Susan Rice claims Snowden leaks will NOT hurt Obama's presidency or U.S. foreign policy... a direct

[avaistheone1]

contradiction of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel


Susan Rice Downplays Impact Of Snowden Leaks

UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice dismissed claims that Edward Snowden's highly classified leaks have weakened the Obama presidency and damaged U.S. foreign policy, insisting that the United States will remain "the most influential, powerful and important country in the world."

Rice's remarks were her only public ones on Snowden and came in an interview with The Associated Press as she prepared to leave the U.N. post and start her new job Monday as President Barack Obama's national security adviser.

She said it's too soon to judge whether there will be any long-term serious repercussions from the intelligence leaks by the former National Security Agency contractor who fled to Hong Kong and then Russia after seizing documents disclosing secret U.S. surveillance programs in the U.S. and overseas, which he has shared with The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers.

"I don't think the diplomatic consequences, at least as they are foreseeable now, are that significant," she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/29/susan-rice_n_3521509.html

[L0oniX]

1. LOL

[tularetom]

2. Is it any wonder that the American people are confused and conflicted about this?

I mean, who the fuck is in charge here? Both of these people work for the same boss yet they have reached very different conclusions about the impact of the Snowden leaks.

I don't maintain that the entire administration has to agree, but it is definitely to their benefit to be able to deliver a unified position on the matter. Is it a BFD or isn't it? Doesn't seem like a particularly difficult question to answer.

[bobduca]

8. Here's a possibility... His Obsession with Lincoln's "Cabinet of Rivals" bullshit is backfiring?

Chuck Hagel
United States Secretary of Defense
Charles Timothy "Chuck" Hagel is an American politician who is the 24th and current United States Secretary of Defense, serving since 2013. He served as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009. Wikipedia
Born: October 4, 1946 (age 66), North Platte, NE
Party: Republican Party

[CJCRANE]

3. I think we need to separate it out into diplomatic, military and intelligence gathering

consequences.

Rice is probably correct that the diplomatic consequences won't be that bad.

[madrchsod]

4. actually she is correct

it will be back to business is as usual . if there`s any fallout it`s the chinese and russians will upgrade their security and techniques to match ours.

[Fire Walk With Me]

5. Susan Rice is a corporate shill who must be run out of politics and positions of influence posthaste

STFU, Susan.


Susan Rice Owns $300,000 in TransCanada Stock (Keystone XL Developer)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/112729600

[Mass]

10. This probably describes the entire cabinet.

Tell me who is not invested in stocks from large corporation. Or do you consider that KeyStone is the only problematic investment?

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. I consider the entire corporatocracy to be a poison which must be countered

and countered completely. Any representative of the people's will should have no conflicting financial interests, present or future. Those who do are not representatives of the will of the people and serve the corporations. We were sick of this with Dick Cheney and Halliburton; it must end.

[PSPS]

6. In a way, she's right. It was in the crapper anyway.

I lost count of the number of failures, cave ins and numerous campaign promises conveniently ignored.

[Catherina]

7. If wishes were ponies. She must not read the European news n/t

[nadinbrzezinski]

12. She does

Internal consumption is not buying the fear card. Senators are demanding shit...time to try a new tact

I forgot, is my cynicism showing?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. Germany disagrees.

But, what the hell, giving CYA statements are what the State Department does.


http://www.spiegel.de/international/german-press-reactions-to-tempora-data-surveillance-scandal-a-907720.html

Conservative daily Die Welt writes:

"What may the state do and where does it need to control itself? And to what extent is it justifiable and democratically legitimate to ask citizens to abandon digital self-determination? The technical possibilities reach much further than do our moral capabilities."

Left-leaning Berliner Zeitung writes:

"The hero in this drama is undoubtedly Edward Snowden, this eloquent 30-year-old who is obviously equipped with a fine moral compass, as he has risked his entire future to uncover the activities of these intelligence agencies. ... The scale of the revelation is to some extent still unclear. First, there is the shocking invasion into the private spheres of billions of people and the abuse of the civil rights of large swaths of the global population. ... But the question remains under what rules a world is functioning, if every communication can be quite legally monitored on the basis of stricter terrorism laws."

Center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes:

"The German government has done well to begin by asking for an explanation from the involved parties, which now includes the British, who are, after all, bound by European law. It would certainly be naïve to expect complete openness. And the fact, pointed out by Obama, that attacks have been thwarted by the surveillance programs, even here in Germany, is certainly in some cases a good justification. But when the fundamental rights of German and European citizens are being comprehensively infringed on, it is a matter of course to ask that certain standards be adhered to."

Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"There are three lessons that can be drawn from the Snowden case. America, but also some of its allies, are keeping too much under surveillance, keeping too much secret and they haven't found an appropriate means for dealing with those who expose such excesses. There is something deeply wrong when a whistleblower has to rely on the goodwill of China or Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa to find safe haven."