The Dream of Courageous Insiders

Is there a second Edward Snowden? Given the behavior of the U.S. intelligence agencies, the world should hope for as many whistleblowers as possible. Whoever betrays basic rights must be betrayed.

A good reason to refrain from improper behavior is that it will come to light sometime. This applies to politicians who have to fear a scandal that could end up costing them their office. Unfortunately that logic all too rarely applies to intelligence agencies, which conduct their business far outside government control. Then Edward Snowden came on the scene and revealed the extent to which the United States monitors communications and collects data worldwide.

The mercilessness with which the U.S. government has hunted Snowden as an alleged traitor can be explained by the likelihood that the powers that be in Washington want to deter copycats. All the more remarkable is the possibility that there might be yet another whistleblower within the ranks of the U.S. intelligence agencies.

Over the past few months, Snowden, who is stuck in exile in Russia and who is dependent on the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin of all people, might have thought about other historical figures who paid an excruciatingly high price for their political involvement. Perhaps Martin Luther King, who fought against racial segregation, was among them. He defined his vision of fairer society with the words, “I have a dream.”

The dream with which Edward Snowden has inspired followers around the globe is that there are as many whistleblowers as there are dark secrets. Whoever betrays basic rights deserves to be betrayed. Only if those people who have insider knowledge are courageous will things change for the better.