I simply cannot fault Mr. Snowden for NOT wanting to return to the good old USA.

[kpete]

Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who is serving a thirty-month sentence in the federal correctional institution in Loretto, Pennsylvania, has written a third letter from the prison.

Kiriakou was the first member of the CIA to publicly acknowledge that torture was official US policy under the administration of President George W. Bush. He was convicted in October of last year of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA) when he provided the name of an officer involved in the CIA’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation (RDI) program to a reporter and sentenced in January of this year. He reported to prison on February 28 (which was also the day that Pfc. Bradley Manning pled guilty to some offenses and read a statement in military court at Fort Meade).

This is the third letter to be published byFiredoglake since Kiriakou went to prison. Kiriakou did not directly provide it to Firedoglake. He sent it to his attorney, Jesselyn Radack, of the Government Accountability Project.

Kiriakou describes in the first part of his latest “Letter from Loretto” how he has had issues with the medical unit of the prison.


Kiriakou further recounts:

…I walked to the office and was told that I was going for an outside medical consultation. First I was escorted to the medical unit, where I was strip-searched and given brown pants, a brown tee-shirt, a pair of underwear, a pair of socks and a pair of slippers. The corrections officer (CO) took my clothes and my watch and put them in a plastic bag that he locked in the unit. I was then handcuffed and shackled around my ankles. A chain was placed around my waist, which connected to my handcuffs and my leg irons. Then a black steel box about the size of a computer hard drive was locked over the handcuffs so the lock could not be picked…

Letter here:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/725011-john-kiriakou-letter-from-loretto-3-part-1.html

more here:
http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/07/09/cia-whistleblower-in-letter-describes-breaking-his-finger-in-prison-being-denied-immediate-treatment/

[think]

1. The hand written letter is must read for those asking why Snowden did not stay

Please read that letter.

This is what happens when you blow the whistle on Bush era torture!

About the whistleblower John Kiriakou:

Wikipedia: John Kiriakou

John Kiriakou (born August 9, 1964) is a former CIA analyst and case officer, former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former counter-terrorism consultant for ABC News, blogger for Huffington Post,[1] and author.[2][3][4]

He is notable as the first official within the U.S. government to confirm the use of waterboarding of al-Qaeda prisoners as an interrogation technique, which he described as torture.[5][6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kiriakou

[bullwinkle428]

2. Thom Hartmann read John Kiriakou's letter all the way through

on his show a few weeks back, and it was really powerful and compelling stuff. JK is a big, tough guy, so he didn't have any issues with any of his fellow prisoners, but with prison officials, it was a completely different story.

They did everything they could to fuck with his head, and I can't imagine that they did this stuff completely on their own, just for kicks.

[KurtNYC]

3. Nacchio, the CEO of Qwest is still in prison and he didn't reveal any state secrets

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-story-of-joseph-nacchio-and-the-nsa-2013-6

[snappyturtle]

4. Oh thank you kpete! Now maybe some can better understand

why Edward Snowden left the U.S. He had to. I can't help but wonder how Manning is doing.

My heart is broken by this story (and others).

[kpete]

5. i tried SO hard

to ignore this story

can't do that anymore....

so very disappointed in my country.

I cannot pretend this stuff is OK.

I will continue to be open to any new info

but, so far, (mho) the reactions of the Obama admin STINK!

peace, kp

[snappyturtle]

7. Thank you. I, too, am disappointed (pissed) by the administration...and, no,

to BOG members, I am not personally attacking the President.

If I run across anything of great quality and source I may send it to you. Folks here read your posts....me...not so much! ha!

[kenny blankenship]

6. Why do people who tell us the truth and try to help us HAVE to be crucified?

It seems some are more angry that Snowden hasn't been tortured yet, like would be terrorist Jose Padilla was, or like Bradley Manning was for 900+ days, than they are at the revelations that the govt has set a match to the Constitution.

They act like not wanting to be held in total sensory deprivation like Padilla was, or else held naked in solitary confinement under constant observation with the lights on 24hrs a day like Manning was, with nothing else to look forward to for the rest of your life, somehow invalidates the motivation to alert one's fellow citizens to dangerous abuses of power and secret crimes by the government.

They tell us that if whistleblowers like Snowden don't happily take their punishment -which is a living death- the content of their leaks should be disregarded (truth becomes untruth because the teller hasn't been drawn and quartered for telling it) and they also tell us by their ugly example, that the leakers should replace Osama Bin Laden at the top of our Hate lists. Not only is it irrational, for truth is changed by neither good or bad motivations, it is deeply sick.
They act like the government plays fair, ignoring what whistle blowers like Thomas Drake, and Daniel Ellsberg have to say. The case of Thomas Drake shows a government retroactively classifying documents to aid it in punishing him for speaking out, a government that tried to bluff an innocent man into jail for perhaps the rest of his life. Daniel Ellsberg tries to explain to us that under current circumstances, the Executive never has any trouble with warrantless wiretaps, since such a thing basically does not exist anymore. He tries to tell us that the Judiciary which once set him free because of the overreach of the Executive is now totally captive and deferential to the Executives national security prerogratives. He tells us flatly that under the current regime, he would simply be caught and put in jail to die and because of the distended growth of its powers, the Executive would encounter zero friction or delay in slamming the prison door on him forever. Yet, the people who want Snowden's head actually try to enlist these two whistleblowers as examples that show how fair the government plays and how Snowden has nothing to fear from it if he has nothing to hide. Both Drake and Ellsberg themselves argue
the opposite.

Such people are demonstrating exactly what was meant by the term "Good Germans."

[snappyturtle]

9. You are so right. I wish I could rec this. I am truly confused by the

attitudes of too many anti-Snowden people. How can they crucify the whistleblower for endeavoring to protect their rights? If if weren't for the whistleblowers, who then? I cannot live under blind allegiance....without at least speaking out.

[bvar22]

17. +1 Exactly.

[BlueCheese]

20. This is very well-written.

After seeing what happened to Bradley Manning and others, people are blaming Snowden for not wanting to be disappeared into limbo for the rest of his life? Since when did doing something good also require that you volunteer to go in front of a firing squad?

[ronnie624]

24. Excellent post. n/t

[leftstreet]

30. +1

[JaneyVee]

8. If Snowden wanted to bring about change to these programs he would make sure

He came back to the US and take this on in court.

[snappyturtle]

10. Oh yeah....that's the answer. It's worked so many times. Delusion is not your friend. nt

[JaneyVee]

11. See MLK: Letter from Birmingham.

It sure can work to make change.

[snappyturtle]

12. First, different America....50 years ago. I think if MLK were alive today

he'd be harshly imprisoned (Manning style) as anti-American inciting riots.

Second, If MLK were alive today I think he would most certainly back Edward Snowden.
From the Birmingham letter:

We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws ...

[kpete]

13. snappyturtle

thanks for saying
what i would like to be able to say

peace, kp

[JaneyVee]

14. Look at this scenario:

Instead of Snowden fleeing, which will do absolutely nothing for making real change to any of these programs, imagine he decided to fight the charges.

He could have Greenwald as his attorney or counsel and take on the system. He would have way more support from the US people via protests outside court building, grassroots movements, etc., and being that he would be on US soil this story would be all over the mainstream news.

Instead he runs from the law, this story is quickly vanishing, and the NSA will keep doing what they're doing, just like they did after we all discovered this going on n 2006.

ETA: MLK fought for change, not for temporary outrage.

[questionseverything]

16. it will not vanish

people are afraid to speak out(probably with good cause)

but at least they know

the guy this OP is about is a hero yet holder and current admin have treated him like a criminal

btw current admin lost in court yesterday

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/state-secrets-defense/

[Laelth]

26. Thanks for posting that link.

Wired has done some excellent reporting on this issue.

-Laelth

[bvar22]

18. Snowden is certainly having a much bigger and broader impact than Bradley Manning.

He seems to be having NO difficulty getting his words out.
Are you seriously going to insist that YOU would suddenly have "respect" for Snowden IF
he turned himself in?

Somehow, I just can't bring myself to believe that YOU and YOURS want to "help" Snowden,
and I don't think that [anyone here believe that you have his best interest at heart,
or the best interests of those who would like to END or LIMIT the Government Spying and Secrecy.

Get with the program, JaneyVee!
This IS the age of the Global Community and the Internet.
Snowden CAN Speak Out from any corner of the Globe he chooses,
and he is making the current DoJ look like a bunch of Keystone Cops,
and exposing a country that pays Lip Service to words like Government of The People, Freedom, Constitutional Prohibitions on Government than respecting the REAL thing.

It would be STUPID to turn himself over to the US "Authorities".
Why do so many here lust for Snowden to be tortured and held Incommunicado?

[snappyturtle]

19. Bravo!

[JaneyVee]

22. "You and yours"? You know absolutely nothing about me. The more you talk

as if you do, the less credibility you have. Unlike yourself, adults have been having this conversation since the middle of the last decade. And you're right, I could give a shit about where Snowden ends up, he didn't expose anything that us adults haven't known for years already. So look at it like this, YOU and YOURS can cry and whine all you want about about the NSA, you can use Guy Fawkes masks as your avatars and sit behind your keyboards screaming about tyranny, worshipping your hero, being fanboys, or you can be adults and stand up for real change like I have for over 20yrs. But you won't... Because you and yours aren't about standing up and fighting for what you believe in, you and yours are just keyboard commando's whose only real agenda is to just cry and whine. Let me know when you're ready to join the adults on the frontlines of social activism. Shoot me a message.

Now go re read my previous post and realize what a condescending whiney person you sound like.

[bvar22]

31. I know a lot about where YOU stand on the political spectrum, ...

...and, more importantly, with whom you choose to stand.
I KNOW, because you have told us.
So unless you are telling us that we can't believe anything you post at DU,
you can lose the phony manufactured outrage and bowed up, self-righteous indignation.
Not buying it.



There is a persistent fantasy that has always been used by our more conservative members that somehow,
somebody you don't like for whatever reason, only sits behind their keyboard and bitches about the Democratic Party.
Having been a member here for a long time,
and also very active in the Democratic Party and Local Humanitarian Issues, in addition to having the privilege of traveling to other states,
I have met many DU members in Real Life.
We used to do that a lot here.
I will testify that you are WAYYYY off.
Most of the Liberal posters at DU use DU as an adjunct to their other political activities.
There is a great deal of photo documentation of my statement in the archives.

I have made no secret about my other political activities either.
from just yesterday:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3210647

You CAN tell a lot about a person from what they post on DU.
So when I see that old worn out "You just sit behind your keyboard and bitch" attack,
I can't help but think....[font size=3]PROJECTION[/font].
Have you looked into that?


So you see,
everything you posted is pure fantasy, valuable only for cartoons of an imaginary life.
The really funny thing is that the irony and internal logical contradiction of your own post
has gone completely over your own head.


When a person tells you that your butt is hanging out,
its NOT their fault, and you owe them a debt of gratitude.


No Charge.

[NuclearDem]

21. The story's vanishing thanks to our incompetent media

that likes to focus on personality and soundbites and play "where in the world is Edward Snowden" rather than actually discuss the issues.

The press of MLK's time worked to cover the civil rights protests in the South, but were largely prevented from doing so because of threats and intimidation from Southern officials. The media doesn't cover the NSA today because they're primarily hilariously-incompetent Washington lapdogs.

[HardTimes99]

23. As the examples of Jose Padilla and (arguably) John Walker Lindh suggest,

were Snowden to fall into U.S. custody he would be tortured while in captivity in order to secure a 'confession' prior to his 'show trial.'

Or I should rather say, I am forced to that conclusion by Bush and Cheney's continued freedom.

[JaneyVee]

25. No he wouldn't. Different administration. And there's nothing to confess,

Snowden knows what he did was illegal, hence the running.

[HardTimes99]

28. Snowden knows he would face the very real prospect of

torture, were he captured, hence the running.

You've conveniently forgotten or chosen to ignore the force feeding of Guantanamo inmates which Geneva Conventions and international law regard as torture.

Different administration? Yes. Torture? Check.

[questionseverything]

15. small win yesterday

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/07/state-secrets-defense/

[KharmaTrain]

27. Snowden's High Profile...

...and with it comes a lot more notoriety and publicity than the others. His case is different than the others...cause he wasn't a government employee or in the military. He also has a high-powered lawyer, Bruce Fein, all lined up and ready to defend him (on daddy's dime) as well as a lot of "fans" on the right and left. This case would draw a lot of media attention not to mention the obsessive coverage we're already seeing here on the innertoobs. Snowden could do a lot of good using a trial to expose the abuses of the NSA and others rather than hiding in a self imposed third world exile...

[Waiting For Everyman]

29. K&R This man shouldn't be in prison either.

This shit has got to stop.