Edward Snowden: Traitor or Whistleblower

Edward Snowden. This is a name that will be in the history books for ages. He will be branded a traitor or a whistleblower depending on where you look. Many Americans feel that Edward Snowden is a traitor who sold the United States’ secrets aiming to harm the nation. Others believe that he was simply a citizen of the United States who exercised his right to expose the government for their unconstitutional actions. It is important to not only know the two sides to the argument of friend or foe, but to also know the facts as well. My goal in this paper is to present the facts without bias and to adequately portray the two sides of the argument.
To give the full picture of Edward Snowden I must start before his role in the government. Edward Snowden never graduated from high school, nor did he graduate from community college (Yann 1). In 2003 He joined the U.S. Army briefly until he was discharged when he broke both his legs in a training accident (BBC 1). His first job with the NSA was as a security guard, until he took a job at the CIA dealing with computer security (Yann 2). Edward’s final job, the one that gave him access to the leaks, was in Hawaii with a six figure salary (BBC 2). Snowden was a systems administrator, meaning he had the responsibility to go through the NSA database and move extremely sensitive documents to a secure location (NPR 1). His position was the perfect place for him to leak all the secrets the NSA held close. Edward Snowden’s activities were seen by the NSA the entire time, he didn’t have to hide that he was taking the documents it was his job (NPR 2). Mr. Snowden left for Hong Kong after he leaked his information, but once there he flew to Moscow because Hong Kong had a treaty with the...

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... Those who think that the NSA has the right to act in the way they do would tend to brand Snowden a traitor. Those against the NSA’s national security tactics find that Snowden was a hero, and consider his current circumstance a worthy sacrifice.

Works Cited

• Gjelten, Tom. "Officials: Edward Snowden's Leaks Were Masked By Job Duties." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

• "Profile: Edward Snowden." BBC News. BBC, 16 Dec. 2013. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

• Stone, Geoffrey R. "Edward Snowden: "Hero or Traitor"?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 June 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2014.

• Cassidy, John. "Why Edward Snowden Is a Hero." The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

• Yan, Barbara Starr and Holly, CNNs Matt Smith, and Holly Yan. "Man behind NSA Leaks Says He Did It to Safeguard Privacy, Liberty." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.