The NSA's Whistle Blower Program Needs To Be Overhauled

The Guardian: How the Pentagon punished NSA whistleblowers

Long before Edward Snowden went public, John Crane was a top Pentagon official fighting to protect NSA whistleblowers. Instead their lives were ruined – and so was his

* Snowden calls for whistleblower shield after claims by Pentagon source
* Exclusive: Pentagon source goes on record against whistleblower program

By now, almost everyone knows what Edward Snowden did. He leaked top-secret documents revealing that the National Security Agency was spying on hundreds of millions of people across the world, collecting the phone calls and emails of virtually everyone on Earth who used a mobile phone or the internet. When this newspaper began publishing the NSA documents in June 2013, it ignited a fierce political debate that continues to this day – about government surveillance, but also about the morality, legality and civic value of whistleblowing.

But if you want to know why Snowden did it, and the way he did it, you have to know the stories of two other men.

The first is Thomas Drake, who blew the whistle on the very same NSA activities 10 years before Snowden did. Drake was a much higher-ranking NSA official than Snowden, and he obeyed US whistleblower laws, raising his concerns through official channels. And he got crushed.

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WNU Editor: This is a very important story .... it impacts both our security and our privacy. But it is how this story is being covered that is both interesting and very revealing. The foreign media is covering it. Conservative and liberal blogs are covering it. The tech news websites and blogs are covering it. But NO coverage from the U.S. mainstream media.

More News On The NSA's Whistle-blower Program

Vindication for Edward Snowden From a New Player in NSA Whistleblowing Saga -- The Intercept
Edward Snowden calls for more protection for whistleblowers as details emerge of how Pentagon retaliated against previous NSA source -- Daily Mail
Former Pentagon official says whistleblowing system is a 'trap' -- The Guardian
Edward Snowden calls for overhaul of whistleblowing after Pentagon source revelations -- The Independent
Snowden Urges ‘Iron-Clad Protection’ For Whistleblowers After New Claims About 2002 NSA Case -- IBTimes
Snowden calls for ‘iron-clad protection’ of whistleblowers after new insider revelations -- RT
What the NSA's assault on whistleblowers taught Snowden -- Boing Boing
Beyond Snowden: How the Government Punished NSA Whistleblowers -- Breitbart
Fired Pentagon Official: DoD and Obama Retaliate Against Whistleblowers -- Sputnik
A New Front In Obama’s War on Whistleblowers -- Charles S. Clark, Defense One/Government Executive
Future of national security whistleblowing at stake in US inquiry -- Ewen MacAskill and Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian
Edward Snowden Might Have Had No Choice but to Leak to the Media -- Lucinda Shen, Fortune