Whether Edward Snowden finds refuge in Ecuador, or elsewhere, the US government has no choice but to seek his extradition. Having violated his secrecy contracts, Mr Snowden has broken serious laws and should face the music. What he disclosed to The Guardian and Washington Post highlights the breadth of the US National Security Agency’s eavesdropping operation. But he did not uncover any breach of US law. Nor do the contents of the leaks invalidate what the NSA is trying to do. There is much scope to tighten its accountability – not least by cutting down on the number of private contractors with access to highly classified information. But treating Mr Snowden as a hero is no answer.
不論愛德華?斯諾登(Edward Snowden)是在厄瓜多爾還是在其他什么地方找到庇護，美國政府都別無選擇，只能繼續尋求引渡他。斯諾登違背了他本人簽署的保密合同，觸犯了法律，就應當承擔相應后果。他向《衛報》(The Guardian)和《華盛頓郵報》(Washington Post)披露的信息，凸顯出美國國家安全局(NSA)竊聽活動的普遍性。但他所揭露的那些行為并沒有任何違反美國法律之處，泄密內容也并未讓國家安全局努力做的事情失去正當性。要讓國家安全局接受更好地問責，有很多工作可做，一個不錯的辦法就是削減能夠接觸到高度機密信息的私人合同工的數量。但把斯諾登當做英雄，并非明智之舉。