After a mere seven days in the purgatory of the Moscow airport transit lounge, the New York Times is reporting that Edward Snowden is seeking asylum in Russia. Of course, Vladimir Putin has conditioned the asylum as follows:
“If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He must cease his work aimed at inflicting damage to our American partners, as strange as it may sound from my lips.”
After bellicose statements that served only to embarrass the United Statements, the government of Ecuador has stated that it would consider granting asylum to Snowden subject to his setting-foot in Ecuador or an embassy thereof. Snowden could take a taxi to the Ecuadoran embassy in Moscow. Or could he? Clearly, Putin put Snowden "in the freezer". Isolated, with all options closed, Snowden appears to be making a deal Putin to avoid extradition to the US. Of course, the strings attached to this deal will be surrender of the NSA to the Russians.
Most likely, the Russians already have the data. Glenn Greenwald will probably lose his "exclusivity".
Glenn Greenwald and WikiLeaks carefully presented Snowden as a civil liberties patriot whose only intent was to protect the privacy of American citizens. Yet, Snowden has leaked stolen data that has served only to weaken relations with our closest allies. It would be naive to believe that the NSA information stolen by Snowden has not already fallen into the hands of Communist China and Russia.
Vladimir Putin, former head of the KGB, is a ruthless authoritarian. He is so concerned about the political freedom, justice and freedom of expression that he orchestrated a farce trial to imprison members of Pussy Riot, a punk rock band not to be confused with a viable political movement, for an act of protest that would not have been considered newsworthy in the United States.
Presumably, representatives of WikiLeaks are counseling Snowden on his asylum petition. It is very possible that organization is complicit in Snowden's theft of the NSA data, and Greenwald's careful personal promotion of the story is more akin to Judith Miller's WMD reporting than Daniel Ellsberg's Pentagon Papers.
If Snowden actually secures Russian asylum, then his crime is elevated beyond theft and espionage to a treasonous level. His actions will not reduce the amount of intelligence collected; rather, it will increase the need for it. He has inflicted serious damage upon the United States, and he has impaired the ability of the United States to serve as a world leader and arbiter of disputes.
As this story plays-out, it is likely that the officeholders who have publicly championed Snowden will conclude that they have played the fool. They will either back-off or pay the political price. The progressive community faces the same dilemma.