If you’ve been following the recent National Security Agency leak and its aftermath, it might seem like the walls of order and secrecy are all crumbling down. It’s been a big last few years, in general, with the Wikileaks scandals, Bradley Manning’s shocking revelations, and protests springing up all over the world against authoritarian government policies. Is the world as we know it falling apart?
The caveat in Edward Snowden’s case is that this isn’t necessarily revolutionary. In fact, there are three former NSA agents – Thomas Drake, William Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe – who likewise spent years trying to expose the unconstitutional practices of the agency, to little avail. All three spent decades working for the NSA, even managing the data-collection programs they found so problematic. When they finally decided to speak out – first to superiors, then federal investigators, and finally to news outlets – they were forced out of their jobs and investigated as criminals.
The link in their stories and Snowden’s is that, in addition to speaking out against what they perceived as the unconstitutional, anti-American practices of the NSA, all of them also sacrificed their own comfort and reputations in doing so. The press and coverage gained by coming forward are no substitutes for jobs, homes, friends, and peace of mind – which suggests that these whistle-blowers really did have the American people’s best interest in mind. It’s a complex issue, though, and one that is by no means free of wrinkles.
In this candid and enlightening discussion, Drake, Binney, and Wiebe examine Snowden’s actions in comparison to their own, the places he may have misstepped, and why this general movement toward greater transparency excites them:
What do you think? Are you inspired or troubled by this growing trend of whistle-blowing?
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