NSA leaker: are there serious cracks in Ed Snowden’s story?
By Jon Rappoport
June 10, 2013
First, I’m not doubting the documents Ed Snowden has brought forward. I’m not doubting the illegal reach of the NSA in spying on Americans and the world.
But as to how this recent revelation happened, and whether Ed Snowden’s history holds up…I have questions.
Could Snowden have been given extraordinary access to classified info as part of a larger scheme? Could he be a) an honest man and yet b) a guy who was set up to do what he’s doing now?
If b) is true, then Snowden fits the bill perfectly. He wants to do what he’s doing. He isn’t lying about that. He means what he says.
Okay. Let’s look at his history as reported by The Guardian.
In 2003, at age 19, without a high school diploma, Snowden enlists in the Army. He begins a training program to join the Special Forces. The sequence here is fuzzy. At what point after enlistment can a new soldier start this training program? Does he need to demonstrate some exceptional ability before Special Forces puts him in that program?
Snowden breaks both legs in a training exercise. He’s discharged from the Army. Is that automatic? How about healing and then resuming Army service? Just asking.
If he was accepted in the Special Forces training program because he had special computer skills, then why discharge him simply because he broke both legs?
Circa 2003 (?), Snowden gets a job as a security guard for an NSA facility at the University of Maryland. He specifically wanted to work for NSA? It was just a generic job opening he found out about?
Also in 2003 (?), Snowden shifts jobs. He’s now in the CIA, in IT. He has no high school diploma. He’s a young computer genius?
In 2007, Snowden is sent to Geneva. He’s only 23 years old. The CIA gives him diplomatic cover there. He’s put in charge of maintaining computer-network security. Major job. Obviously, he has access to a very wide range of classified documents. Sound a little odd? Again, just asking. He’s just a kid. Maybe he has his GED by now. Otherwise, he still doesn’t have a high school diploma.
Snowden says that during this period, in Geneva, one of the incidents that really sours him on the CIA is the “turning of a Swiss banker.” One night, CIA guys get a banker drunk, encourage him to drive home, the banker gets busted, the CIA guys help him out, then with that bond formed, they eventually get the banker to reveal deep banking secrets to the Agency.
Snowden is this naïve? He doesn’t know by now that the CIA does this sort of thing all the time? He’s shocked? He “didn’t sign up for this?”
In 2009, Snowden leaves the CIA. Why? Presumably because he’s disillusioned. It should noted here that Snowden claimed he could do very heavy damage to the entire US intelligence community in 2008, but decided to wait because he thought Obama, just coming into the presidency, might make good changes.
After two years with the CIA in Geneva, Snowden really had the capability to take down the whole US intelligence network, or a major chunk of it? He had that much access to classified data?
Anyway, in 2009, Snowden leaves the CIA and goes to work for a private defense contractor. Apparently, by this time, he knows all about the phony US war in Iraq, and yet he chooses to work for a sector that relentlessly promotes such wars. Go figure.
This defense contractor (unnamed) assigns him to work at an NSA facility in Japan. Surely, Snowden understands what the NSA is. He knows it’s a key part of the whole military-intelligence network, the network he opposes.
But he takes the job anyway. Perhaps he’s doing it so he can obtain further access to classified data, in advance of blowing a big whistle. Perhaps.
Snowden goes on to work for two private defense contractors, Dell and Booze Allen Hamilton. In this latter job, Snowden is again assigned to work at the NSA.
He’s an outsider, but he claims to have so much sensitive NSA data that he can take down the whole US intelligence network in a single day. Hmm.
These are red flags. They raise questions. Serious ones.
If The Guardian, which has such close access to Snowden, wants to explore these questions, they might come up with some interesting answers.
Again, I’m not doubting that the documents Snowden has brought forward are real. I have to assume they are. I certainly don’t doubt the reach and the power and the criminality of the NSA.
Although I’m sure someone will write me and say I’m defending the NSA. I’M NOT.
But if Snowden was maneuvered, in his career, without his knowing it, to arrive at just this point, then we have a whole new story. We have a story about unknown forces who wanted this exposure to occur.
Who would these forces be? I could make lots of guesses. But they would just be guesses.
Perhaps all the anomalies in the career of Ed Snowden can be explained with sensible answers. I realize that. But until they are, I put the questions forward. And leave them there.
Jon Rappoport
The author of two explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED and EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com
This guys looks like he has been setup to divulge the “perfect” story about how our NSA/CIA is listening and processing ALL of the world’s info traffic? Really? My IT background calls BS on that. We would certainly like our enemies to believe that!
This guy has done a mindfu?k on our enemies. “There is nowhere or no communication you can make that WE are not listening to!? ooooohhhhh. Carrier pigeons, smoke signals, shortwave, hand written notes, microfiche, we got it covered! The pigeons have been working for us for years.
Some simple calculations of the amount of data generated in a day in our world would quickly reveal that only GOD has that power and I would bet that there is no one in the NSA or CIA with those qualifications.
Thank you Snowden for your service to the intelligence community. What gave you away was the fact that you were giving up a post in Hawaii with a big salary, that would never happen.
Let’s keep the enemy guessing and sleepless.
p.s. maybe THIS communication is from the MAN and it is placing doubt as to the abilites of our agencies. That’s what makes this game so much fun.
I don’t know where you got your intell Jon but he couldn’t have enlisted (even in the Army) in 2003 without either a diploma or a GED. The Army dropped their standards a couple of years later. As for the Special Forces that is bunk, with the information you have here he did not meet the qualifications e,g, “male age 20-30 and high school diploma”.
i have started to think that this guy is a false flag after i saw photos of his exhibitionist pole dancer “girlfriend” today.
i mean, come on, he said he fears for the lives of her and his family, and the next thing we get is not only her full name, but a blog full of pictures that seem to be screaming “oh, look just how much he has sacrificed”?!
any reasonable being in her situation would keep a very very low profile these days (and delete all online data)
this, in addition to his blatant lack of formal credentials (but at the same time, as he said, potential access to even the president’s emails?!), makes me think the whole thing was staged.
but by whom and why?
Nice piece and thanks for not swallowing his “story” without some skepticism. I have been astonished by “everyone” just believing his story 100% and are not asking any questions about this nut job. i am waiting for the press to do some extensive background work on him, on a lot of the inconsistencies you brought up. Now he has checked out of his Hong Kong hotel, and the immediate conclusion is that the US Government “got” him? Well, let’s say he has now gone underground. The armchair genius will say its because he got offed, so no matter what happens here, it’s the government’s fault. Amazing.
It could be that Snowden is a dual agent, Spies look for spies so they can get sensitive information and pay good money for it. Since it seems we will eventually go to war with Russia or China or both, and the fact that they we are accusing China of cyber attacks, he could very well be working to under mind our NSA to the world, and the fact that all nations and their leaders could very well be nervous that we collecting data on them as well. It change the balance of Power USA has over all nations at the moment.
I think the simplest question that needs an answer is this:
Wouldn’t the all-knowing NSA have predicted/witnessed Snowden doing this? And let it happen?
Isn’t that the point of the NSA surveillance techniques? It would have known he was leaking documents, and it would know exactly were he is in Japan.
Could it be this is just an attempt to add more fear? They are watching your every move so don’t think you can get away with anything? After all, fear is the greatest controller of the masses. I doubt the PTB can watch every communication as stated. Don’t scare yourselves into submission people.
It certainly seems to be a common phenomenon for a scandal that gets substantial media attention to act as a mask for doings that should constitute an even bigger scandal. If that applies in this case, then some truly monumental wrongdoing must be occurring.
Or perhaps some element of Snowden’s story will be shown to be in error, which will have a spill-over effect in generating doubt about the credibility of the surveillance revelations as a whole. As you say, he could be innocently subject to control in such a situation.
Certainly his being ‘taken down’ by the SS will provide another object lesson for people on the inside who are tempted to follow their consciences rather than orders from above in a hierarchy. Once this inclination is eradicated, societal control becomes a snap.
Great insights on this that nobody else is thinking of. When these things come out in the controlled mass media, it’s always because the bad guys want it to for some nefarious reason.
I hear he’s off “To Russia With Love”
Jon the moment this story broke I felt is was the big kahuna of distractions. I now await the MOTHER of all false flags — but that’s just me, I guess.
You all should read a book called “Philip Dru; Administrator”… Reading that book by Colonel House will give you the proper insights to see the manipulations taking place with Snowden and any others who are manipulated into a position to act on their core values, its always just the timing that has to be just right… aka phasing… at the right time in the sequence of events the right introduced aspects can shift the nuance of the objective reality drama in a different direction… No doubt the money power via its “old boy” club created the world as it is now, thru their selection of those they put in the positions of power and wealth that would be corrupted by such, intentionally. How long will it go on? Seems Snowden might be the beginning of a shift, but then so was Assange when he came out a few years back and NOTHING of any real consequence has really followed. (real consequence being a change in the direction we’re heading, which instead of changing directions, only appears to be accelerating us faster towards the by now self evident ends.)
I did a background check. This Gov’t thing should not have guns.
Supposedly Mr. leak’er tells everyone about a spying program on
data that is looked at for issues to deal with national security. Yet
as the news reports that China is hacking America daily, this man
goes to a airport, buys a ticket(which in doing so his name would
have been flagged for security reasons of getting on an international flight to China) and goes without anything happening..
Yes, it’s all the more evident it is a false flag since he is supported full gear by The Guardian as I have noted a present campaign of English newspaper to delegitimize America (& German too btw). We’re not far from Britain supporting Assad !! The NWO ‘homeland’ is disengaging from its armed hand, the US (& Israel). Endgame soon ?? My only question is where does Putin stands ?
(http://mfm-news3.blogspot.co.il/p/the-holy-german-empire.html)
Jon:
I can speak only to the comments regarding Special Forces. The Army does have a contract called 18Xray. My son did it the same way. There are some special requirements, but he went to Basic at Ft. Benning; two hours after graduation he checked in for Airborne training, (also at Benning); and a few hours after graduating from that, he was on a bus to Ft. Bragg for the Special Forces Assesment and Selection course. It is tough, but it is do-able.
EXCELLENT observations, Jon! And, as someone earlier mentioned, once one is in The Company, one can never, ever truly leave (at least not with a body to walk around in!).
This may just be the ‘positive military’ or so-called ‘white hats’ making a move to overthrow, from the inside, the remaining cabal operatives, clean house. Lots of possibilities, ALL of them AWESOME.
Excellent article and great comments.
Indeed, Snowden’s story smacks of snow-job. You’d think after Manning’s disclosures, there’d be even tighter controls.
Yet, out pops a new act taking center stage in the consciousness-conditioning circus called mainstream news.
Ah, life under the Big Top…
It’s good to ask questions Jon, & I trust your integrity. I also want to support a brave young man who has seemingly acted with integrity. Until I have information that supports another motive, I will support a man of conscience rising up against the system & celebrating the power of 1 man who acts in their conscience. It’s good to ask questions. It’s good to have faith in the power of humanity & the courage of ordinary individuals.
I think one of COINTELPRO’s main objectives is to make us doubt this beautiful quality…
A good start for me to get into this thing. I saw it arise a few days ago, and without doing any reading yet, I’m only aware of the basics at this point. Not being spoon fed my news anymore, I tend to watch some stories peripherally for a few days sometimes or even longer before paying them much attention. By doing the same with Boston I found getting a handle on things was easier and faster. It takes a few days for the stories to gel as a rule and then the analyses from folks like you Jon is fast and invaluable so here we go. I wondered though myself as soon as it was being widely reported from the get go. The MSM can only be relied upon anymore to be loudspeakers for the “official” story, which in the case of whistleblowers usually means carefully selected ones intended to create a limited hangout at most or even a psyop in themselves.
I assume when you wonder if the Guardian, “wants to explore these questions, they might come up with some interesting answers.” that you’re being ironic. That’s implying they might do journalism. Good one Jon.
Cheers
I think the overall plan with the many medium sized outrages like shootings and bombings and leaks of snooping etc which most have covertly at least admitted for years are already in place is as simple as it gets, all the various side plots notwithstanding. It is simply to keep turning up the heat. Don’t forget how frogs are cooked.
Is there a whistleblowers’ whistleblower? I mean, who is telling the truth? Julian Assange is championing Snowden. So if Snowden is a fake, does that make Assange one too? Or is Assange just not as smart as someone who is seeing fakery in Snowdens’ story?
I’m thinking that Snowden may be the real deal. If someone is exhibiting the kind of “stuff” the NSA wants, why wouldn’t they put him on a “fast-track” to the upper levels? They can break any “rules” they want, obviously.
This interview with Glenn Greenwald on Democracy Now explains why they decided to go public with Snowden’s information now.
http://www.planbeconomics.com/2013/06/on-slippery-slope-to-totalitarian-state.html
And if Snowden is a double-triple agent/fake-leaker as Jon suspects, was William Binney, who resigned from NSA in 2001 expressing fears of the same type of misdeeds revealed by Snowden also a government plant? Come on. Anybody willing to put his/her life at risk for core principles and integrity is a hero in my book. See Ann Barnhardt and Catherine Austin Fitts, among others.
Well, just do a Google image search for “Edward Snowden’s girlfriend”. You will see her almost naked in many provacative poses as a model and dancer. She is even pictured pole dancing for public consumption! The media is starting to push “This is the woman Snowden left behind to give us the truth.” Then we all are treated to Hollywood sexed up images of her. This is a dead giveaway. Just another production! No doubt now… this is definitely a CIA operation.
It’s a distraction from Obama going to China…as cia as Alex Jones.
The real OZ is collapsing behind the curtain and we are being given “hush puppies” to divert us from what’s cooking.
Jon
To set my terms/context –
This old news. Several whistle blowers’ have come forward over the past five plus years. The media and traitorous politicians failed acknowledge this info. It was however, never discussed in the media.
My take is that this is beta run by the pirates-plunderer’s to
1 – see how the public reacts.
2 – plant the seed in the publics mind that the world we live in, is full of really, really evil people intent on killing us. And that such actions necessary – for the better good – and necessary – as American’s move forward in an ever increasingly dangerous world.
3 – This operation is being rolled by design. I suspect that Snowden is CIA and playing a roll.
4 – And yes – it will ultimately be successful.
5 – The collective will come to the conclusion – reinforced by the media – that this technology is necessary but that the people still have a voice in the matter through their elected officials.
We are all in this together!
btw – I was impressed with one of your reader’s comments regarding Col. House. Nice!
Lastly, what you have done over the years inspires me.
tx
Limited hangout, quite likely. Like Echelon & the SR-71B Blackbird, obsolete when they got widely known. Nonetheless…
The “Matrix” analogy works well for the “real” world in which we live. If the masses “took the red pill” and saw what was really happening in the world they would overwhelm the Corporate/Military alliance and alter the course that the human race has been driven along so effectively since the early years of the 20th Century.- In the 1930’s the fledgling Corporations ensured their own success by the simple expedient of outlawing hemp — the REAL competition against all of their products — this paved the way for the massive redistribution of wealth that would lead to the Corporate/military control of even the American and British governments — the Flagships of democracy . A surge of growth began with President Nixon and continues to this day.— The Corporate/Military “The Machines” are on the brink of another major rise in their power and objectives. The ONLY thing that will stop this happening is a mass awakening of humanity. I have been saying for a long time that “We Humans” are in a race against the Corporate/Military alliance and we are fast approaching the junction where the whole future of the human race will be decided. The interim mess of the world that the Corporate/Military has created has been so obvious that many people are waking up to what has been going on and many can see the ugly reality to which it leads. — The rising growth in awareness amongst the peoples of all Nations is causing the Machines to push the agenda along —- The spread of awareness is largely via electronic media and communications networks that the Machines do not ,as yet, have full control .. Edward Snowdens “shocking revelations” are of course “old news” to many and so the Machines loose little by releasing them via Patsy Snowden — but by inducing fear within the people that the Governments see and know everything the Machines hope to stem the tide of the only thing that can stop them achieving their goals TRUTH —- It is indeed a numbers game in that if only a fraction of the people are aware then those still “asleep” will permit and even encourage the outrages that will shortly follow….. those outrages will probably be big enough to awaken many more people — but by then it will be too late — the new Dark Age will be upon humanity. Only mass awareness can prevent this bleak course of events —- Snowden’s “revelations” , for me are further proof off how close this race between the Human’s and the Machines is … A massive awkening on a world scale would force a restructuring of the sinister politics created by the Corporate/Military Machine — possibly even relatively peacefully –So DO NOT be frightened by the “Snowden effect” into not seeking and spreading TRUTH – TRUTHS ARE THE PEOPLES BULLETS THE INTERNET IS OUR BIGGEST CANNON — KEEP FIRING ! — FOR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN’S SAKE !!
One thing that keeps bugging me about this Snowden business: How are Snowden’s revelations “news”? Remember UIDs starting with Intel Pentiums IIIs? Windows having NSA backdoor since at least 1999? How about Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness thingy from 2002? Echelon, etc.? Where do you think Google rose out from? Years ago I remember talk of Verizon etc giving access to these folks and have assumed all calls/communication were monitored….all doubts removed after 2003’s Patriot Act….Was watching this docu just today (Shadow Government):
http://vimeo.com/19390456
and I know it came out much before Snowden’s “revelations” so much of what he has to “out” was practically well known…..
Personally I have no doubt this is all to take our attention away from other MUCH MORE important things…..
Does it really matter, at this point, if his credentials were legitimate or not? The fact remains that the government overstepped it’s authority. And in doing so, it has come to light that laws, in the form of constitutional amendments were broken. Perhaps he did lie about his education. The fact that the government continues to flood the news media with inconsequential facts regarding Snowden highlights their attempt to put up a smokescreen around NSA activities against the American public. Spying is essential in the world of international conflict. But when that necessity is expanded by our government to the point where the constitutional rights of potentially all Americans are violated, then Snowden has done what all of us should do. The Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting ratification of the constitution are clear and unequivocal :
“If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.”
Perhaps Snowden went about this the wrong way…. perhaps not. A whistle blower walks a fine line. It is still not to late for the people of this country to take measures to redress this injury done to the constitution as Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay have put before us
I am so glad you have written this article as I was thinking I was the only one who wasn’t completely stupid like the rest of the world.
In fact the purpose of the whole Snowden’s operation is to 1) increase fear and terror among people and to potential whistleblowers. 2) To strengthen the independence of Hong Kong as the last fronteer of the West in China. A REAL WHISTLEBLOWER WOULD NEVER HAD SUCH A HUGE IMPACT ON MEDIA. he would had probably been killed at the airport before doing the check in.
It has been said; a truth revealed is often much simpler than it first appears.
The simple truth behind Edward Snowdon is; there is no Edward Snowdon, there never was. There is only this somewhat dazed looking man, called Julian Assange, the sole hacker in all of this. If any information was leaked it was Assange who leaked it. (After hacking it)
Julian Assange, the mole in the middle of London, hacking away in his embassy where he is unseen. Untouchable by law.
From where he is he can do everything he wants online. EVERYTHING. I mean, it’s not like authorities are going to cut of the power, are they? It’s and embassy! In other words; a hackers heaven. Assange doesn’t want to to leave. He is perfectly happy where he is, hacking away, with the blessing of the Ecuadorian government. He’s the worm in Englands backyard. Or perhaps a double agent working for whoever pays him the most?
This man knows more about hacking than God about the universe. This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
Honestly, what do we REALLY think he is doing up there in his little room in the Ecuadorian embassy? Playing cards? Reading Playboy? This man has turned himself into the Jesus Christ of hacking and enjoying every minute of his new found fame, presenting himself as the “adult who will punish the flaws of disobedient governments”. Governments that know exactly what he’s doing.
Edward Snowdon will never leave his Moscow airport, wearing sunglasses and facing flash-photography, because he can’t. I bet he never arrived in the first place. I think he only exists in cyberspace.
Think about it; to book a flight from Hongkong To Moscow on-line is easy enough. And he fact that Snowdon never physically boarded is irrelevant. As we witnessed, world wide media hype quickly began to lead a life of its own. “Snowdon must have boarded because an airline computer said so”. So it must be true!
And so it goes on and on…Welcome to the word of cyberspace.
That’s it and that’s all. The truth is out there but it’s not what we expect.Isn’t it often?
We all love a good mystery and, no doubt, the movie with Matt Damon will be in theaters next year. Filmed in Hawaii, Hongkong, Moscow and Havanna.
But for now, don’t believe the Assange hype. It’s all a smokescreen to hide his real ID, for he is nothing more than another genius hacker.
Wether his actions are right or wrong, that’s what he is and that’s what he’s doing. It’s nothing more than a one man operation.
And if that sounds to simplistic to be true, believe it because it very well might be so…
“Snowden is this naïve?” but not too naive to run to China and apparently also Russia. in his Guardian Q&A session, he evades the question about why he chose Hong Kong, as well as another key question by the same person. strange behavior for someone working for an intelligence service. holes in story + evasiveness = dingalingalingaling
It has been said; a truth revealed is often much simpler than it first appears.
The simple truth behind Edward Snowdon is; there is no Edward Snowdon, there never was. There is only this somewhat dazed looking man, called Julian Assange, the sole hacker in all of this. If any information was leaked it was Assange who leaked it. (After hacking it)
Julian Assange, the mole in the middle of London, hacking away in his embassy where he is unseen. Untouchable by law.
From where he is he can do everything he wants online. EVERYTHING. I mean, it’s not like authorities are going to cut of the power, are they? It’s and embassy! In other words; a hackers heaven. Assange doesn’t want to to leave. He is perfectly happy where he is, hacking away, with the blessing of the Ecuadorian government. He’s the worm in Englands backyard. Or perhaps a double agent working for whoever pays him the most?
This man knows more about hacking than God about the universe. This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
Honestly, what do we REALLY think he is doing up there in his little room in the Ecuadorian embassy? Playing cards? Reading Playboy? This man has turned himself into the Jesus Christ of hacking and enjoying every minute of his new found fame, presenting himself as the “adult who will punish the flaws of disobedient governments”. Governments that know exactly what he’s doing.
Edward Snowdon will never leave his Moscow airport, wearing sunglasses and facing flash-photography, because he can’t. I bet he never arrived in the first place. I think he only exists in cyberspace.
Think about it; to book a flight from Hongkong To Moscow on-line is easy enough. And he fact that Snowdon never physically boarded is irrelevant. As we witnessed, world wide media hype quickly began to lead a life of its own. “Snowdon must have boarded because an airline computer said so”. So it must be true!
And so it goes on and on…Welcome to the word of cyberspace.
That’s it and that’s all. The truth is out there but it’s not what we expect.Isn’t it often?
We all love a good mystery and, no doubt, the movie with Matt Damon will be in theaters next year. Filmed in Hawaii, Hongkong, Moscow and Havanna.
But for now, don’t believe the Assange hype. It’s all a smokescreen to hide his real ID, for he is nothing more than another genius hacker.
Wether his actions are right or wrong, that’s what he is and that’s what he’s doing. It’s nothing more than a one man operation.
And if that sounds to simplistic to be true, believe it because it very well might be so…
Lee Harvey Oswald
Ask Edward Snowden–Who did 9/11?
Every other whistle blower has been ignored and kept out of the media spot light, Snowden and wiki leaks full media coverage = bullshit. Controlled opposition, The fact that Julian Assange follow the the government position on 9/11 show he’s nothing more than a shill same as snowden.
So is Snowden a plant or not???
And if so, for what purpose???
I think it is another “snow” job. His chemtrail comments don’t add up. I’m not buying it. Not to say what he leaked is not true, but the circumstances of the leaks don’t add up. These NWO people ate a pack of liars and thieves.
I have always wondered if he was sent out by the CIA/NSA so the world would be focused on him while the real lot was being played out…