The former is abhorrent and should be a big scandal, but it won't be. Snowden showed that Americans simply don't care. Given that signal, why stop?
The latter is actually good, in general. LEOs doing actual police work, joining groups that might be extremist...that's the online equivalent of undercover work, and I think it's good when it's human work.
So, basically I agree that proactive, general IC infiltration of back-ends is wrong, but I think its already happening and won't stop without change of sentiment. LEOs can and should do more human investigation, join groups, get involved, see what they are about - and then leave them alone if they aren't a physical threat. Obviously this can be super problematic (e.g. the FBI vs MLK) but the only alternative is to just sit there and wait for an attack. That's no bueno, either.
As an aside, if lack of critical thinking skills sets you off easily, you are in for a rough ride. It's particularly dangerous because directed at others, it gives you clout in with the wrong people, and directed at yourself contempt can lead to self-loathing and depression.
It does confirm that Ukraine is losing the war badly, I think it was like 7 Ukrainians dying for 1 Russian. With that knowledge, it seems that continuing to fund this war with a blank check to Ukraine is not in the interests of the American people.
So I feel that this leak was a good thing, from the perspective of the American people, especially if it ends the US funding of this war.
Are you referring to the picture with 17k russians vs 71k ukrainians? I thought that was the one that had been edited/falsified…
In my view, curtailing Russian expansion is the point of the war, and Ukrainian lives are unfortunately one cost of doing so. It's important that Ukrainians are participating in the war of their own volition; the US is not paying Ukrainians to join the battle, unlike the scenario with the ANA in Afghanistan.
Even if the leak produces good outcomes, it should still be prosecuted as espionage, since there was no good faith motivation for the leak.
The US aid to Ukraine that is the relation of the US government to the war is, in fact, authorized by Congress. See, e.g., the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 (PL 117-118).
Yes, Russia's invasion of Ukraine is illegal. It's a war of choice waged for reason no better than Putin's vanity. It hasn't helped Russia and it certainly hasn't helped Ukraine.
Fortunately, it is within Russia's power to end the war tomorrow. All Russia needs to do is leave Ukrainian territory, return relocated Ukrainian citizens, start paying reparations, and begin the process of extraditing war criminals so they can be tried.
No:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/13/world/europe/ukraine-russ...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/03/14/did-the-ukr...
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-war-already-wit...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65260672
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/04/14/...
> With that knowledge
What you call "knowledge" here is, in fact, just lies.
It's interesting how susceptible people have become to falsehoods in the internet age. People get told what they want to hear and they believe it wholeheartedly, not matter how untrue it is.
You've become internet siloed. It's rotting you.
Personally I don't find it odd that someone might reject "mainstream reality" as not credible. But what is odd are the things they often choose to replace it. E.g. 4chan ramblings or general internet randomness. It's like, be super skeptical, fine, but you don't get to be selective. You can't say the BBC is shit but forum22334.hackerville.ru is credible and be taken seriously.
I'm one of those people who believes very strongly that Snowden was a hero for exposing grossly illegal and immoral activity, and should be pardoned.
But I do not feel this way about this case. Why? Because the leak did not expose government malfeasance, and therefore wasn't in the interest of the American people. Ordinary anti-espionage rules can and should apply.