowden sitting in a tree...

[Cynical Ninja]

....K.I.S.S.I.N.G!

Russia have granted leaky pig Edward Snowden temporary asylum so he can leave the airport he's be stinky up for the past five weeks with his pasty yankee ass!

I wonder what the “price” of temporary asylum was?

Russia are well known for their support of free speech! they would never lock up a female punk band called Pussy Riot for singing anti Putin songs in a church then deny them parole would they?

Oh! Hmmmmmm!

[HairOfTheDog]

To Russia, with love...

So, Snowden's reportedly living with American ex-pats in Russia, and according to his lawyer, he's looking for work. Russia can keep him, he's done his thing...the fat lady has sung...let him fade into obscurity.

His lawyer asserts that he's swimming in job offers. I sure wouldn't hire him. Surprised he's not soliciting donations, at least not yet (that I've seen).

The latest from Reuters:



"He needs to work. He is not a rich man, and the money that he had, he has of course, spent on food," said Kucherena (Snowden's Russian lawyer), who sits on two high-profile Russian government advisory bodies.

"Snowden is an expert, a very high-level expert, and I am receiving letters from companies and citizens who would eagerly give him a job. He will not have any problems," the lawyer said.

Snowden already has been offered a job by Russia's top social networking site.

A pledge not to publish more information that could harm the United States was the condition under which Putin said Snowden could receive safe harbor. "Edward assured me that he is not planning to publish any documents that blacken the American government," Kucherena said.

Snowden was accompanied by Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks legal researcher. "We would like to thank the Russian people and all those others who have helped to protect Mr. Snowden. We have won the battle - now the war," WikiLeaks said on Twitter.

"I am so thankful to the Russian nation and President Vladimir Putin," the American's father, Lonnie Snowden, told Russian state television.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/0...N120130802

[aussiefriend]

I wonder what the “price” of temporary asylum was?

Indeed, Putin would not do it for nothing. No way. Some media outlets reporting the U.S. as 'furious'.

I don't believe in leaking stuff willy nilly either, however, I do think the execution of unarmed civilians in Iraq is another matter.

I don't care if they are eevsdropping, I already knew they were anyway.

By surrendering himself to Russia for his own personal safety, he does not have the intellect or capacity to understand what further security breaches and risk he has placed all of us, even here in Australia. Pussy Riot is an all girl punk band that Putin got bitchy with because he didn't like their art. He is no bastion of freedom, democracy, free speech, privacy, all the things Snowden himself stands for. The irony here is astounding.

[Duchess]

A pledge not to publish more information that could harm the United States was the condition under which Putin said Snowden could receive safe harbor.

I almost choked on air when I read that.

[aussiefriend]

Nah, come on, whatever they are saying publicly they mean the opposite privately, and the U.S. knows it. No need to publish it, as long as Putin has the documents.

[Duchess]

I'm aware of that.

[HairOfTheDog]

Nah, come on, whatever they are saying publicly they mean the opposite privately, and the U.S. knows it. No need to publish it, as long as Putin has the documents.

If Snowden has anything more, Putin would want an exclusive. I agree.

I also think protecting Snowden is a way for countries to poke at the US, and he could be seen as leverage.

Does the US government know all of the details regarding what Snowden stole from his employer? I don't know the answer. But, if they don't, Snowden's value as a potential negotiation pawn increases, IMO.

[Jimbone]

If our president wasn't such a pussy, he'd put the missile defense hardware in Poland and Czechoslovakia.

But he won't. He's Putin's little man-bitch.

[Duchess]

If our president wasn't such a pussy, he'd put the missile defense hardware in Poland and Czechoslovakia.

I would imagine that dealing with Russia demands extreme tact. Would you really want to instigate something with them by making a show of trying to intimidate them?

[Jimbone]

I would imagine that dealing with Russia demands extreme tact. Would you really want to instigate something with them by making a show of trying to intimidate them?

Yes.

The Russian respects strength, not cowardice and people who back down.

*ETA, and who exactly is instigating who?

[Duchess]

The Russian respects strength, not cowardice and people who back down.

*ETA, and who exactly is instigating who?

So by not aiming some missiles at them is going to be viewed as cowardice & backing down? I'm not interested in having a leader who shoots his mouth off & maybe makes threatening gestures in order to get a point across. I think there is a way to get things accomplished without veiled threats or innuendo...but what the hell do I know about this kind of thing, nothing.

[Jimbone]

So by not aiming some missiles at them is going to be viewed as cowardice & backing down? I'm not interested in having a leader who shoots his mouth off & maybe makes threatening gestures in order to get a point across. I think there is a way to get things accomplished without veiled threats or innuendo...but what the hell do I know about this kind of thing, nothing.

The missile shield wasn't aiming missiles at them... it was part of a defensive system to knock out missiles launched from Russia or the Middle East. We were putting them in Poland and Czechoslovakia because they were our allies... and Obama sold them out and pulled the plug when he took office. He hoped it was a gesture of good will to 'reset' relations with Russia.

Since then, the Russians have basically laughed at Obama. Putin has zero respect for him, and thinks the US is weak. They've continued to be strong allies of Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Giving Snowden asylum was just another poke in the eye.

[Cynical Ninja]

So by not aiming some missiles at them is going to be viewed as cowardice & backing down? I'm not interested in having a leader who shoots his mouth off & maybe makes threatening gestures in order to get a point across. I think there is a way to get things accomplished without veiled threats or innuendo...but what the hell do I know about this kind of thing, nothing.

The missile shield wasn't aiming missiles at them... it was part of a defensive system to knock out missiles launched from Russia or the Middle East. We were putting them in Poland and Czechoslovakia because they were our allies... and Obama sold them out and pulled the plug when he took office. He hoped it was a gesture of good will to 'reset' relations with Russia.

Since then, the Russians have basically laughed at Obama. Putin has zero respect for him, and thinks the US is weak. They've continued to be strong allies of Syria, Iran, and North Korea. Giving Snowden asylum was just another poke in the eye.

Would you go with funeral exist strategy?

[Jimbone]

Would you go with funeral exist strategy?

Oh no! Ramseyitis claims another victim!

[aussiefriend]

I'm aware of that.

and don't you forget either

[aussiefriend]

Snowden's now alliance with Russia can be seen as a direct stand against the punk band Pussy Riot.

[HairOfTheDog]

...what’s clear every day is that the two countries haven’t achieved the rose-strewn “reset” that was promised when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered that oversize prop button to the Russian foreign minister back in 2009.

Putin has shown little interest in that. Even as the United States and Russia sort through their intertwined arrangements over missile defense, terrorist tracking, disarmament, Syria and Iran, he’s used his grandstanding against the United States to try to establish himself as a more dominant player on the world stage and in using his international brinksmanship to beat up the opposition.

More than he’s done to recalibrate Americans’ views on surveillance, Snowden — whom just about everyone in Washington and Moscow knows Putin probably would have locked away and eventually killed — had he been a Russian who’d leaked secret — has become a reason for Republicans and Democrats both in Congress to recall one area of longstanding bipartisan agreement: they all hate Russia.

Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee said, “President Obama must make clear to President Putin that there can be no ‘business as usual’ as long as Russia continues to harbor this fugitive from justice,”. “He should immediately announce that he will not meet one-on-one with the Russian president at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Russia in September. Putin knows how to play hardball, so should we.”

Full story:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/ed...Page2.html

[Duchess]

We should probably just bomb 'em now, be pro-active & stuff.

[HairOfTheDog]

We should probably just bomb 'em now, be pro-active & stuff.

I haven't heard that strategy kicked around before.

I think Putin really mishandled this situation and blew an opportunity to increase his global credibility and strengthen US relations in order to one-up Obama and the US. (Re-read LC's "Putin is a bad-ass biker" thread this morning; made me laugh.)

Whether Snowden has anything more than he's already leaked, IDK. Whether he'd go to work for Russia to undermine the US, IDK. But, I really don't see how anyone can consider him a hero or a patriot. I think he's a dickshine.

It'll hurt Putin if Obama snubs him and cancels talks at the summit. I think that's probably what he'll do.

I may be alone here, but I think Snowden's a flash in the pan and not worthy of all the attention he's receiving. Guess we'll see.

[Duchess]

I haven't heard that strategy kicked around before.

That's a Duchess Decree.

Snubbing Putin on the world stage might be a blow to his ego. I like it!