MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Assange says Americans have a debt of gratitude with leaker Snowden

President Obama has promised an overhaul of secret surveillance

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Americans owe US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden a debt of gratitude because his leaks prompted President Barack Obama to promise an overhaul of secret surveillance.

President Obama made a foray into the spying debate Friday pledging to introduce greater oversight and transparency to the top-secret programs that Snowden brought to surface.

“Today was a victory of sorts for Edward Snowden and his many supporters,” Assange said Saturday in comments posted on his website.

“Well reforms are taking shape, and for that, the President and people of the United States and around the world owe Edward Snowden a debt of gratitude.”

Obama labelled Snowden’s leaks as “unlawful” and a “threat to national security” of the US. He also said that the former NSA contractor was not a patriot.

“No, I don't think Mr. Snowden was a patriot,” Obama said.

“What makes us different from other countries is not simply our ability to secure our nation,” Obama said. “It’s the way we do it, with open debate and democratic process.”

Prior to Snowden’s revelations hardly any Americans knew about the widespread surveillance.

Critics say Obama was not specific and concrete on his proposed reforms.

The New York Times said in an opinion piece that President Obama’s reforms “only tinker around the edges of the nation’s abusive surveillance programs.”

The Chicago Tribune said “It's no surprise that Barack Obama thinks Edward Snowden was out of line in disclosing the secret surveillance programs carried out under him and George W. Bush. But his criticism today of the man behind the NSA leaks was deceptive and inaccurate.”

Anti War website (antiwar.com) described Obama’s proposed reforms on NSA surveillance as “non-reforms”.

“The president promised four ‘reforms,’ three of which amounted to talking with other officials about how to sell the American public on the idea that everything is going as well as he thinks it is, and the fourth of which offering a minor tweak to FISA courts,” antiwar.com said in its analysis of Obama’s reforms