This Snowden story has some odd aspects

[struggle4progress]

... Snowden .. did not have a high school diploma. One former CIA official said that it was extremely unusual for the agency to have hired someone with such thin academic credentials ... Snowden’s claim to have been .. under diplomatic cover .. in Switzerland after ... <a> stint at the CIA as a systems administrator also raised suspicion. “I just have never heard of anyone being hired with so little academic credentials,” the former CIA official said ...A former senior U.S. intelligence official cited other puzzling aspects of Snowden’s account, questioning why a contractor for Booz Allen at an NSA facility in Hawaii would have access to something as sensitive as a court order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ...
Edward Snowden comes forward as source of NSA leaks
By Barton Gellman, Aaron Blake and Greg Miller
Published: June 9

... In 2003 he enlisted in the US Army, intending to fight in the Iraq War, but was discharged after breaking both legs in an accident during a Special Forces training programme. Snowden said he wanted to fight in Iraq because he felt an obligation to “help free people from oppression” ...
Former CIA worker Edward Snowden faces backlash after turning whistleblower on US Prism data-mining operation
Monday 10 June 2013

... Snowden is a 29-year-old high-school dropout who trained for the Army Special Forces before an injury forced him to leave the military. His IT credentials are apparently limited to a few “computer” classes he took at a community college in order to get his high-school equivalency degree — courses that he did not complete. His first job at the NSA was as a security guard. Then, amazingly, he moved up the ranks of the United States’ national security infrastructure: The CIA gave him a job in IT security. He was given diplomatic cover in Geneva. He was hired by Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor, which paid him $200,000 a year to work on the NSA’s computer systems ...
If the NSA Trusted Edward Snowden With Our Data, Why Should We Trust the NSA?
By Farhad Manjoo
Posted Sunday, June 9, 2013, at 7:44 PM

... Consulting giant Booz Allen on Sunday confirmed Edward Snowden is an employee assigned to a team in Hawaii. The firm says Snowden has been working there less than three months ...
Source's employer: Reports of NSA leak 'shocking'
By The Associated Press • Sunday, June 09, 2013

... he earned an annual salary of approximately $200,000 ...
Who is Edward Snowden, whistleblower supreme?
LAST UPDATED AT 09:31 ON Mon 10 Jun 2013

... Snowden said he voted for a third party in 2008 .. and had been wanting to be a whistleblower since before Obama was elected ... "A lot of people in 2008 voted for Obama. I did not vote for him. I voted for a third party ...
Meet Edward Snowden, the NSA Whistleblower
Garance Franke-Ruta
Jun 9 2013, 3:31 PM ET

... Snowden donated a total of $500 to Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign in two installments. The contributions of $250 each were on March 18, 2012, and May 6, 2012 -- both well after Paul was out of contention for the GOP nomination ...
Edward Snowden, NSA Contractor, Claims to Be Source of Surveillance Program Leaks
By MATTHEW MOSK (@mattmosk) , JAMES GORDON MEEK (@meekwire) and LEE FERRAN (@leeferran)
June 9, 2013

... By 2007, the CIA stationed him with diplomatic cover in Geneva, Switzerland. His responsibility for maintaining computer network security meant he had clearance to access a wide array of classified documents ... He left the CIA in 2009 in order to take his first job working for a private contractor that assigned him to a functioning NSA facility, stationed on a military base in Japan. It was then, he said, that he "watched as Obama advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in" ... Snowden said that he admires ... Manning, but argues that there is one important distinction between himself and the army private ... "I carefully evaluated every single document I disclosed to ensure that each was legitimately in the public interest," he said ...
Edward Snowden: former CIA man behind the NSA intelligence leak
Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras in Hong Kong
Monday 10 June 2013 04.50 EDT

... "We hack everyone everywhere," he told .. Greenwald in the foreign hotel where he has taken refuge. "I had the authorities to wiretap anyone – you, a federal judge, to even the president if I had a personal email" ...
Edward Snowden: more conscientious objector than common thief
Editorial
Sunday 9 June 2013 19.03 EDT

[HipChick]

1. Failed basic computer classes

[Revanchist]

2. Why am I bothering to get my Master's

When you can earn $200,000 without a high school diploma?

Snark aside, I think I'm going to wait a week or two before comment too much about him one way or another. It may be the cynic in me, but if this information is true, it smells a tad fishy.

[AnnieK401]

10. Agreed!

It doesn't just "smell fishy" it reeks.

[Berlum]

23. This whole thing has RepuliStink all over it. As usual.

[AnnieK401]

32. Wish DU had a "like" button.

[OKNancy]

3. Something ain't right. n/t

[Shade7M]

4. What kind of family/friend conections

...does Snowden have? As most of us know, the so-called professional scene in this country is basically an insider's game. It would explain how he was "fast-tracked" through the security system ranks, and who might be using him as a foil to embarrass the administration over an issue we should've all been well aware for over a decade now.

In any case, it's high time the surveillance state became a public issue.

[MADem]

16. I read in one of the many articles that he had family who worked "in government."

And his childhood home wasn't far at all from NSA.

Now, one can take a leap and do a little guessing, but perhaps it's possible that mom or dad or both helped get his foot in the door...

[cantbeserious]

5. The Character Assination Begins

eom

[Cirque du So-What]

6. What some call assination

others call scrutny.

[cantbeserious]

15. Just Another Excuse To Shoot The Messenger

eom

[baldguy]

20. And if The Messenger is lying, or has an axe to grind?

[cantbeserious]

21. We Already Know He Has An Axe To Grind - Does Not Change The Revalations

Last edited Mon Jun 10, 2013, 11:41 AM - Edit history (1)

eom

[Kolesar]

26. Does Change The Revelations?

Huh?

[baldguy]

30. Yes, if he hasn't relieved everything he knows.

Like what the NSA was looking for, and who was targeted with the info they got? Remember, Snowden has said that he was very selective about what he released. The problem with a whistleblower is that we can't ever know what his really criteria were, or go back to see if he applied those criteria as he said he did.

And if Snowden is so concerned about the erosion of civil liberties & the prevalence of govt surveillance - THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING IN CHINA?

[struggle4progress]

22. !

[Pale Blue Dot]

29. I don't think that's what the OP is saying.

I think the OP is saying that the revelations are even MORE disturbing because someone like Snowden, who appears to have had few qualifications for the job, had access to such information.

This makes me feel even LESS safe about what the administration is doing, legal or not.

[kenfrequed]

35. Feh

Snowden is being lionized for "whistle-blowing" on something that was practically already in the mainstream media in 2005. How soon we forget.

Meanwhile Manning is being tried by the military for ACTUALLY providing information about war crimes.

Who wants to bet that PFC Manning slips down the memory hole while Snowden gets a book deal?

[PuffedMica]

7. I knew a sailor who was a Crypto technician

He had to be accounted for every day. If he was on leave from his ship, there was a telephone number he had to call every day and tell them where he was at. Failure to report his location or absent from the ship resulted in the Government sending someone to look for him.

I find it hard to believe that Snowden, with his level of access, could just tell his employer he was going to stand down for a while and get treatment for epilepsy, and then turn up in Hong Kong. If the Navy can keep track of every Second Class ET who works on Crypto equipment, how can the NSA 'lose' and insider who knows how the system works.

So much for the TSA and their passenger screening.

[struggle4progress]

8. He didn't work directly for the NSA: he worked for a contractor

[formercia]

33. It's not easy to get a Crypto Clearance

It was the only one I had problems with because my Mother is a Canadian Citizen. It took over a Year before they decided she was harmless. I had a chance to work for NSA but every one of their people I dealt with were Gear Adrift.

[DevonRex]

51. This guy isn't who he says he is, has not done what he says he has.

I can see one thing being unusual. But there are too many lies.

He could be nothing more than a decoy.

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. Excellent collection of data, much appreciated.

Things do not seem to be adding up, at the moment.

[Berlin Expat]

11. There are some very

odd aspects to this story, I agree. Time will tell of course, as it always does. I came across this as well;

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/code-name-verax-snowden-in-exchanges-with-post-reporter-made-clear-he-knew-risks/2013/06/09/c9a25b54-d14c-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_print.html

And Hong Kong? That makes little sense; their domestic surveillance laws makes the Patriot Act look like child's play: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/06/world/asia/06cnd-hong.html?_r=1& (That's an article from 2006, btw - but I posted it so DU readers would have an understanding of the place where Mr. Snowden has sought refuge). Furthermore, why choose a locale that has an extradition treaty with the USA? Personally, that's the last place I'd run to.

Or perhaps it's because it's a hop, skip and a jump to the People's Republic of China, which doesn't have an extradition treaty with the USA? Furthermore, who's paying for his accommodations? I've been to HK more than once in my life, and it is expensive as hell. Is the Guardian footing the bill?

Presumably, more will be known over time.

[madokie]

14. As is in most cases

follow the money to see what this is all about.
My bet would be there is a lot of peeps here who will wind up well deserved of the ignore feature and with egg on their faces.

[trumad]

12. Special Forces training in the Army without a High School Diploma? I don't think so.

On Edit: Just read that they have changed the story to say he has a GED. Apparently the Guardian got big pushback from folks who knew you need a HS Diploma for the Army.

Direct for the US Army website.

QUALIFICATIONS

To become part of the Army's Green Berets, you need to be mentally and physically tough, endure difficult training and face all challenges head-on. In addition to that, you must:

Be a male, age 20-30 (Special Forces positions are not open to women)
Be a U.S. citizen
Be a high school diploma graduate
Achieve a General Technical score of 107 or higher and a combat operation score of 98 on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
Qualify for a secret security clearance.
Qualify and volunteer for Airborne training
Must take and pass the Army Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA)
Must successfully complete the Pre-Basic Task list
Must have 20/20 or corrected to 20/20 in both near and distant vision in both eyes
One year of college is preferred, but it is not a mandatory for enlistment
http://www.goarmy.com/special-forces/qualifications-and-benefits.html

[MADem]

18. Those glasses he's got on are pretty thick...

And I guess the epilepsy came much later...?

[Ninga]

13. The basic facts, if accurate,scream "smoke screen"....now I wonder what the rest of the story is...

We are already behaving as planned...watch
as the grassroots scream at each other...while who gets away with what?

[cantbeserious]

17. In This Case An Out Of Control Surveillance State

eom

[sikofit3]

44. Thank you for posting this

This is what I say about everything that comes out and I, also fall into the screaming match. It works every time and sometimes here on DU I can't believe how far off the original issue we get over things that have nothing to do with it and threads can go into the hundreds. This is something we all HAVE to keep in mind and to keep on point so our energy is not scattered just like they know it will be. We are an intelligent community and have been ahead of everything but we too fall prey to this tactic, it must be a hard wired human fault that they know of.

[ReRe]

19. Thanks for compiling this list!

K&R

That last one caught my eye, as I was thinking about this situation earlier and decided it does have a '"conscientious-objector" sound to it, as he has come forward and revealed his identity. And of course they are tarring and feathering him, verbally. Just keep in mind that the info these reporters are getting is straight from the USG... Be sure and see/hear DemocracyNow this morning! Out of here to watch and listen....

[randome]

25. Actually, that's a worthwhile place to be in any circumstance.

You can't see what's around you unless you maintain a healthy dose of skepticism.

[hr]
[font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font]
[hr]

[Babel_17]

27. Well, Wikipedia makes him more believable as a person

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden

[amuse bouche]

31. PLus, it seems Greenwald has been 'working'

with Snowden since he started at Booz.

[struggle4progress]

36. Gotta link?

I will naturally suspect something like that, given that Snowden seems to be a Paulist, who says that he didn't vote for Obama but feels disappointed that Obama didn't live up to his expectations. Moreover, Snowden's comment, that he is different from Manning because he unlike Manning released only a limited and targeted set of documents, sounds coached to me

But it would be nice to have a link

[amuse bouche]

41. I think Joy Reid (MSNBC contributor)

mentioned it on Twitter.

So sorry, don't have a link

[Recursion]

50. Here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022984574

[Zorra]

34. Miracles never cease. We may agree on something.

I am extremely skeptical about this person as well.

Something feels off here.

[ucrdem]

37. "He left the CIA in 2009 in order to take his first job working for a private contractor

that assigned him to a functioning NSA facility . . ."

It's beginning to look like Bush-Cheney set up a network of "private contractors" to function as their private CIA once they were out of office, or possibly it was already there. If so it would explain a lot of strange goings on these last 4 years, including the recent NSA leaks, well-timed to do maximum damage to Obama's foreign policy cred by undermining his bargaining position in the US-China summit last weekend. It seems to have worked, or at least the Guardian would like us to think so:

But the common ground they found was not quite what the White House expected as talks on cyber-espionage were overshadowed by revelations of Washington's own cyber-warfare strategy.

Both leaders discussed the issue for several hours, according to aides, but the best that the US was able to boast afterwards was that Beijing was no longer unaware of the depth of feeling on the subject.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/us-china-summit-barack-obama-xi-jinping

hmm...

[struggle4progress]

38. The privatization is horrid: about 70% of current funds are going to private companies,

and they're not as directly answerable to anyone

[ucrdem]

40. It complicates the picture

But on the other hand it makes sense that there would be such a network and it explains a lot.

[Renew Deal]

39. Does he face the same hiring standards if he is a contractor?

I would guess not. Still, it seems that data security is a big problem in the has govt.

[Coyotl]

42. Snowden supported Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign. Rand Paul is busy running for 2016, and

leading a charge to hang abuse of our rights by Bush's spying programs on Obama.

Also, there is no such thing as coincidence, and no one who worked in CIA would set something like this up for political reasons

[ucrdem]

43. Medea Benjamin, Obama's counter-terrorism speech heckler, supports Rand Paul

And posted an article on March 7 assuring us that "there is room for common cause":

Rand made a heroic stand. In gratitude, progressives should “Stand with Rand.”

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/03/following-filibuster-challenging.html

What a small world it is eh?

[struggle4progress]

45. ... According to a scant U.S. Army file, Snowden was born June 21, 1983 ... Snowden said he enlisted

in the Army in 2003, but Army records said it was 2004 that he signed up in the Army Reserves as a Special Forces recruit ... Snowden's military records say he left the service just a few months after signing up and did not complete any training ... The CIA declined to comment Sunday on Snowden's employment there ... Snowden left the CIA in 2009 only to go to later work for another spy agency, the NSA, as a private contractor with the technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii ... Booz Allen Hamilton confirmed Snowden's employment there and said he joined less than three months ago ...

Edward Snowden's Father Worried Over Son's NSA Leak Confession
By MISEON LEE, JAMES GORDON MEEK (@meekwire) and LEE FERRAN (@leeferran)
June 10, 2013

[LeftInTX]

46. Thanks - very informative

[PuffedMica]

47. After an investigation

A decade ago, after an investigation, even Stanton Friedman was calling Bob Lazar a fraud.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

48. Hummm.

He also picks now to do it. To go along with other scandals going on.

We, as a whole, must watch the Hill closer. All this, my opinion mind you, is designed to block other things.

[lanlady]

49. as a Booz Allen employee...

I can tell you, we are *beyond* astonished that one of our own--with such a spotty education and work record--claimed to be making 200K for doing unspecified IT work at NSA. That is at the level of a Vice President's salary!! Either he's lying about that, or or or... I don't know, this whole thing just doesn't add up.