Make that 28

On June 11 Infowars posted 27 Edward Snowden Quotes About U.S. Government Spying That Should Send A Chill Up Your Spine (H/T Gates of Vienna). The quotes are indeed chilling, especially when you see them bunched together.  But you know the expression "My blood ran cold?"  My blood ran cold after I read one of Snowden's answers during his June 17 Q&A session at the Guardian.  I even had to put on a sweater to stop the chills; okay, I also turned down the air conditioner. 

I thought about the words Snowden had typed then asked, "Is he talking about illegal surveillance or an illegal cyberwar?"  There was no reply from the Great Ether.  But if I hadn't heard James Bamford talk to Charlie Rose about the NSA and cyberwar or Jim Himes talk about the same on the National Journal, the question wouldn't have occurred to me, and that's why my blood ran cold.  People fight at the level they can see. Edward Snowden was looking at things from a very high and secret level while he worked at NSA, and what he saw might have spooked him.

Here's what Snowden wrote:

I did not reveal any US operations against legitimate military targets. I pointed out where the NSA has hacked civilian infrastructure such as universities, hospitals, and private businesses because it is dangerous. These nakedly, aggressively criminal acts are wrong no matter the target. Not only that, when NSA makes a technical mistake during an exploitation operation, critical systems crash. Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people. [...]

Then again I could have read too much into his remarks.  But I can't shake the question they raised in my mind.

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