Thank you, Mr Snowden

Being caught breaching privacy rights has left many faces blushing bright red in Washington.

The not so pleasant whistle-blowing saga, which the US has become caught up in, continues to make headlines the world over. In its latest episode, Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency operative, who exposed US eavesdropping on tens of thousands of emails and other private conversations transmitted electronically, has left Hong Kong where he had been based when he began his stunning revelations and turned up in Moscow. His next destination is uncertain with Ecuador considering his asylum request while Cuba is another possibility. The Venezuelan president has also said that he would consider an asylum request for him.

Mr Snowden’s fate then hangs in the balance. The US is desperate that he be extradited to its shores to face trial for treason. But whether it succeeds or not in getting hold of Mr Snowden, whose story came to the world via a correspondent at The Guardian, remains to be seen. The fact is that the damage has been done. Mr Snowden’s revelations about accessing electronic communications illegally and tapping into internet hubs around the world have exposed American hypocrisy. As a self-proclaimed champion of human rights, the US has always stated that it upholds the right to privacy and has criticised other countries, including China, for prying into the lives of citizens. Being caught doing so has left many faces blushing bright red in Washington.

What we have heard first from Wikileaks, and now from Mr Snowden, gives us an insight into the world of international espionage and politics. Admittedly, most countries of the world are involved in some form of spying, but the fact that the US was involved in it at such a massive scale, as well as its attitude, which shows that it feels it can get away with whatever it pleases, even if it is illegal, is what has come under much criticism. The question now is whether what we have been hearing will change the reality for all of us.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2013.

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