Snowden as Spy

There is a good video on the issue of whether Edward Snowden was a spy or not, taking up one side of a convoluted story.  It is an interview with Former CIA officer Lindsay Moran at the Wall Street Journal Live  http://live.wsj.com/video/former-cia-officer-snowden-was-no-spy/D2BAC276-2EB2-47D7-96D6-E655218EB5A5.html?mod=trending_now_video_1#!D2BAC276-2EB2-47D7-96D6-E655218EB5A5

Moran is describing why she thinks Snowden was not a spy for the U.S., was never trained for the job, and was not in a position where he would have been employed that way.  He makes that claim in an interview with NBC, to be aired tonight.  He is a "spy want-a-be", a sad, but interesting characterization.

What is confusing about this is that Snowden likely was a spy, just not a spy for the U.S.  Mike Rogers, from the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, confirmed that Snowden was a spy, after all, and probably had help from the FSB.  The KGB, predecessor to the FSB, was Putin's home before he came to office.  The news media calls this a "revelation", which only means they hadn't even thought about it before theses two stated the obvious.  We have the unusual twist of having each side in this, the Russians and the U.S. claiming Snowden was a spy, without either one making a statement about it.

Snowden is not making his claims without his Russian handlers being close by.  He has a crudely crafted story of why he ended up in Russia (the State Department took my passport) that is inconsistent with history where spies have fled the country without a passport and were taken in by the Russians who helped them out.  I can just imagine the Russians saying to him, "Gee, we're sorry, but we can't let you and your stash of classified documents in the country because you don't have a passport."  It doesn't even pass the laugh test, but it is the kind of crude lie the Russians tell.  They aren't very subtle.  Look at Crimea for the evidence.

Snowden makes a great foil for the FSB, and we have to give them credit for the way they have used him.  They hold him up as the Spy Who Came In From the NSA, and he repeats his incredible stories with a youthful style that sounds sincere.  He may have practiced them often enough to believe them.  The longer he is around, the more elaborate these stories will be.  He has some of the characteristics that make a good spy, and the technical savy to go with it.  Just not the spy he makes himself out to be.  Amazon books: