seat 17A, the empty seat that an Aeroflot official said was booked in
the name of former CIA technician and National Security Agency leaker
Edward Snowden, during Aeroflot flight SU150 from Moscow to Havana on
June 24, 2013. Confusion over the whereabouts of Snowden grew after
the flight flew from Moscow to Cuba with the seat remaining empty.
(Associated Press)
It doesn't look good when the most powerful man in the world can't get
his hands on one of the most wanted men inthe world.
Edward Snowden, the confessed NSA leaker, has eluded U.S. authorities
since early June, even as President Obama's administration pleaded
with officials in China and Russia to send the fugitive back to
America.
The traditional rivals of the U.S. have even seemed to enjoy the Obama
administration's distress, with Russian President Vladimir Putin
declaring Mr. Snowden "a free man" Tuesday and openly refusing to
comply with the U.S. request.
The episode is making the U.S. look weak in the eyes of Russia and
China, said LeonAron, a foreign-policy specialist at the
conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
"From the point of view of the Russians and the Chinese, definitely,"
Mr. Aron said."In their systems, legitimacy comes from being treated
with fear and respect. And clearly, they're choosing not to treat the
United States that way."
Asked what options the Obama administration has with Russia, Mr. Aron
said simply, "None. Russia is in no hurry."
Mr. Obama's foreign policy is based on a "pivot" toward Asia and a
"reset" of U.S. relations with Russia, but the failure of China and
Russia to cooperate on Mr. Snowden underscores the limits of the
president's power. The refusals of Beijingand Moscow came within weeks
of Mr. Obama holding one-on-one talks separately with Chinese
President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on other
matters.
Not only has the Obama administration been relegated to expressing its
frustration with China and assuring Moscow it doesn't want a
confrontation, but it's had to endure barbs from the foreign
governments as well. China's top state newspaper praised Mr. Snowden
for"tearing off Washington's sanctimonious mask" and ridiculed the
U.S. for hypocrisywhen it comes to personal freedoms.
"The United States has gone from a 'model of human rights' to 'an
eavesdropper on personal privacy', the 'manipulator' of the
centralised power over the international internet, and the mad
'invader' of other countries' networks," the People's Daily said.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said the incident has damaged
U.S.-China relations, calling it a "setback" and accusing Beijing of a
"deliberate" lack of cooperation.
Sen. John McCain, a frequent critic of Mr. Obama's foreign policy,
said the Snowdencase was the latest in a series of incidentsthat show
growing U.S. weakness abroad.
"For nearly five years now we have sent asignal to the world that
we're leading from behind, that we are impotent, that we don't act
when we say that we're going to," Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican,
told CNBC on Tuesday.
Mr. Snowden's visits to China and Russia also raise the risk that he
might divulge other classified secrets about U.S. surveillance
programs to those governments. Mr. Putin said the Russian government
had not debriefed the former CIA employee.
Russia's special security services "are not engaged with him and will
not be engaged," Mr. Putin said.
Andrei Soldatov, a Moscow-based expert on Russia's special services
who runs the website Agentura.ru, said he doubted Mr Snowden was being
asked to co-operate."The Snowden case is much more important for
politicians than it is for foreign intelligence services," he told the
Financial Times.
Mr. Aron said the U.S. has bigger problems with Russia, such as it
support for Syria and Iran, and that the Snowden case isn't likely to
cause lasting harm compared with those international hotspots.
He also said the Obama administration doesn't want to jeopardize the
president's goal of nucleararms reduction, which he outlined in a
speech in Germany last week.
"It appears that this administration's almost sole focus with regard
to Russia isthe next nuclear-arms reduction agreement," Mr. Aron said.
"This is a paramount, overriding objective of this administration, and
it would overlook a great deal to get to that point."
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