The White House has struggled to find its voice on Edward Snowden, at times insisting that they are simply asking Russia very nicely to hand over the whistleblower, and at other times railing at Russia for not complying with demands to immediately capture him.
Today was one of the later cases, with White House officials angrily threaten Russia, insisting they must immediately capture Snowden for them, and warning of “long-term problems” if they don’t do so. Russia has no extradition treaty with the US, and says they have no grounds to hassle Snowden so long as he is in the International travel section of the airport.
“He is not a human rights activist, he is not a dissident,” insisted press secretary Jay Carney, suggesting that there should be no consideration of asylum for him because the US government doesn’t view him favorably.
As to what the US can realistically do for “long-term problems” with Russia, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R – SC) has an idea, urging the US to announce a full boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics just to spite Russia for not capturing Snowden.
