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NSAs indiscriminate spying collapsing, Snowden says in open letter
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Washington Post/Associated Press
Posted: December 23rd, 2013
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/nsas-indiscriminate-spyi...
National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden wrote in a lengthy open letter to the people of Brazil that he has been inspired by the global debate ignited by his release of thousands of documents and that the NSAs culture of indiscriminate global espionage is collapsing. In the letter, Snowden commended the Brazilian government for its strong stand against U.S. spying. He wrote that he would be willing to help the South American nation investigate NSA spying on its soil but could not fully participate in doing so without being granted political asylum, because the U.S. government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak. The documents revealed that Brazil is the top NSA target in Latin America, in spying that has included the monitoring of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseffs cellphone and hacking into the internal network of the state-run oil company Petrobras. In his letter, Snowden dismissed U.S. explanations to the Brazilian government and others that the bulk metadata gathered on billions of e-mails and calls was more data collection than surveillance. There is a huge difference between legal programs, legitimate spying ... and these programs of dragnet mass surveillance that put entire populations under an all-seeing eye and save copies forever, he wrote. These programs were never about terrorism: theyre about economic spying, social control, and diplomatic manipulation. Theyre about power. Brazilian senators have asked for Snowdens help during hearings about the NSAs targeting of Brazil, an important transit hub for transatlantic fiber-optic cables that are hacked.
Note: To read Snowden's full, inspiring letter, click here.
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