SNOWDEN, PUTIN AND THE MORAL COLLAPSE OF THE WEST

US Whistle-Blower Edward Snowden

There is a moment of high comedy on a recently recorded programme on RT, the Russian propaganda television network, -which unfortunately can no longer find. Vladimir Putin is being interviewed prior to the upcoming G7 Summit. In answering a question about the Snowden revelations he expresses himself shocked. “In Russia,” he explained, “all intelligence gathering had to be performed under the rule of law. If someone needed to be watched or have their calls monitored a proper court order needed to be obtained.

I laughed, many Russians might cry. The question of believing or not believing this statement simply does not arise; it is nonsense on stilts. Such remarks can leave one literally speechless

What Edward Snowden did was in many respects admirable, had a strong basis in morality and can be placed in a long tradition of individual whistle-blowers, civil disobedience activists and lone individuals who have courageously spoken truth to power. What separates him from so many who have trodden on this path before him is his refusal to face up to the personal consequences of his actions, in short, to stand his ground.

Now I do not feel able to criticise this too strongly, nor with any conviction that I my self would have the psychological, physical and moral courage to face years of imprisonment, possibly in solitary confinement. The likes of Steve Biko, Martin Luther King and Aung San Suu Kyi are better individuals by far. I can only admire and hope, if pressed, that I would demonstrate a small portion of their moral courage.

Of course, whilst those defying  the laws of countries like the UK or US, have always faced strong penalties, they faced nothing remotely comparable to that faced by dissenting individuals in, say, the USSR or the dictatorships of South America.

However in the aftermath of 9/11 ‘western’ states have no few qualms about visiting draconian consequences on whistle-blowers and dissenting individuals. This is particularly true in the US.

There has been a steady decline in liberal mores and consequently in the moral standing of democratic states, again particularly the US. The infamous and Orwellian Patriot Act, Guatanamo Bay, the treatment of Bradley Manning – which would have been par for the course in most totalitarian states, -have all demonstrated a departure from civilised norms. A similar process can be identified across the democratic world. Under the umbrella of the war against terrorism we have seen the following justified:-

• Torture
• Extraordinary rendition - kidnapping to you or me.
• Assassination by pilot-less drones
• Indefinite detention
• Spying on whole populations
• The criminalisation of dissent
• Widespread curbs on civil liberties and free speech.

It may be that if Edward Snowden was to be extradited to the US he would receive a fair trial, but does anybody on the planet believe that should he be found guilty the penalty would be proportionate?

I think that we must allow for the fact that should Mr Snowden fall into the hands of the American justice system it is likely that an extremely unpleasant fate would await him.

There was also a time when a person of conscience on the run from the American justice system might have found refuge in few liberal democracies in Europe, Sweden or Switzerland perhaps. Those days appear to have gone along with the liberal values that have steadily been eroded from within.

All of this said there is something particularly grotesque about Snowden’s choice of Putin’s Russia as a place of refuge. It’s rather as if, having exposed corruption in City Hall, you then sought refuge with the Mob. Mr Corleone might have reasons for offering you sanctuary; they are unlikely to be concerns for your safety. Your choice of refuge might also cast some doubt on your moral credibility.

There was once another whistle-blower, in his case he was exposing the machinations of Putin’s Russia, and his name was Litvinenko. Litvinenko died in London as a result of polonium poisoning, a particularly harrowing death. Mr Snowden’s new found friends have their own way of dealing with whistle-blowers.

Once Mr Snowden admitted to himself that he lacked the courage to face the consequences of his actions his choices were limited. In choosing to cosy up to a gangster state like Putin’s Russia he now places himself open to the charge not only of moral cowardice, but of appalling hypocrisy and of being little better than a Quisling.

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