Legal, Political Maneuvering Let Snowden Flee -- Washington Post
The authorities in Hong Kong made a political decision to wash their hands of National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden and used quibbles about U.S. legal documents as cover to allow him to fly to Moscow despite a direct plea from Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to make an arrest, U.S. officials said.
Snowden’s ability to board an Aeroflot flight Sunday to Moscow, despite the revocation of his passport and the warrant for his arrest, was one more move in a series of artful legal and diplomatic maneuvers that have involved China, the Kremlin, WikiLeaks and the Ecuadoran government and kept the 30-year-old outside the grasp of the normally long arm of U.S. justice.
The Obama administration and politicians on Capitol Hill are likely to be infuriated if Snowden makes it to Ecuador, where he has requested asylum. But the former contractor who had worked at an NSA facility in Hawaii until he fled to Hong Kong skillfully placed his fate in the hands of WikiLeaks and countries that nurse animosities toward the United States. And Snowden’s odyssey is likely to exacerbate the United States’ strained relations with China and Russia.
Read more ....
Update: U.S. Government ‘Disappointed’ Hong Kong Let Snowden Leave -- Time
My Comment: Hong Kong is relieved that he is gone .... helped by both China and Russia. As for China's and Russia's reasons for helping Edward Snowden .... their motivations are simple. Both countries are upset with the Obama administration on numerous issues, and this is their opportunity to give the diplomatic "middle finger" to Washington.
No comments:
Post a Comment