Snowdon is a dummy

"Google it...and you will find out!"

Why is it you people think everything is a lie...except stuff that makes Obama and the government of the United States look like petty fascists and tyrants?

Russian senator Ruslan Gattarov has begun a campaign to raise funds for Edward Snowden's investigation into the security of Russians' personal data, claiming that the whistleblower is running out of money.

Gattarov, a member of the ruling United Russia party, has said he will open a bank account and create a website to gather donations for the National Security Agency leaker, who was last week granted temporary asylum in Russia. Gattarov told the Izvestiya newspaper that the domain name helpsnowden.ru had been registered and volunteers from several IT companies were developing the website.

The site will be available at helpsnowden.net for international donors. Neither website was working on Wednesday.
[...]
On Tuesday, Kucherena [Snowden's lawyer]said that Snowden had registered his new place of residence with the authorities, as all foreigners must do, although the location is being kept secret. He has already been offered a job by Pavel Durov, the founder of Russia's most popular social network VKontakte.
[...]

...why did Putin take on this massive headache?

First, because he can. Putin could simply not resist an act that would not only embarrass Washington, but remind it that Russia, not America, is now in the driver’s seat of their east-west relationship.

Second, because most reliable opinion polls here suggest a majority of Russians think Snowden should be given permanent asylum in Russia. That means Snowden’s presence could be a vote-winner for Putin, who already has eyes on a fourth term in office, after elections in 2018.

Third, because doing so would be popular among America’s adversaries. As Lukyanov puts it: ‘’If Putin cares about nothing else, he cares about how the Third World thinks about Russia. And the Third World sees Snowden as a hero who spilled the beans on imperialist America. Putin is sensitive to that. There’s too much at stake not to be.”

Finally, Putin saw a chance to strike at the heart of the US-Russia rivalry – the fight over each other’s human rights record.
In this context, Snowden is Putin’s early Christmas present. He can hold Snowden up as a beacon for those who speak the truth about government abuse of individual freedoms- even as he cracks down on gays, NGOs, and all forms of opposition. More

After Snowden fled to Moscow from Hong Kong in June, Putin quickly signaled that he had no time for the former intelligence contractor, and expressed hope he would soon continue onward to Havana.

Misreading Putin’s position, Washington chose to treat Snowden like a chess piece, blocking all his possible next moves by issuing arrest warrants and closing off airspace.

It was an understandable gambit. But Putin did exactly what the White House hoped he would not do.

Indeed, Russia’s Federal Migration Service not only approved Snowden’s request for temporary one-year asylum, but also processed the paperwork in record time – barely two weeks, compared to the usual wait of between three and six months.

It still seems like defenders of this program don't realize just how big an impact the revelations are having around the globe. Ratcheting up the silly rhetoric around Snowden hasn't helped matters, other than turning Snowden into much more of a cult hero around the globe (including for many inside the US). The more the US makes a big deal about Snowden and where he's living, the more desperate and arbitrary the US government looks. Politicians in key countries not just supporting Snowden but wearing masks with his face on it shows just how badly the US government is losing the battle for public perception on this issue.

Obama cancelled that meeting with Putin!

Frank Apisa wrote:

Obama cancelled that meeting with Putin!

Childish playground reaction.

"He took our ball and I want it back. Give me my ball!!!"

<stomp, stomp, stomp>

Mr. Obama is scheduled to be in St. Petersburg for a meeting of the Group of 20 set for Sept. 5 and 6, and had planned to go from there to meet Mr. Putin.

“The United States is repeatedly refusing Russia to extradite individuals, to hold them criminally liable, including those accused of committing serious or heinous crimes,” Sergei Gorlenko, the acting chief of the prosecutor general’s extradition office, told the Interfax news agency. “We have been denied the extradition of murderers, bandits and bribetakers.”

The Interior Ministry accused the United States of “double standards” in demanding Mr. Snowden’s return. The prosecutor general’s office said the United States had refused to extradite about 20 suspects over the past decade, citing the lack of an extradition treaty — the same reason senior Kremlin officials have given in saying they have no plan to repatriate Mr. Snowden.

Akhmadov, a former officer in the Soviet Union’s Red Army, joined the militant movement in the Russian Republic of Chechnya in the early 1990s, fighting for some time along with the notorious terrorist Shamil Basayev. He is wanted in Russia over his connection to crimes committed by the insurgents.
[...]
After Moscow re-established control over Chechnya, he settled in the US in 2003 and sought political asylum there. He received it a year later, despite objections from the US Department of Homeland Security.

But this looks particularly childish. There is no benefit to getting Snowden back in the US except to have some revenge. Because revenge has been denied or possibly just delayed the President of the US is going to throw a hissy fit? Talk about disproportionate response.

On 2013/07/23 NYT wrote:

“The United States is repeatedly refusing Russia to extradite individuals, to hold them criminally liable, including those accused of committing serious or heinous crimes,” Sergei Gorlenko, the acting chief of the prosecutor general’s extradition office, told the Interfax news agency. “We have been denied the extradition of murderers, bandits and bribetakers.”

The Interior Ministry accused the United States of “double standards” in demanding Mr. Snowden’s return. The prosecutor general’s office said the United States had refused to extradite about 20 suspects over the past decade, citing the lack of an extradition treaty — the same reason senior Kremlin officials have given in saying they have no plan to repatriate Mr. Snowden.

Source

On 2013/07/22 RT wrote:

Akhmadov, a former officer in the Soviet Union’s Red Army, joined the militant movement in the Russian Republic of Chechnya in the early 1990s, fighting for some time along with the notorious terrorist Shamil Basayev. He is wanted in Russia over his connection to crimes committed by the insurgents.
[...]
After Moscow re-established control over Chechnya, he settled in the US in 2003 and sought political asylum there. He received it a year later, despite objections from the US Department of Homeland Security.

Source


You can call the situation now "Cold War" ... again.
Or just simply: a missed opportunity.