Jimmy Carter issues statement on Snowden. "America no longer has a functioning democracy" [View all]

[Catherina]

Last edited Thu Jul 18, 2013, 06:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Between Jimmy Carter and George W I-put-the-guarantees-in-there Bush, I know who I stand next to. Period.


NSA affair: Ex-President Carter condemns U.S. snooping

By Gregor Peter Schmitz in Atlanta


Ex-President Carter: "The invasion of privacy has gone too far"

The Obama administration has tried to placate Europe's anger over their spying programs. Not so ex-President Jimmy Carter: The Democrat Carter sharply criticized U.S. intelligence policy. The disclosure by the whistleblower Snowden was "useful."

In the wake of the NSA Scandal, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has criticized the American political system. "America no longer has a functioning democracy," Carter said Tuesday at a meeting of the "Atlantik-Brücke" in Atlanta.

("Amerika hat derzeit keine funktionierende Demokratie" - literally "America does not have a functioning democracy at this point in time&quot

Previously, the Democrat had been very critical of the practices of U.S. intelligence. "I think the invasion of privacy has gone too far," Carter told CNN. "And I think that is why the secrecy was excessive." With regard to the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, Carter said his revelations were "likely to be useful because they have informed the public."

Carter has repeatedly warned that the moral authority of the United States has declined sharply due to excessive curtailment of civil rights. Last year he wrote in an article in the "New York Times" that new U.S. laws have allowed "never before seen breaches of our privacy by the government."

...

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/nsa-affaere-jimmy-carter-kritisiert-usa-a-911589.html

[hr]

"Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation’s violation of human rights has extended. This development began after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and has been sanctioned and escalated by bipartisan executive and legislative actions, without dissent from the general public. As a result, our country can no longer speak with moral authority on these critical issues.

...

At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America’s violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends.

As concerned citizens, we must persuade Washington to reverse course and regain moral leadership according to international human rights norms that we had officially adopted as our own and cherished throughout the years." - Jimmy Carter

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/opinion/americas-shameful-human-rights-record.html

“He’s obviously violated the laws of America, for which he’s responsible, but I think the invasion of human rights and American privacy has gone too far. I think that the secrecy that has been surrounding this invasion of privacy has been excessive, so I think that the bringing of it to the public notice has probably been, in the long term, beneficial. I think the American people deserve to know what their Congress is doing.” - Jimmy Carter

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/28/us/snowden-lawyer-offer