A former US lawmaker has expressed concerns that the Obama administration might resort to assassinating NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden with a cruise or a \u00c5\u201cdrone missile.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Speaking at a televised news show with Fox network on Tuesday, former Texas Republican Congressman and 2012 US presidential candidate Ron Paul said, \u00c5\u201cI\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m worried about somebody in our government might kill him with a cruise missile or a drone missile,\u201d RT reported Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
Paul has been an outspoken critic of the entire US establishment and the Obama administration\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s targeted killing program.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cIt\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s a shame that we are in an age where people who tell the truth about what the government is doing gets into trouble,\u201d said Paul, who retired from the US House of Representatives in January after representing his Texas congressional district for 36 years.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cI mean, we live in a bad time where American citizens don’t even have rights and that they can be killed,\u201d he added. \u00c5\u201cBut the gentleman [Snowden] is trying to tell the truth about what’s going on.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to the report, Paul also stated in another interview earlier this week with conservative Washington Times<\/i> daily that the US government \u00c5\u201coperates largely in secret, while seeking to know everything about our private lives – without probable cause and without a warrant.\u201d <\/p>\n
In that interview he also expressed appreciation for vital information leaked out by whistleblowers about the US government\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s abuse of power.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cThe government does not need to know more about what we are doing,\u201d Paul said. \u00c5\u201cWe need to know more about what the government is doing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe should be thankful for individuals like Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald who see injustice being carried out by their own government and speak out, despite the risk. They have done a great service to the American people by exposing the truth about what our government is doing in secret,\u201d the former congressman added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Last week, Snowden leaked documents exposing the widespread surveillance of US communications under FISA, as well as a separate NSA program named PRISM that allows the government to access private conversations conducted over Facebook, Google, Skype and other services. <\/p>\n
“I don’t want to live in a society that does these sort of things,\u201d Snowden told The Guardian over the weekend. \u00c5\u201cI do not want to live in a world where everything I do and say is recorded. That is not something I am willing to support or live under.”\n<\/p>\n
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