1. Arise Roby
Presents
Snowden creates
new headaches,
distractions for the
White House
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2. ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH CENTER
 National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden is
vowing to create more headaches for President Obama
after emerging Friday to request temporary asylum in
Russia.
 After a three-week stay in the transit zone of a Moscow
airport, Snowden made a public appearance on Friday at
a meeting with human rights groups. Snowden said in a
statement that he would once again request asylum in
Russia so he could secure legal travel to the Latin
American countries that would take him in.

3.  The latest developments in the Snowden saga underscore the
public relations problem that Snowden has become on the
international stage as the U.S. has attempted unsuccessfully to
extradite him on espionage charges. Snowden’s latest request
could threaten to further chill the icy U.S.-Russia relations
should Moscow — which has said it is neutral in the Snowden
affair — grant asylum to the 30-year-old defense contractor.
 Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone
Friday in a previously scheduled call, according to the White
House, giving Obama a chance to personally lobby Putin over
Snowden. The White House said the two discussed Snowden, as
well as counterterrorism cooperation in the lead-up to the
Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.Before the call, the White
House blasted Russian officials for providing Snowden a
“propaganda platform” that allowed him to consult with
human rights officials in a highly publicized meeting.
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4.  “Providing a propaganda platform for Mr. Snowden runs
counter to the Russian government's previous declarations of
Russia's neutrality and ... that they have no control over his
presence in the airport,” White House press secretary Jay
Carney said. “It's also incompatible with Russian assurances
that they do not want Mr. Snowden to further damage U.S.
interests.” The row over Snowden is occurring amid serious
policy disputes between Washington and Moscow over Syria
and other issues.
 But even if the Russians give Snowden asylum, the U.S. is not
likely to let it seep into other aspects of U.S-Russian policy
despite the warnings of repercussions, said Michael Rubin, a
defense analyst at the conservative-leaning American
Enterprise Institute. “For better or worse, I think American
officials will compartmentalize and put the Snowden irritant off
to one side,” Rubin said.
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5.  Putin had said previously said that he would grant Snowden
asylum — on the condition that he “must cease his work aimed
at inflicting damage on our American partners" — and Russian
officials said Friday that his comments still stand. Snowden
hinted Friday that he would continue to be a thorn in the side
of the Obama administration if he has the opportunity to leave
the Moscow airport freely — and get a platform to speak.
 Snowden said that he intended to travel to each of the Latin
American countries that offered him asylum “to extend my
personal thanks to their people and leaders.” He also labeled
them human rights protectors in comments sure to rankle U.S.
officials. “These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia,
Nicaragua, and Ecuador have my gratitude and respect for
being the first to stand against human rights violations carried
out by the powerful rather than the powerless,” Snowden said
at the Friday meeting, according to a transcript posted by
Wikileaks. ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH CENTER

6.  Mike Breen, executive director of the Truman National Security
Project, said the Latin American countries were essentially
following the lead of Russia and China by thumbing their noses at
the U.S. “At this point the guy is a political football to be exploited
by people playing by the oldest rule in international politics: One of
the fastest ways to gain stature as an international player is to take
down by a few notches the most powerful player,” Breen said.
“They’re not going to take any real risks.” The Obama
administration has been exerting pressure on countries across the
globe to get Snowden into custody.
 The New York Times reported that State Department officials and
diplomats have been warning Latin American countries of lasting
consequences to U.S. relations if they accept him. Nevertheless,
Vennezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador have all offered
Snowden asylum. On Thursday, Obama told Chinese officials
during trade discussions at the White House that he was
disappointed they allowed Snowden to flee Hong Kong and fly to
Moscow. ARISE TRAINING & RESEARCH CENTER

7. The U.S. has also tapped its allies to help prevent Snowden
from flying to Latin America. The Bolivian president’s
plane was denied access to several European countries’
airspace last week when Snowden was rumored to be on
board, and Snowden said Friday that it’s currently
“impossible” for him to travel to Latin America because
of the interference. While Snowden’s quest to reach Latin
America was generating international headlines, many
don’t expect his flight to have long-lasting impacts on U.S.
foreign policy.
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8.  “For all the heat and light around this right now, the idea that
in two years the status of Snowden is going to be some kind of
major international issue or something the U.S. is going to
push hard about seems a little far-fetched,” Breen said. “It’s
not a positive step for anybody to grant asylum in terms of
relationships with the U.S., but their relationships with the U.S.
are already somewhat strained,” he added. “And to think it’s
going to be straw that breaks camel’s back — I tend to doubt
it.” Rubin said that Snowden wasn’t helping his case either by
running into the arms of dictators and praising their records on
human rights, however. “Obama can sit back and let Snowden
destroy himself,” Rubin said. “It’s hard to be a free speech
martyr while embracing dictators who punish free speech.”
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9. THANK YOU
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