A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the detention of David Miranda, the partner of journalist Glenn Greenwald, by British authorities under their anti-terrorism statutes, and at the time I was skeptical of the reasons for that detention, wondering if it wasn’t an attempt to “get back” at Greenwald for his reporting on the Edward Snowden leaks.
Well, it turns out there absolutely was more to the story, as Miranda was found by British authorities to be in possession of 58,000 documents “stolen” from the British equivalent of the NSA.
After getting bad press for detaining Glenn Greenwald’s domestic partner at Heathrow Airport for almost nine hours, the London government made their case today. As it turns out Edward Snowden
tookstole more documents than previously estimated.At a court hearing the government explained to a judge that David Miranda, the partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was carrying 58,000 documents related to British intelligence on electronic devices when he was stopped and searched at Heathrow airport on August 18. The government also said it believed the documents had been “stolen” from Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British counterpart of the NSA.
Absolutely he was in possession of stolen documents, but does that mean the man is a terrorist? He was detained under statutes for terrorism and not theft. The expansion of the war on terror to be the war on everything to which the government objects is a step too far.
He was detained in Britain. Nothing to do with US law. Snowden is a traitor. Greenwald is a repulsive egomaniac. His lover was carrying data that could cause harm to British operatives all the while proclaiming the opposite. Hopefully both can be brought to criminal charges in the US. Penalties for treason can be death. There was no whistleblowing. Everything that has been revealed has been explained. There are safe guards in place. Mistakes are made and then corrected. These defenders of Snowden have no god damned clue what it takes to keep a country of 310 million people safe. BTW where the hell have you been for the last 10+ years? The Patriot Act was passed long ago. If you somehow were ignorant to the fact that the government has been looking at phone, banking and computer data for years, well your just a moron. But rage on douchebags!!! Cling to your false outrages while bankers steal your retirement money and your schools and infrastructure crumble into dust. Rage on!!!! Also the mainstream press has been pushing propaganda right in your faces claiming Snowden “borrowed” credentials to infiltrate top security information. Really? Borrowed? It’s called stealing and the MSM has not called it stealing because guess what? They want you raging against the government just like the teabaggers. But run along and go play now good little sheep, isn’t there a corporate parade to be at? Wasn’t Harley threatening to leave the state unless it’s workers took a 7 year pay freeze and accept temporary workers who earn no benefits? They enjoy record profits though. No sacrifice for them. This is who you want to honor? No wonder our country is in the toilet. And we all deserve it too. [/rant]
Mikey, there’s an obvious contradiction and an immediately recognizable and apparent failing of your basic understanding in your comment of who or what it is that you are ranting against or for what reasons. And along with what I am sensing is a severe personally held, homophobic bent, makes it eminently easy to dismiss everything you have stated here. Might want to get a better grasp of the facts and figure out just who you want to blame for which particular deeds here, before spouting off next time.
Maybe you can piece it together and get back to us. LOL!
You think what I wrote was homophobic? You’re an idiot.
Nope, that’s not the basic point that you have missed about your initial comment, as I said, latent homophobia was a feeling I initially sensed from you and is only a feeling/initial thought in my reading of your POV, another guess is free. Good luck! LOL! No more hints.
Mikey’s spot on here. Greenwald lied throughout the entire Miranda incident and continues to lie afterward. He’s been called out but as usual just deflects with the evils of vindictive government – interesting given his vendetta threat issued during Miranda’s detention. Miranda lied. Greenwald lied. The British government never overstepped anywhere and are completely within their the bounds of law with respect to terrorism and counter-espionage. Miranda was carrying documents that identified British agents in the field, putting them, their families, the UK and its allies at serious risk. It’s now, again, unmistakably clear that Greenwald, Miranda, the Guardian, Poitras, and Snowden are not nor ever have been appropriate or secure keepers of even remotely sensitive information let alone the level they are now known to possess. Miranda’s documents revealed two more important things: Snowden stole more than previously estimated (the forensic examination is still underway and will be for a long time to come) and as important, Snowden not only illegally accessed NSA, he illegally accessed GCHQ. Miranda’s documents also indicate Snowden isn’t a whistleblower. The files Miranda ferried don’t document wrong doing, illegality, or corruption – again.
If any further discussion on reforms is to be had from this – I’d say it’s reevaluating detention time in the age of cyber-espionage, cyber-terrorists, and delusional hacktivists. 9 hours is insufficient detention time for anyone carrying encrypted documents or caches of documents in the volumes we’ve now seen with Chelsea Manning, Snowden, and Assange.
Mikey’s right on. And Mikey, disregard NQ entirely. There’s no point in entertaining irrational desperation. No rational person will regard your comments as homophobic.
…And of course, we must believe everything the British government tells us because they would never ever lie about anything. If Miranda was in possession of top-secret documents then why wasn’t he detained? The ability of Obama/NSA apologists to swallow propaganda is absolutely amazing.
Gareth,
Miranda was detained for the legally allotted time frame. That duration was insufficient for accessing the encryption key for the documents that remained locked and insufficient for examination of the thousands of documents that the UK did access. You speak precisely to the point that laws regulating detention in the age of cyber-espionage, cyber-terrorists, and delusional hacktivists are not suited for the public need. What is absolutely amazing is your revelation about swallowing propaganda – as in your deep gulps of Greenwald’s propaganda. You parrot his deflection-demonization method intended to suggest that critical examination is evidence of uncritical support of Obama or NSA. Miranda and Greenwald both lied before, during, and after Miranda’s detention – that is objective reality. The UK might be lying, but if they are, their lies don’t alter the fact that Miranda and Greenwald lied. Greenwald and Snowden are completely debunked and the Washington Post isn’t reporting anything remotely suggestive of whistleblowing, they’re now just engaging in espionage – they’re only revealing intelligence absent any hint of abuse, corruption, or illegality and with no synthesis-analysis. What they did so irresponsibly report on strengthened my confidence in the cyber-security apparatus. Maybe as WaPo releases its Snowden cache it’s disseminating Obama-NSA propaganda? Yeah, that must be it. And let’s not forget WaPo has been hacked on numerous occasion by Syrian cyber-terrorists after publicizing it held at least part of Snowden’s cache so it’s a sure bet what they didn’t publish is now in the hands of rogue operatives. Any foreign government that hasn’t already accessed Snowden’s cache can easily do so now from Syrian cyber-terror networks. The same will occur at NYT.
Wow, honored for sure, PJ, for your 2 cents worth defending Mikey who was not even being attacked.
Mikey using derogatory and abusive terms as his(?) sole logic to describe a limited set of people he definitely is
addressingberating (those “defenders of Snowden”) for not seeing things his way is a real laugh. A real Obomba ploy, drop a few epithets and that’ll prove genuine righteous indignation and that ever indisputable intellectual reasoning of might makes right you ignorant motherfuckers, from Mikey’s comment, and PJ, you think that brand of BS doesn’t need to be called out? Hey, Bullet-proof is looking for people who are actually willing to pull the trigger without thinking too much.One’s choice of terms can indicate to any reader a wide range of responsive feelings such as, homophobia, misogamy, racism or any number of sentiments underlying the writer’s POV and comments. So, indicating to the writer of clear and fiercely derogatory descriptions of a set of people, an underlying feeling that I had while reading it, is disallowed, PJ, is irrational desperation rather than a simple statement of a personal reaction to that particular piece of might makes right, ranting BS, PJ?
You might want to review what GG actually said in what you describe as the, “vendetta,” threat, and you might want to quit conflating that and several other side incidents, like what Miranda said about his British detention, what documents he was actually carrying from his meeting with Poitras and GG’s numerous follow-ups. Sideshows to the larger point that neither you nor Mikey have figured out, apparently having bought into the corporate owned, MIC, NSA, MSM messaging about protecting us from their definition of the bad guys. That is another big hint, but I don’t see you nor Mikey getting past your own egos to figure it out, i.e., what I was getting at in my initial response to Mikey about lack of insight into a situation expressed in his first comment.
NQ,
When your comments make sense, your comments will be addressed. At this point your comments both to Mikey and to me are incoherent and inscrutable. I can’t speak for Mikey, but for my part – by all means babble on insensibly about me, sputter on to your heart’s content. I always enjoy a tin-hat tirade. There’s an odd comfort in consistency, and you never disappoint.