Snowden thread

[politicus]

Thought we might as well have one overall thread.

Putin has said Snowden can leave the airport and stay in Russia if he doesn't leak more material that will damage "Our American partner".

FBI and FSB official are, apparently, working out some deal.
http://english.ruvr.ru/news/2013_07_01/Putin-Obama-have-ordered-FSB-FBI-chiefs-to-find-a-solution-over-Snowden-official-7096/

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Thought we might as well have one overall thread.

Putin has said Snowden can leave the airport and stay in Russia if he doesn't leak more material that will damage "Our American partner".
FBI and FSB official are, apparently, working out some deal.

Putin is so full of sh**t.......meanwhile I'm sure they're diligently trying to get all of the info they can.

He's applied for asylum in Russia

I'm betting once they have all they need, they'll put him on a plane back to the U.S.  He means nothing to them.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I hope Snowden is not as stupid as Putin thinks he is. He needs to hop onto the first flight out of Russia before it is too late. Putin is the winner here three times over: He can get all of Snowden's info, he can embarrass Obama, and he can than make nice by shipping Snowden back.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I hope Snowden is not as stupid as Putin thinks he is. He needs to hop onto the first flight out of Russia before it is too late. Putin is the winner here three times over: He can get all of Snowden's info, he can embarrass Obama, and he can than make nice by shipping Snowden back.

If he's shipped back it's only because Putin got all he wanted to get from Snowman.

[Middle-aged Europe]

I'm betting once they have all they need, they'll put him on a plane back to the U.S.  He means nothing to them.

Would make bad PR though.

[Tender Branson]

Snowden has strong words for Obama/Biden:

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23139980

[Tender Branson]

Of the 21 countries that Snowden applied for asylum, 3 are already out of the running:

* Russia (Snowden has withdrawn the request)
* Norway (has rejected the request)
* Austria (has submitted the request at the Austrian embassy in Moscow, which is unlawful: asylum requests can only be filed within Austria and not at embassies abroad to avoid asylum tourism)

The 18 countries that remain:

Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Venezuela

[Tender Branson]

It seems we are not alone:

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[Middle-aged Europe]

It seems we are not alone:

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That's very convenient for them.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

This little punk is starting to piss me off......just STFU and don't let WhackyLeaks speak for you every second.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Austrian Greens started an online petition urging their government to grant Snowden asylum:
https://www.gruene.at/schuetzt-snowden

I also liked how Ströbele (Green leftie from Germany) was trolling the government today, by not only demanding asylum but also *witness protection* for Snowden. This is of course amusing on some level.

[batmacumba]

The Itamaraty confirmed Snowden's request today. According to the brief "at the moment, there's no intention of answering it".

[Tender Branson]

Meanwhile, the Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane (which was flying from Moscow back to Bolivia) had to land in Vienna tonight, because of rumours that Snowden was on board.

Because of the rumours, France, Italy and Portugal closed their airspace and Morales and crew took a nap at the VIP section of the Vienna airport and gave a news conference before.





http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9610C520130703

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Austrian Greens started an online petition urging their government to grant Snowden asylum:
https://www.gruene.at/schuetzt-snowden

German Greens followed up with a similar petition:
http://www.gruene.de/meine-kampagne/wir-fordern-schutz-fuer-edward-snowden.html

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Meanwhile, the Bolivian President Evo Morales' plane (which was flying from Moscow back to Bolivia) had to land in Vienna tonight, because of rumours that Snowden was on board.

Because of the rumours, France, Italy and Portugal closed their airspace and Morales and crew took a nap at the VIP section of the Vienna airport and gave a news conference before.





http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9610C520130703

Imagine if we put a fraction of this effort going after those who failed to prevent 9/11, lied to start the Iraq war, or cause the economy to collapse.

[Leftbehind]

Because of the rumours, France, Italy and Portugal closed their airspace and Morales and crew took a nap at the VIP section of the Vienna airport and gave a news conference before.

lol Europe is pathetic.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

So, do those of us who are insistent that Snowden is a dangerous traitor who must be captured concede at least that it is just a bit, shall we say, utterly ridiculous for entire countries to close their airspace because of rumors that he's on a plane that might be passing through said airspace?

[Tender Branson]

Well, you don't always have the Bolivian President in town, so our President decided to pop in and have a talk with him:

[Tender Branson]

Meanwhile, Bolivia "declared war" on Austria, France, Italy, Portugal and the US of course.

They "declared war on us" because we searched their plane for Snowden (which of course is understandable and a necessary check, considering that a guy who could impact relations with the US might come here) and Morales actually agreed that the plane is searched:

(Reuters) - Bolivia accused Austria of an act of aggression by searching President Evo Morales' plane on Wednesday and blamed Washington for its forced landing in Vienna over suspicions that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was on board.

Morales' plane was stranded at Vienna airport for several hours after Portugal and France abruptly canceled air permits for it to fly through their airspace, but eventually resumed its flight home form an energy meeting in Moscow.

Austria found no sign of Snowden on board. He is believed to still be in the transit area of a Moscow airport, where he has been trying since June 23 to find a country that will protect him from prosecution in the United States on espionage charges.

The diversion and search of Morales' plane were the latest turns in the 30-year-old Snowden's bid to escape the clutches of the United States since he divulged details of a secret U.S. government surveillance program, Prism.

Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca blamed the forced stopover in Vienna on "unfounded suspicions that Mr Snowden was on the plane".

"We don't know who invented this lie," Choquehuanca said in La Paz. "We want to express our displeasure because this has put the president's life at risk."

Bolivia's ambassador to the United Nations told reporters in Geneva that Austria's decision to search the plane was an act of aggression and a violation of international law.

The envoy, Sacha Llorentty Soliz, said he had no doubt that the orders to divert Morales' plane came from the United States.

Austria's deputy chancellor, Michael Spindelegger, confirmed Snowden had not been stowed away after Austrian authorities inspected Morales' government plane but said the search had been permitted by Morales.

"Our colleagues from the airport had a look and can give assurances that no one is on board who is not a Bolivian citizen," Spindelegger told reporters at the airport.

"Morales agreed to a voluntary inspection," he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9610C520130703

[politicus]

Meanwhile, Bolivia "declared war" on Austria, France, Italy, Portugal and the US of course.

They "declared war on us" because we searched their plane for Snowden (which of course is understandable and a necessary check, considering that a guy who could impact relations with the US might come here) and Morales actually agreed that the plane is searched:

(Reuters) - Bolivia accused Austria of an act of aggression by searching President Evo Morales' plane on Wednesday and blamed Washington for its forced landing in Vienna over suspicions that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was on board.

Austria is not a US ally, and you could have said no. It was convenient, but hardly necessary to be so compliant.

[Tender Branson]

Meanwhile, Bolivia "declared war" on Austria, France, Italy, Portugal and the US of course.

They "declared war on us" because we searched their plane for Snowden (which of course is understandable and a necessary check, considering that a guy who could impact relations with the US might come here) and Morales actually agreed that the plane is searched:

(Reuters) - Bolivia accused Austria of an act of aggression by searching President Evo Morales' plane on Wednesday and blamed Washington for its forced landing in Vienna over suspicions that former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden was on board.

Austria is not a US ally, and you could have said no. It was convnient, but hardly necessary to be so compliant.

True, but considering that national elections are coming up the government probably wanted to go 100% sure and still check the plane for Snowden after Morales offered the vountary check.

If we didn't check the plane and in the event that Snowden was really in the plane on the way to Bolivia, we would then have the blame on us: "Why didn't those Austrians look into the plane ?", or if Snowden went out of the plane at the airport we would now be drawn into a complicated international situation, just 3 months before the election. I think the situation was handled well and even Morales thanked the country's officials for the "excellent handling" of the situation. Don't know really why the Bolivian embassador is now bitching around that the search was "illegal" when Morales himself offered it on a voluntary basis and thanked us for the great time here ...

[Tender Branson]

BTW:

The Morales plane was actually in Salzburg (not far away from me), then made a U-turn and went back to Vienna.

[Tender Branson]

More pics from their airport:

http://derstandard.at/1371171425996/snowden-Morales-strandet-in-Schwechat-und-trifft-Brother-President

[Velasco]

Finally, the Spain's government opened the air space:

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/us-usa-security-snowden-idUSBRE9610C520130703

The plane landed at Gran Canaria airport, to be precise.

Personally, I think this is a bit shameful. On one hand, US government and CIA treat European allies like enemies (I think Merkel or someone stated something similar), on the other hand European governments act like fearful vassals. It's just a personal opinion, but I think it might be a good thing (and even convenient) for Europe showing some independence, since we are living in a multi-polar world and not in the Cold War.   

[Antonio the Sixth]

This is shameful. European government shouldn't be surprised to be treated like sh*t by the US if none of them has the balls to stand against them.