Edward Snowden takes NSA victory lap, criticizes Russia in New York Times op-ed

NSA: We were just about to stop spying on everyone before Snowden spoke out

(Image credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images)

published 5 June 2015

This week, President Obama signed the USA Freedom Act, formally winding down the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone metadata. On Friday, The New York Times published a triumphant op-ed from the man who exposed that program, Edward Snowden, currently exiled in Russia. Cheering "the power of an informed public," Snowden said that "ending the mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen." He concluded:

We are witnessing the emergence of a post-terror generation, one that rejects a worldview defined by a singular tragedy. For the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we see the outline of a politics that turns away from reaction and fear in favor of resilience and reason. With each court victory, with every change in the law, we demonstrate facts are more convincing than fear. [Snowden, in NY Times]

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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