美國政府拒絕“寬恕”斯諾登

The White House and the leaders of the intelligence committee in Congress are rejecting National Security Agency-contractor Edward Snowden's plea for clemency.

"Mr. Snowden violated U.S. law," White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday about the former systems-analyst-turned-fugitive who has temporary asylum in Russia.

"He should return to the US and face justice," Pfeiffer said, adding when pressed that no offers for clemency were being discussed.

Snowden made the plea in a letter given to a German politician and released Friday. In his one-page typed letter, he asks for clemency for charges over allegedly leaking classified information about the NSA to the news media. "''Speaking the truth is not a crime," Snowden wrote.

Snowden's revelations, including allegations that the US has eavesdropped on allies including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have led to calls by allies to cease such spying, and moves by Congress to overhaul US surveillance laws and curb the agency's powers.

But head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said if Snowden had been a true whistle-blower, he could have reported it to her committee privately.

"That didn't happen, and now he's done this enormous disservice to our country," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. "I think the answer is no clemency."

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers, called clemency for Snowden a "terrible idea."

"He needs to come back and own up," said Rogers, R-Mich. "If he believes there's vulnerabilities in the systems he'd like to disclose, you don't do it by committing a crime that actually puts soldiers' lives at risk in places like Afghanistan."

Rogers contended that Snowden's revelations had caused three terrorist organizations to change how they communicate.

Both lawmakers addressed word that President Barack Obama did not realize Merkel's personal phone was being tapped.

Rogers implied that he didn't believe the president, or European leaders who claimed they were shocked by Snowden's allegations.

"I think there's going to be some best actor awards coming out of the White House this year and best supporting actor awards coming out of the European Union," he said "Some notion that ... some people just didn't have an understanding about how we collect information to protect the United States to me is wrong."

Feinstein said she didn't know what the president knew, but said she intended to conduct a review of all intelligence programs to see if they were going too far.

"Where allies are close, tapping private phones of theirs ... has much more political liability than probably intelligence viability," she said.

Feinstein and Rogers have taken grief for defending the NSA. Feinstein's committee produced a bill last week that she says increases congressional oversight and limits some NSA powers under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Privacy advocates say the measure codifies the agency's rights to scoop up millions of American's telephone records.

Former NSA and CIA director Mike Hayden said it was possible Obama did not know about the alleged Merkel phone tapping.

But he said it was "impossible" that Obama's top staffers were unaware. "The fact that they didn't rush in to tell the president this was going on points out what I think is a fundamental fact: This wasn't exceptional. This is what we were expected to do."

Hayden's defense of the president comes days after he reportedly criticized the White House's handling of NSA revelations, when a former Democratic political operative tweeted snatches of Hayden's phone conversation, overheard on an Amtrak train.

Pfeiffer appeared on ABC's "This Week," while Rogers, Feinstein and Hayden were interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation."美國國家安全局（NSA）前僱員愛德華·斯諾登日前發表公開信，尋求國際社會支持，以說服美國撤銷對其控訴。據英國廣播公司報道，美國政府11月3日明確回絕了斯諾登的要求，強調對其“絕不寬恕”。

今年6月初，斯諾登將美國國安局“棱鏡”大規模監控項目公之於衆。而後，美國政府對其提出從事間諜活動、竊取政府財產等三項指控。今年8月，斯諾登獲得俄羅斯當局臨時庇護，至少能夠在俄避難至2014年7月31日。

成爲俄羅斯臨時難民後，斯諾登一直深居簡出、行事低調。然而上週，他卻在莫斯科與德國國會議員漢斯-克里斯蒂安·施特勒貝勒會面，並委託施特勒貝勒捎去一封寫給德國總理默克爾、德國議會和德國聯邦檢察官的公開信。

他在信中稱美國國安局（NSA）和英國政府通訊總部（GCHQ）非法從事了大量監聽行爲，是“最可恥的罪犯”。

“全世界在短時間內瞭解到了這些情報機構不負責任的行爲，”斯諾登在信中說，“其中NSA和GCHQ犯下了最嚴重的罪行，至少目前公開的祕密文件證明如此。我們不能忘記大規模監視已經是一個全球問題，它需要全球性的解決方案。”

“講出真相不是犯罪。”斯諾登在信中強調，美國政府控告其間諜罪是在“迫害”他，希望國際社會向美施壓、令美方撤銷指控。

美國白宮3日對此作出迴應。“斯諾登的行爲違反了美國法律，他應該回到美國接受司法審判。”白宮顧問丹·法伊弗說，對斯諾登予以寬大處理不在美方的討論範圍之內。

美國國會參議院情報委員會主席、民主黨參議員戴安娜·范斯坦和衆議院情報委員會主席、共和黨衆議員邁克·羅傑斯對白宮的立場表示支持。范斯坦稱，如果斯諾登真是揭發檢舉的話，他應當私下裏向參議院情報委員會檢舉國安局的不當做法，但他沒有選擇這麼做，“我們會接見他，也會認真調查他提供的信息。可是，上述情況沒有發生。現實是，他對我們的國家造成了巨大的傷害，對此，我們給出的答案是‘不會寬恕’”。