After the tragedy of September 11, 2001, Washington's policies in many ways became divorced from facts, said Edward Snowden, former NSA contractor, in an interview to the Swiss television channel RTS.
"The greatest tragedy after terrorist acts [of 9/11] in my country was that the policies of our government in many ways became divorced from facts," emphasized Edward Snowden. He underscored that Washington started a devastating war based on false information and what made matters worse, influential US policy-makers knew the pretext was false.
22 March 2015, 17:40 GMT
Intelligence services should be focused on finding the truth and informing the most powerful figures in the US government to ensure policy-makers are on the right track, the former NSA contractor noted. The intelligence agencies were created to protect people, communities, societies, and in no way are for spying on innocent, he stressed. The President of the United States has the power to put an end to the NSA programs which monitor and record telephone conversations of American people. Almost 330 million of people, whose data is intercepted, stored and analyzed on a regular basis, are not suspected of any criminal activities. However, the US President has done nothing to abolish these programs, Edward Snowden underscored.
Meanwhile, the US government persists on continuing its aggressive policies aimed at escalation of conflicts across the world. Such an approach is politically beneficial to certain classes of people or some elites, but at the same time it is devastating for world communities and societies, the former contractor noted, calling into question the idea of US global leadership. People have already realized that they need to abandon the idea that the US is the world's hegemon, dictating what other countries do, Edward Snowden stressed.
Edward Snowden, a former American intelligence agent who exposed the NSA spying programs aimed at Americans and foreign civilians across the world, is currently wanted by the US on charges of espionage. He arrived to Moscow in June 2013 and has resided in Russia ever since his passport was revoked by the US. Edward Snowden was granted asylum by Russia in August 2013.
