Edward Snowden has so far leaked up to “200,000 classified documents to the media”, according to the NSA Director Keith ALexander.
“Snowden has shared somewhere between 50 and 200,000 documents with reporters. These will continue to come out,” NSA director general Keith Alexander said.
The NSA chief noted it is extremely difficult for his agency to prevent such leaks from Snowden beause of the way he is doing it.
“They’re being put out in a way that does the maximum damage to NSA and our nation… And it’s hurting our industry. I think it’s wrong. I don’t know how to stop it,” he said.
Snowden, a former NSA contractor , has leaked thousands of top secret documents about a global program of surveillance by Washington.
Because of this Snowden has been charged with espionage by the U.S. government (see article: US charges Snowden with espionagehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-charges-snowden-with-espionage/2013/06/21/507497d8-dab1-11e2-a016-92547bf094cc_story.html
He is currently living in exile in Russia, where he can’t be extradited.
The documents revealed that the NSA has been tapping telephone conversations and spying on the internet activity of American citizens, leaders, bureaucrats, businesses and government agencies. It also reveals that the NSA has violated the fourth Amendment of the Constitution that protect privacy.
Despite the revelation of high crimes and misdemeanors the government has chosen not to seek prosecution of various government officials but instead has chosen to vilify Snowden for his actions of blowing the whistle to the press – something he continues to do today.
In addition the leaked documents reveal that top level officials within the government have spied on close friends and allies, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others that allegedly include tapping the cellphones of as many as 35 other world leaders.
“The magnitude of the eavesdropping is what shocked us,” former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in a radio interview recently.
Needless to say these revelations have caused extreme damage to the credibility of the United States.
See related video: NSA spying causes protests in San Francisco http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwnbTFhWyyE
See video: Capitol police harass protesters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FUzGwuZMk