Edward Snowden: An American Hero

In recent discussions of Edward Snowden, a controversial issue has been whether he was wrong for leaking government information. On the one hand, some argue that he is an American hero. From this perspective, it is a good thing that he exposed the inappropriate surveillance tactics of the American government. On the other hand, however, others argue that he is a traitor. From this perspective, he betrayed his country by leaking information to other countries. In the words of President Barack Obama, “If any individual who objects to government policy can take it into their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy” (Mason). In sum, then, the issue …show more content…
In the public eye not much has changed. The NSA surveillance tactics are pretty evenly distributed when it comes to being accepted or unaccepted. Snowden says, “Those who followed the law were nothing better than Nazis.” Is this the man some Americans actually want to help? He compared smart and obedient citizens to Nazis. Not only did Snowden insult thousands of people but he is costing the United States billions of dollars to get thousands of people to rework the system he released (Toobin). To add on to the billions of dollars being lost because of Snowden; terrorists are now changing communication methods and making them more secure so the NSA will have a harder time cracking codes and understanding their plots. After the documents were released the NSA surveillance programs have slower operations and they have become more difficult with less of a chance for control (Gjelten). So while Snowden was pushing America to the ground, he was picking up our enemies. Al-Qaeda has lost no time in strengthening their systems while America is simply trying to undo the damage done (Coughlin). So the only thing I have to say to Snowden supporters is – when we are attacked by a terrorist group because they found a way around the surveillance, you can blame it on Mr. Snowden. Although raising allegations and asking questions about any type of task you are asked to do whether it be in school or a work place is perfectly okay; you should never do what Edward Snowden did. No one has the right to out America on tactics that are keeping the people safe. All I ask is that anyone who supports Snowden looks into changing their mind because he broke the law by betraying his oath, he did not take the time to complain internally, and he damaged national security