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I have some stuff you might be interested in,” said a mail that landed in Rio-based lawyer turned journalist Glen Greenwald’s inbox in December 2012. It also asked him to install an encryption software that could allow two users to chat anonymously. A few days later, there was a reminder. No response again. Weeks passed.
It was another five months before Greenwald, now working for UK newspaper The Guardian, sat facing Edward Snowden in a small hotel room in Hong Kong, grappling with the import of what could well be the scoop of the decade, if not century. Two more journalists had joined in, including a documentary film maker with a track record of taking on the US government in her work.
The mayhem and the collective embarrassment that followed the revealing of the documents is well known. What is not, perhaps, known is the nuts and bolts of how the story came into the hands of The Guardian and how it developed from there. Moreover, what made Snowden really do it? What was this young man trying to achieve? Why did he take a terminal risk, in a manner of speaking, in embarking on this mission?
And for looking for the cloak and dagger stuff, how did Snowden plan this scheme? How long did the planning take? And how did he plan all this right under the nose of the dreaded National Security Agency (NSA), America’s foreign signals spying agency for half a century?
The Guardian journalist Luke Harding’s The Snowden Files — The Inside Story Of The World’s Most Wanted Man is an insightful account of the events that led to the battery of scoops published by the English daily and the recriminations that followed. It also (for now) appears to be the best one-stop account of the breadth of the controversy and the impressive modus operandus that made America’s spying enterprise a hydra-headed monster over the years.
The book also tries to peer into the mind of Edward Snowden, the most enigmatic young man of the decade perhaps. What makes a 29-year-old form such impressions and then act on them in a cold and premeditated manner? How did he plan this massive data suction effort and then keep it under wraps till he got on a flight to Hong Kong, armed with his precious cargo of hard disks? And then the choice of Hong Kong. Why Hong Kong of all places? Did China have a role to play in his defection ?
The son of of a US Coast Guard employee, growing up near Washington DC, there is nothing in Snowden’s upbringing or exposure that provides hints to the path he would take, except that he mastered the Internet early on in life. But what could have shaped his moral position on snooping and privacy? And the decision to follow through with a plan that was fraught with so much risk and so painstakingly crafted. One that would also result in his exile from the US and separation from his friends and family.
Snowden was patriotic, inasmuch as he tried to join the army. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US, he says he felt he had an obligation as a human being to free people from oppression — in line with, as the author points out, George W Bush’s stated goals for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. The attempt failed after he broke both his legs during infantry training. The army discharged him. And he soon found a job as a ‘security specialist’ at the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Study of Language. This was his first ‘break’. In 2006, he landed a an information technology job at CIA. And then moved up.
The book raises a few larger questions which go beyond Snowden’s successful attempt to expose America’s advanced spying capabilities. To start with, Snowden was patriotic, but not in a manner that many would agree. So what, indeed, is patriotism? Is it blind allegiance to the laws of the land or the ability to question a state’s moves and excesses as the case might be, particularly in a democracy?
Which brings us to the next question. The post 9/11 world is different. We exist in times where the threat of terror hangs ominously over our lives, whether we live in New York, London, Bali or Mumbai. If that is the case, to what extent are we willing to give up our personal privacy and freedom so that we are safe? These questions are as critical in India as they are in the US.
The fact is there has been no large-scale terrorist attack in the US since 9/11. But is that because NSA has been doing a good job of monitoring the airwaves? Accounts in the book suggest the tapping and monitoring did not really prevent any attacks. But maybe there is the comfort of knowing.
And finally, what about the role of media? Were they traitors to the countries they belonged to or were they morally right in publishing the stories they did? Interestingly, US and UK view the role of media in this department quite differently. America, incidentally, is more open than the UK in accepting press freedom thanks to the First Amendment on freedom of the press.
On the other hand, The Guardian worked closely with US and British Governments to ensure that it didn’t reveal any data that would harm individuals, particularly in the world of intelligence. This might come as a surprise to some but, as the book narrates, many exhaustive meetings followed between The Guardian’s editors and intelligence brass before anything went to print.
And the last question. What happens to Snowden? He has safe haven in Russia for now. But how long will Russia host him? And then what? The answer to that is something Snowden does not know either. He can only take each day as it comes.
THE SNOWDEN FILES
THE INSIDE STORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST WANTED MAN
Author: Luke Harding
Publisher: The Guardian Books
Pages: 346
Price: Rs 599
