The world of
western espionage was torn open with the leaking of US & UK details on
top-secret mass surveillance programmes by Mr. Edward Joseph Snowden, a former
technical contractor for the NSA and CIA.
The whistle blower
leaked information on top-secret programmes like PRISM (a clandestine national
security electronic surveillance programme of the US government) and Tempora
(British equivalent)). Snowden who told the world of the US and UK governments
use of these programmes to tap telephone lines and access email accounts of its
citizenry without permission of any kind is now seriously on the run- and why
shouldn’t he? With the might of the combined powers of the US and UK bearing
down on him running and hiding have become second nature.
We first
encountered Snowden hiding out in Honk Kong, giving interviews and singing like
a canary until the pressure mounted on the Chinese Government was too much to
bear coupled with his passport being revoked by the US government, he fled.
Fast forward to the Moscow airport transit space where Snowden is stuck in
limbo waiting for the right opportunity to try to beat the security network
closing in on him. The Governments of Ecuador, Russia or Venezuela have invited
Snowden to apply for asylum, and there is little doubt that it would be
granted.
The wow factor here
is that, Mr. Snowden crept out of Hong Kong on a revoked passport to boot and
flew half way across the world to the warm embrace of the Russians. How? Who
does that? Anyway as we wish Mr. Snowden bon voyage to the country of his
choosing, here is advice for all you would be whistleblowers: a) Make sure you
have friends in VERY powerful places who can make you disappear, b) Ensure that
the piece of information you want to give out will make one or two powerful
countries snigger in private and be willing to grant you asylum even if it’s
just to prove a point against the country you are selling out on, c) if people
like Julian Assange are not friends of yours- forget it.
Well now, we know it;
there are systems and programmes in the world capable of breaking the private
sanctity of our email accounts and private lines. So the next time you hear me
or any other conspiracy theorist telling you about the “eye in the sky”, think
am oh!
* Our jury is still out
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