The Obama Administration is furious. A good chunk of Congress is furious. Most of the Sunday news show pundits are furious. Shaking their fists impotently in rage at the escape of Edward Snowden from Hong Kong, they are inconsolable.
Who are they mad at? Tiny Ecuador, who is granting Snowden asylum, to be sure. But the rage is also targeted at China, Hong Kong’s city government, even Russia for letting Snowden’s plane stop off there.
The White House has promised a “negative impact” on Sino-American relations as a result of Snowden’s escape, and demands that Russia use “all options” to capture Snowden and turn him over to the US government, threatening major repercussions for defiance.
Rep. Peter King (R – NY), always convenient for his ability to boil things down to their totally unreasonable conclusions, insisted that the US must now be much more hostile toward China going forward, and that “business cannot go on as usual.”
In the end this means that the US government is willing to self-sabotage its most important diplomatic relationships, those with China and Russia, which the Obama Administration has been pouring effort into keeping at least nominally civil.
Neither Russia or China is eager to worsen relations with the US, though China is surely displeased with the news of US cyber-attacks. Ultimately it is the Obama Administration’s own anger, and the lack of a detainee to take out their frustrations on, that will drive the worsening ties.
"Major repercussions". Sure Obama, what you gonna do, bomb Russia? Try to start a "color revolution" there? Send some of the US's most loyal jihadis to Chechnya?
They can't have it both ways: if they say he is a spy who has hurt US interests vis a vis other Powers, how can they expect those Powers to hand him over? What Power has ever willingly done so? Would the US do so? No. If he is an exile due to an act of conscience, every norm of civilized behaviour demands he be sheltered. As Gibbon pointed out, comparing his own to that of the Antonines, without a chance of asylum, the World is one big prison.
What an ugly face the FedGov presents to the world, now that the mask has come off. Threats, nothing but threats.
The mask has been off for some time. Including watching Dems in Congress support hate and war resolutions in Bush days …. a sure sign of what was to come when Obama was elected.
Both the Dems and Repubs have been in favor of a fascist-like drive for world domination for at least a decade now. The main question for the world by now is simply, who will be this time's Churchill.
and they have always been ugly
How do you find out you've been pissing people all over the place, well in the words of Bill Engvall "here's your sign"
How can he be extradited since Russia has no extradition treaty with the United States. Is the White House suggesting that the Russian kidnap him?
Russia has extradited criminals to the US before without a formal treaty between the two countries, but given the political nature of the Snowden case and the snubbing the US has given Russia over the extradition of certain Chechen warlords, Moscow sees no reason to cooperate in this particular case.
obama goes home to lkick his dog and kerry has 57 varieties to kick
I agree with Peter King things cannot go on as before, America should immediately pay all of those republican borrowings that Bush mad e to fund his illegal war in Iraq, Every US Company must immediately, leave China and return to the US. Hang that would mean that the US would spiral into bankruptcy, The Mainly Republican Businesses would balk at the billions in losses as they vacate their factories and have to rebuild again elsewhere retrain workforces, all because America broke its own laws!
Of Course China could claim the espionage of the United States, as an act of cyber terrorism and do what US Courts do seize American assets even though they do not belong to the Government, the US has done it frequently to Iran! Oh and one last thing Peter threatening China with a war would be stupid, China has the ability to launch Nukes with the ability to hit Washington DC, NYC, LA. and with over a Billion people can easily raise an Army of 100 million!