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Edward Snowden Consequences

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Whistle-blower is a term used to describe people who denounce illegal practices in a company or organization. They are usually hated by their companions or the company which was denounced. Edward Snowden, a whistle-blower who leaked National Security Agency’s classified information about national and international espionage, is considered as a hero and as a traitor among some people in United States and in many countries with which U.S. has political relationships since his disclosures could undermine these international relations and the citizens’ trust. This essay exhibits the causes that led Snowden to reveal U.S. classified documents, and then the consequences of Snowden’s actions. The first cause is that he was hired by CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) in 2006 as a Technical/IT expert and received a top secret clearance (Cole & Brunker, 2014, Edward Snowden: A Timeline, NBC News). The next year he is sent to Geneva, Switzerland, where he took the role of IT and cyber security expert for …show more content…
In June 9, 2013, after having divulged many classified documents and secret information, the Guardian revealed that its information source was Edward Snowden who had already flown to Hong Kong since May (Cole & Brunker, 2014). Which protected him from being taken under arrest after Guardian’s revelations. The second consequence is that U.S. charged Snowden with theft of government property. Snowden has been charged with two accusations. The Washington Post reported that U.S. federal prosecutors have charged him with theft with the following statements “unauthorized communication of national defense information” and “willful communication of classified communications intelligence information to an unauthorized person,” according to the complaint (Finn & Horwitz, 2013, para 2). Therefore, if he come back to the U.S., he will stand a trial for theft, and it is very likely he will go to

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