Snowden's leaks may endanger US troops - lawmakers

9 January 2014, 23:35

Two congressmen say a classified Pentagon report on former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden says most of the documents he took concerned current military operations. The classified by the Defense Intelligence Agency found that Snowden stole approximately 1.7 million intelligence files that 'concern vital operations of the US Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.'

House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and ranking Democrat C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland say Snowden tipped off US enemies to spying methods used to defend the country, and potentially jeopardized US troops overseas.

Quoting the report, the lawmakers say the disclosures have already tipped off US adversaries to US defense methods, and hurt US allies helping with counterterrorism, cybercrime, trafficking, and stopping weapons of mass destruction. They offered no specifics and none of the documents that have been published through Snowden associate Glenn Greenwald appeared to have dealt with current military operations.

Director of National Intelligence spokesman Michael Birmingham said intelligence officials are continuing to assess damage from the material Snowden took when he left the country in June 2013. ''We've been clear that these leaks have been unnecessarily and extremely damaging,' he said in a statement Thursday.

'As a result of these disclosures, terrorists and their support networks, now have a better understanding of our collection methods and, make no mistake about it, they are taking countermeasures,' he said.

European parliament invites Snowden to testify via video link

A European parliament committee has invited ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden to testify via video link in its investigation of US surveillance practices. No date has been proposed and it is not clear if the whistleblower will accept the invitation.

The justice and civil liberties committee voted 36-2 with one abstention on Thursday to seek testimony from Edward Snowden.

No date has been proposed and it was not immediately clear if Snowden would accept the European parliament committee's invitation.

Snowden, the fugitive CIA employee who leaked thousands of secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents and revealed the extent of the US surveillance, has been living in Moscow since June 2013, where he was granted temporary asylum status.

MEPs on the European Parliament's civil liberties committee voted today on whether to hear video testimony from Edward Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower who is currently in Russia on Asylum. The move could endanger relations with the United States, with some in the US Congress saying that ongoing EU-US negotiations would be affected.

European parliament to vote on Snowden's video testimony

The EU Parliament's civil liberties committee is expected to vote today on a demand from MEPs to receive testimony from Edward Snowden via video. Snowden, the fugitive CIA employee who leaked thousands of secret National Security Agency (NSA) documents and revealed the extent of the US surveillance, has been living in Moscow since June 2013, where he was granted temporary asylum status.

Ex-NSA workers invite Obama to frank talk on spy violations, failed anti-terror policy

MEPs on the European Parliament's civil liberties committee are likely to vote tomorrow (9 January) on whether to hear video testimony from Edward Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower who is currently in Russia on Asylum. The move could endanger relations with the United States, with some in the US Congress saying that ongoing EU-US negotiations would be affected.

Last year Snowden exposed massive surveillance by the US agency of European citizens, institutions and political leaders. German Green MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht has been coordinating the testimony with Snowden's lawyers.

The British Conservatives have been vocally opposed to the idea. Last month British MEP Timothy Kirkhope sent a letter to members of the committee saying that Snowden is a criminal and that accepting his testimony would be "a provocative act that would enable him to further endanger security around Europe and beyond'. However the idea has support from the other political groups, according to sources.

Snowden has more US-Israel secrets to expose - Glenn Greenwald

The main centre-right EPP group has said they would only consider a live video feed, so that follow-up questions can be asked. But Snowden may insist on pre-recorded video so that his exact location cannot be pinpointed. If there is no answer on this question from Snowden's side before committee group leaders meet tomorrow morning, the vote will be delated.

On 18 December the committee heard video testimony from Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who disclosed the US operation to collect global communications data based on Snowden's leaks.

Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said during a visit to Brussels that it was 'beneath the dignity' of the Parliament to hear testimony from Snowden. He said such a move would damage ongoing negotiations over issues such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), an EU-US free trade agreement.

The committee is also due to be presented a report on the US mass surveillance from British centre-left MEP Claude Moraes. The report is expected to recommend that the 'safe harbour agreement' between the EU and the US, which allows for easy data transfer between the EU and US, be reevaluated. The agreement covers Europeans' user data stored by US-based web sites such as Facebook, Amazon and Google.

Source: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_01_09/ Snowdens-leaks-may-endanger- US-troops-lawmakers-0420/