????The former CIA employee who suddenly burst into headlines around the globe by revealing himself as the source of top-secret leaks about U.S. surveillance programs just as quickly went underground and popped back up in Hong Kong, and has now disappeared again. ????HE is a high school dropout who worked his way into the most secretive computers in U.S. intelligence as a defense contractor — only to blow those secrets wide open by spilling details of classified surveillance programs. ????Now, Edward Snowden might never live in the United States as a free man again. ????In an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, Snowden revealed himself as the source of documents outlining a massive effort by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cellphone calls and monitor the email and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. ????Snowden, 29, said he just wanted the public to know what the government was doing. ????“Even if you’re not doing anything wrong you’re being watched and recorded,” he said. ????Snowden told The Guardian he had access to the full rosters of everyone working at the NSA, the entire intelligence community and undercover assets around the world. ????“I’m just another guy who sits there day to day in the office, watching what’s happening, and goes, ‘This is something that’s not our place to decide.’ The public needs to decide whether these programs or policies are right or wrong,” he said. ????Snowden fled to Hong Kong three weeks ago after copying one last set of documents and telling his boss he needed to go away for medical treatment. ????Before his leak of U.S. intelligence, Snowden was living “in paradise.” ????He worked for a major U.S. Government contractor in Hawaii, earning a US$200,000 salary and enjoying the scenic state with his girlfriend. ????He told The Guardian he never received a high school diploma and didn’t complete his computer studies at a community college. Instead, he joined the army in 2003 but was discharged after breaking both legs in an accident. ????Snowden said he later worked as a security guard for the NSA and then took a computer security job with the CIA. He left that job in 2009 and moved on to Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked as a contractor for the government in Hawaii. ????He told The Guardian that he left for Hong Kong on May 20 without telling his family or his girlfriend what he planned. ????“You’re living in Hawaii, in paradise and making a ton of money. What would it take to make you leave everything behind?” he said in the Guardian interview. ????“I’m willing to sacrifice all of that because I can’t in good conscience allow the U.S. Government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they’re secretly building.” ????Some residents on Oahu island are glad Snowden left. ????“From a Hawaii standpoint, good riddance, thanks for leaving,” Ralph Cossa said. ????“I’m sure the guy had an overactive Mother Teresa gene and thought he was going to go out and save America from Americans, but in reality he was very foolish,” Cossa said. “We expect the government to honor our privacy, but we also expect our government to protect us from terrorist attacks.” ????U.S. President Barack Obama insists his administration is not spying on U.S. citizens — rather, it’s only looking for information on terrorists. ????Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor that employed Snowden, issued a statement saying Snowden had worked at the firm for less than three months. ????“News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm,” the company said in the statement June 9. The firm said it will cooperate with authorities in their investigation. ????Snowden hopes Hong Kong’s climate of free speech will protect him, but there’s no guarantee he won’t be arrested, taken to the Chinese mainland or sent back to the United States. ????But those potential consequences don’t scare Snowden the most. ????According to The Guardian, the only time Snowden became emotional during hours of interviews was when he thought about what might happen to his relatives — many of whom work for the U.S. Government. ????“The only thing I fear is the harmful effects on my family, who I won’t be able to help anymore,” he said. “That’s what keeps me up at night.” ????As for his concerns about his country, “the greatest fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change.”(SD-Agencies) | 