On October 27, 2013, the former CIA Deputy Director: Mike Morell was interviewed by correspondent John Miller on 60 Minutes. The interview was entitled The Deputy Director: Mike Morell.

According to Miller, Morell’s “insights have helped shape the key foreign-policy decisions of the last three presidents.”

In discussing Edward Snowden, the leaker of classified documents concerning the United States’ secret electronic surveillance programs, Morell said he did not believe that Snowden was a whistleblower. Nor did he believe he was a hero. What he did believe was that he “betrayed his country.” (Italics mine)

When Miller inquired how serious was the damage that Snowden did to our national security, Morell said he thought it was “the most serious leak” both in terms of type and amount of “compromise of classified information in the history of the U.S. intelligence community.”

Miller said that Morell reports that of the hundreds of pages of NSA documents that Snowden leaked, the top-secret document the CIA calls the “Black Budget,” was the most damaging. He said that Morell said that was because now our enemies’ counterintelligence can be concentrated on places where Snowden has indicated we’ve been successful. By inference, our adversaries now don’t have to worry as much about those places which were not so victorious.
Miller responded to Morell’s comments by saying, “kind of like handing over the playbook to the other team” to which Morell agreed was so.

That’s precisely why Snowden should never have released those top-secret CIA documents worldwide. When you stop to think of the man-hours and expense that has been required to set up the surveillance program as it currently stands, and now realizing, that part of the program will have to be revised because of what Snowden has publicly revealed, what he did is shamefully tragic and unwarranted.

We must remember that since September 11, 2001, there has been no successful terrorist attack of the range and scope of what occurred then. God help us if Snowden’s betrayal directly results in any additional terrorist attack large or small that could have been prevented if he hadn’t done what he did to date.

There’s a lot of brouhaha centered on what Snowden has done over the last number of months. Snowden cites the 4th and 5th Amendments of our Constitution as examples of how the United States’ secret electronic surveillance programs are in violation of those amendments and to dramatize his plight, he cites the violation of those two amendments as being the primary reason for his disseminating bits and pieces of the United States’ secret electronic surveillance programs for all the world to see.

Amendment IV

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Amendment V

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

I presented Amendment IV and V in their entirety to illustrate how those amendments can come in direct conflict with what I would consider much more important freedoms to consider, particularly when you compare and contrast the potential devastation that could occur if Snowden’s “betrayal” ends up causing a devastation approximating that of September 11, 2001.

In that regard, what Snowden failed to mention was what was contained in the Declaration of Independence, which states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, which among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Italics mine)

All of those “unalienable rights” would be more at risk if we should scrap our current electronic surveillance program.

We must remember that when our Founding Fathers wrote the various freedoms contained in the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution’s 4^th and 5^th Bill of Rights amendments, they didn’t necessarily anticipate that the aforementioned amendments would necessarily conflict with the freedoms contained in the Declaration of Independence, but in this case, such a conflict exists.

However, the message contained in the Declaration of Independence, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness should supersede the messages contained in the 4^th and 5^th Amendments, as the damaging effects of violating the unalienable rights are much greater because of the loss of life alone, compared to what’s expressed in the aforementioned amendments.

At any time, when the current secret electronic surveillance program can no longer protect the lives of fellow Americans in their pursuit of Life, Liberty, and Happiness, then that’s the time for the program to be rescinded, but not before.