Wapo Editorial Board: Stop Reporting Snowden Leaks!

[frontier00]

Source: Washington Post

The Washington Post's editorial board drew catcalls on Tuesday for calling for the leaks from Edward Snowden to be stopped--even though the Post itself had benefited from those leaks.

The editorial board, which is run independently of the news division, allowed that the scoops published by the Post and other outlets had "shed useful light on some NSA programs and raised questions that deserve debate." But, the board said, "The first U.S. priority should be to prevent Mr. Snowden from leaking information that harms efforts to fight terrorism and conduct legitimate intelligence operations ... The best solution for both Mr. Snowden and the Obama administration would be his surrender to U.S. authorities, followed by a plea negotiation."

The piece didn't mention that the Post had happily published some of Snowden's materials. Clearly, the thirst for those materials did not extend to every corner of the paper.

Gawker's Hamilton Nolan took the board to task, and noted the editorial's inherent irony:

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/02/washington-post-edward-snowden-editorial_n_3535146.html

[tsuki]

1. Wow. A good thing this board was not around

during Watergate and CoIntelPro.

[PSPS]

2. LOL. The Washington Post is now cheerleading for prior restraint.

I guess this will better frame how people perceive it as a valid source of information and truth.

[JDPriestly]

11. It sure will.

[frylock]

12. that train sailed long ago

[Jessy169]

3. The really BIG issue related to the Snowden leaks isn't getting much discussion.

WHY is the NSA doing all this monitoring and data collecting??? That's the BIG issue.

Answer:

The Pentagon knows that environmental, economic and other crises could provoke widespread public anger toward government and corporations in coming years. The revelations on the NSA's global surveillance programmes are just the latest indication that as business as usual creates instability at home and abroad, and as disillusionment with the status quo escalates, Western publics (environmentalists, right-wing anti-government "patriot" groups, etc...) are being increasingly viewed as potential enemies that must be policed by the state.

You may (or may not) have missed this article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/earth-insight/2013/jun/14/climate-change-energy-shocks-nsa-prism

Bottom line: Serious shit is coming down the pipeline. Whether Snowden is a hero or a traitor is a minor, trivial point in the larger context. This isn't about Snowden or his revealing to us what we already knew, just in starker terms than before. This is a warning shot over the bow.

[Laelth]

7. Yes. That IS the big issue.

The answers, however, are classified, so all we can do is speculate about them.

-Laelth

[Jessy169]

8. The Guardian article posted is fact-based, not speculation

Also, interesting to note, the first time I linked to and read that article a week or two ago, there was a section that described U.S. Military planning for inevitable destabilization in China due to climate change. This was not speculation, but direct reporting on what was in the classified documents that had been reviewed. The timeline was about five years to serious problems in China related to crop failures. That entire section of the article has been removed since my first reading. Just an interesting side note...

[Mojorabbit]

13. + a gazillion. nt

[nineteen50]

4. Karl Rove (Neo-con) said in 2008 to Ron Suskind

"Guys like you are in--what we call--'the reality-based community'. You believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." "That's not the way the world really works anymore. We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

[Downwinder]

5. Who is twisting WAPO's tail?

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

6. I guess we're all in the army now! "US military blocks entire Guardian website" (LINK)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/01/us-military-blocks-guardian-troops

[Octafish]

10. Katherine Graham herself told CIA some secrets are A-OK with her.

"We live in a dirty and dangerous world. There are some things the general public does not need to know, and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows." -- speech to CIA staff and recruits, 1988

Me? I know some CIA secrets should not be kept from the people in a democracy. Cough, George Joannides.