Hayden: NSA ‘Infinitely Weaker’ Because of Snowden Leaks

NSA's Position of Power Will Take 'Decades' to Restore

Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden today declared Edward Snowden a “traitor” for leaking details on the NSA’s surveillance programs to the American public, declaring it the “most serious hemorrhaging of American secrets in the history of American espionage.”

Hayden went on to claim that the NSA was “infinitely weaker” now that everyone knows about what it is doing, insisting it would take “decades” for the NSA to return to the pre-Snowden era of unchecked power.

Snowden legal adviser Jesselyn Radack dismissed Hayden’s allegations, saying that both a federal court and President Obama’s own review panel have said what Snowden uncovered was likely unconstitutional, and that this vindicates him as a whistleblower.

Reactions like Hayden’s are all-too-common in the current administration, with officials declaring anyone who reports inconvenient facts to be guilty of treason, and blaming them for the inevitable fallout from illegal and unconscionable programs.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.