In a surprise the man behind the famous leaks this week
chooses to reveal his identity via
The Guardian. Now holed up in a Hong Kong hotel.
Guardian compares him to Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley Manning. See video and Q & A.
The individual responsible for one of the most significant leaks in
US political history is Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old former technical
assistant for the CIA and
current employee of the defence contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. Snowden
has been working at the National Security Agency for the last four
years as an employee of various outside contractors, including Booz
Allen and Dell.
The Guardian, after several days of interviews, is revealing his
identity at his request. From the moment he decided to disclose numerous
top-secret documents to the public, he was determined not to opt for
the protection of anonymity. "I have no intention of hiding who I am
because I know I have done nothing wrong," he said.
Snowden will go down in history as one of America's most
consequential whistleblowers, alongside Daniel Ellsberg and Bradley
Manning. He is responsible for handing over material from one of the
world's most secretive organisations – the NSA.
In a note accompanying the first set of documents he provided, he
wrote: "I understand that I will be made to suffer for my actions," but
"I will be satisfied if the federation of secret law, unequal pardon and
irresistible executive powers that rule the world that I love are
revealed even for an instant."
Despite his determination to be publicly unveiled, he repeatedly
insisted that he wants to avoid the media spotlight. "I don't want
public attention because I don't want the story to be about me. I want
it to be about what the US government is doing."
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