Snowden should have sought backing

WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2013
Snowden should have sought backing

Ms Beasley (Letters, July 9) and probably others are surprised that I, seen as a soft-hearted leftist, could be so unsympathetic to Edward Snowden.

But his defenders overlook the fact that he made no effort to go through legal channels. He could have contacted a sympathetic congressman or senator, or got in touch with a lawyer who represents whistleblowers.
 Instead he goes to a foreign country, releases classified information which, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry, puts American lives at risk, and rubs elbows with some of the worst human rights violators in the world.
So I come back to my original question which I asked in an earlier letter: Do the American people believe that any American who has access to classified information be allowed to decide by himself whether or not it should remain classified? If so, we could be in real danger.
ERIC BAHRT
PATTAYA