James+Bamford

2013年6月，美國國家安全局前雇員愛德華·斯諾登向媒體披露了包括“棱鏡（PRISM）”計劃在內(nèi)的多個秘密監(jiān)控項目，制造了美國情報史上規(guī)模最大的泄密事件，并自此成為美國在全世界的追捕對象。在此之前，斯諾登有一份令人羨慕的高薪工作，時常和女友去世界各地旅行……但如今，他再也無法回到過去，過無憂無慮的生活。斯諾登為何要同美國政府對著干？這背后的動機何在？是什么讓他放棄個人幸福做出如此艱難的抉擇？他不顧生命危險捍衛(wèi)的究竟是什么？前不久，斯諾登在媒體上頻繁“露面”，這再一次激起人們心中對這個世界頭號“通緝犯”的種種疑問……

The message arrives on my “clean machine，” a MacBook Air loaded only with a sophisticated encryption package. “Change in plans，” my contact says. “Be in the lobby of the Hotel ______ by 1 pm. Bring a book and wait for ES to find you.” ES is Edward Snowden， the most wanted man in the world. For almost nine months， I have been trying to set up an interview with him. Among other things， I want to answer a burning question： What drove Snowden to leak hundreds of thousands of top-secret documents， revelations that have laid bare1） the vast scope of the governments domestic surveillance programs？ In May I received an email from his lawyer， ACLU2） attorney Ben Wizner， confirming that Snowden would meet me in Moscow and let me hang out and chat with him for what turned out to be three solid days over several weeks.

Postmodern Whistle-blower

Edward Snowden is a uniquely postmodern breed of whistle-blower. Physically， very few people have seen him since he disappeared into Moscows airport complex last June. But he has nevertheless maintained a presence on the world stage—not only as a man without a country but as a man without a body. When being interviewed at the South by Southwest conference3） or receiving humanitarian awards， his disembodied4） image smiles down from jumbotron5） screens. For an interview at the TED conference in March， he went a step further—a small screen bearing a live image of his face was placed on two leg-like poles attached vertically to remotely controlled wheels， giving him the ability to “walk” around the event， talk to people， and even pose for selfies with them.

Of course， Snowden is still very cautious about arranging face-to-face meetings. I do my best to avoid being followed as I head to the designated hotel for the interview. I take a seat in the lobby facing the front door and open the book I was instructed to bring. Just past one， Snowden walks by， dressed in dark jeans and a brown sport coat and carrying a large black backpack over his right shoulder. He doesnt see me until I stand up and walk beside him. “Where were you？” he asks. “I missed you.” I point to my seat. “And you were with the CIA？” I tease. He laughs.

Entering the room he has booked for our interview， he throws his backpack on the bed alongside his baseball cap and a pair of dark sunglasses. He looks thin， almost gaunt6）， with a narrow face and a faint shadow of a goatee， as if he had just started growing it yesterday. He has on his trademark Burberry eyeglasses， semi-rimless with rectangular lenses. His pale blue shirt seems to be at least a size too big， his wide belt is pulled tight， and he is wearing a pair of black square-toed7） Calvin Klein loafers8）. Overall， he has the look of an earnest first-year grad student.

Despite being the subject of a worldwide manhunt， Snowden seems relaxed and upbeat as we drink Cokes and tear away at a giant room-service pepperoni9） pizza. His 31st birthday is a few days away. Snowden still holds out hope that he will someday be allowed to return to the US. “I told the government Id volunteer for prison， as long as it served the right purpose，” he says. “I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we cant allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights， no matter how good the deal is. Im not going to be part of that.”

The same day I share pizza with Snowden in a Moscow hotel room， the US House of Representatives moves to put the brakes on the NSA. By a lopsided10） 293-to-123 tally11）， members vote to halt the agencys practice of conducting warrantless searches of a vast database that contains millions of Americans emails and phone calls. Its one of many proposed reforms that never would have happened had it not been for Snowden.

A Disillusioned Idealist

Snowden keeps close tabs on12） his evolving public profile， but he has been resistant to talking about himself. In part， this is because of his natural shyness and his reluctance about “dragging family into it and getting a biography.” He says he worries that sharing personal details will make him look narcissistic and arrogant. But mostly hes concerned that he may inadvertently detract from the cause he has risked his life to promote. “Im an engineer， not a politician，” he says. “I dont want the stage. Im terrified of giving these talking heads13） some distraction， some excuse to jeopardize， smear， and delegitimize a very important movement.”

But when Snowden finally agrees to discuss his personal life， the portrait that emerges is not one of a wild-eyed14） firebrand15） but of a solemn， sincere idealist who—step by step over a period of years—grew disillusioned with his country and government.

Born on June 21， 1983， Snowden grew up in the Maryland suburbs， not far from the NSAs headquarters. “Everybody in my family has worked for the federal government in one way or another，” Snowden says. “I expected to pursue the same path.” His father told me， “We always considered Ed the smartest one in the family.” It didnt surprise him when his son scored above 145 on two separate IQ tests.

Rather than spending hours watching television or playing sports as a kid， Snowden fell in love with books， especially Greek mythology. Snowden says reading about myths played an important role growing up， providing him with a framework for confronting challenges， including moral dilemmas. “I think thats when I started thinking about how we identify problems， and that the measure of an individual is how they address and confront those problems，” he says.

Hed loved computers since he was a child， but now that passion deepened. He started working for a classmate who ran his own tech business. Coincidentally， the company was run from a house at Fort Meade， where the NSAs headquarters are located.

Snowden was on his way to the office when the 9/11 attacks took place. Like a lot of civic-minded Americans， Snowden was profoundly affected by the attacks. In the spring of 2004， as the ground war in Iraq was heating up with the first battle of Fallujah， he volunteered for the Army special forces. “I was very open to the governments explanation—almost propaganda—when it came to things like Iraq，” he says. “I still very strongly believed that the government wouldnt lie to us， that our government had noble intent， and that the war in Iraq was going to be what they said it was， which was a limited， targeted effort to free the oppressed. I wanted to do my part.”

Out of the Army， Snowden landed a job as a security guard at a top-secret facility that required him to get a high-level security clearance16）. He passed a polygraph17） exam and the stringent background check and， almost without realizing it， he found himself on his way to a career in the clandestine18） world of intelligence. After attending a job fair focused on intelligence agencies， he was offered a position at the CIA.

In 2010， Snowden had shifted from the CIA to the NSA， accepting a job as a technical expert. Among the discoveries that most shocked him was learning that the agency was regularly passing raw private communications—content as well as metadata—to Israeli intelligence. In this case， the NSA did virtually nothing to protect even the communications of people in the US. “I think thats amazing，” Snowden says. “Its one of the biggest abuses weve seen.”

The last straw for Snowden was a secret program he discovered while getting up to speed19） on the capabilities of the NSAs enormous and highly secret data storage facility—the Mission Data Repository in Bluffdale， Utah. Billions of phone calls， faxes， emails， computer-to-computer data transfers， and text messages from around the world flow through the MDR every hour. Some flow right through， some are kept briefly， and some are held forever.

The massive surveillance effort was bad enough， but Snowden was even more disturbed to discover a new cyberwarfare program in the works， codenamed MonsterMind. Snowden views MonsterMind as the ultimate threat to privacy because， in order for the system to work， the NSA first would have to secretly get access to virtually all private communications coming in from overseas to people in the US.

Given the NSAs new data storage mausoleum20） in Bluffdale and the charge to conduct surveillance on all incoming communications， Snowden believed he had no choice but to take his thumb drives21） and tell the world what he knew. The only question was when.

At the same time， he knew there would be dire consequences. “Its really hard to take that step—not only do I believe in something， I believe in it enough that Im willing to set my own life on fire and burn it to the ground.” But he felt that he had no choice. Two months later he boarded a flight to Hong Kong with a pocket full of thumb drives.

The Leakers Concern

More than anything， Snowden fears a blunder that will destroy all the progress toward reforms for which he has sacrificed so much. “Im not self-destructive. I dont want to self-immolate and erase myself from the pages of history. But if we dont take chances， we cant win，” he says. And so he takes great pains to stay one step ahead of his presumed pursuers—he switches computers and email accounts constantly. Nevertheless， he knows hes liable to be compromised22） eventually： “Im going to slip up23） and theyre going to hack me. Its going to happen.”

Another concern for Snowden is what he calls NSA fatigue—the public becoming numb to disclosures of mass surveillance， just as it becomes inured24） to news of battle deaths during a war. “One death is a tragedy， and a million is a statistic，” he says.

In the end， Snowden thinks we should put our faith in technology—not politicians. “We have the means and we have the technology to end mass surveillance without any legislative action at all， without any policy changes.” The answer， he says， is robust encryption. “By basically adopting changes like making encryption a universal standard—where all communications are encrypted by default—we can end mass surveillance not just in the United States but around the world.”

Until then， Snowden says， the revelations will keep coming. “We havent seen the end，” he says. Indeed， a couple of weeks after our meeting， The Washington Post reported that the NSAs surveillance program had captured much more data on innocent Americans than on its intended foreign targets. There are still hundreds of thousands of pages of secret documents out there—to say nothing of the other whistle-blowers he may have already inspired. But Snowden says that information contained in any future leaks is almost beside the point25）. “The question for us is not what new story will come out next. The question is， what are we going to do about it？”

一條信息出現(xiàn)在了我的蘋果MacBook Air筆記本電腦上，這臺電腦很“干凈”，只裝有一套精密的加密程序包?！坝媱澯凶?，”我的聯(lián)系人說，“請于下午一點前到達XX酒店大廳。拿上一本書，等著ES去找你?！盓S就是愛德華·斯諾登，世界頭號“通緝犯”。在將近九個月的時間里，我一直試圖安排一次對他的采訪。在各式各樣的疑問中，我想要解答一個十分緊要的問題：到底是什么促使斯諾登泄露了數(shù)十萬份絕密文件，使美國政府大范圍的國內(nèi)監(jiān)控項目曝光？今年5月，我收到他的律師——美國公民自由協(xié)會律師本·威茨納——發(fā)來的一封電郵，確認斯諾登將會在莫斯科與我會面，并將在會面后的幾周里抽出時間與我一起閑逛、聊天，結(jié)果他抽出了整整三天的時間。

后現(xiàn)代的揭秘者

愛德華·斯諾登是個獨一無二的后現(xiàn)代型揭秘者。自去年6月他在莫斯科機場大樓消失以來，很少有人見過他本人。但他卻從沒離開過世界舞臺—— 一個既沒有國家，又從不暴露真身的人。當他在西南偏南大會接受采訪或是領(lǐng)取各種人道主義獎時，他那脫離了真實軀體的影像會從巨大的電子屏幕上朝下邊微笑。在今年3月舉行的TED大會上接受采訪時，他又更進一步：一面展示他實時面部影像的小型屏幕被安在兩根像腿一樣的支桿上，這兩根支桿又被豎著連接在遠程遙控的輪子上，這樣他就能在會場上四處“走動”，與人交談，甚至擺姿勢和人們自拍。

當然，斯諾登對于面對面會見的安排還是十分謹慎的。在前往指定酒店進行采訪時，我盡一切努力避免被人跟蹤。我在大廳里找了個面朝正門的位子坐了下來，然后打開那本被要求攜帶的書。一點剛過，斯諾登就從我身旁走了過去。他穿著一條深色牛仔褲，一件棕色運動上衣，右肩上挎著一只大號的黑色雙肩包。他沒有看到我，我只好站起來，走到他身邊。“你剛才在哪兒？”他問道，“我沒有看到你?！蔽抑噶酥肝业奈蛔印！澳銊倓偸呛椭星榫值娜嗽谝黄饐幔俊蔽掖蛉ふf。他大笑起來。

走進他為我們這次采訪預(yù)訂的房間后，斯諾登將背包扔到床上，和他的棒球帽以及一副深色太陽鏡放在一起。他看起來很瘦，幾乎到了瘦削的程度，狹長的臉上留著一抹淡淡的山羊胡，仿佛是昨天才剛開始長出的一樣。他戴著他那標志性的博柏利牌眼鏡，半邊框的鏡框上鑲著長方形的鏡片。他那淡藍色的襯衣看起來至少要大一號，寬大的腰帶扎得很緊，腳上穿著一雙黑色方頭的CK平底鞋?？傊?，他看起來就像個真誠的一年級研究生。

盡管斯諾登是全球追捕的目標，但在我們邊喝可樂邊扯著酒店客房服務(wù)送來的一張巨大的意式辣味香腸比薩大快朵頤時，他似乎既放松又樂觀。再過幾天就是他31歲的生日了。斯諾登仍然希望有朝一日他能被允許重返美國?！拔液驼f過我愿意坐牢，只要這樣做有一個正當?shù)睦碛?，”他說，“與個人遭遇相比，我更關(guān)心這個國家。但我們不能讓法律成為政治的武器，也無法容許有人恐嚇民眾，使他們不敢維護自己的權(quán)利，不管這交易有多么誘人。這樣的事我決不會參與。”

就在我和斯諾登在莫斯科一家酒店房間里分享比薩的那天，美國眾議院提出動議，要遏制美國國家安全局的行動。國安局在未經(jīng)許可的情況下即可對一個包含數(shù)百萬美國人電子郵件和通話記錄的龐大數(shù)據(jù)庫進行搜索。通過投票，議員們以293比123的壓倒性票數(shù)終止了國安局的這一行為。這只是斯諾登促成的為數(shù)眾多的改革議案之一，要不是斯諾登，這樣的改革永遠不會發(fā)生。

幻滅的理想主義者

斯諾登密切關(guān)注自己公眾形象的變化，但他一直不愿意談?wù)撟约?。究其原因，部分是因為他生性靦腆且不愿“將家人牽扯進去，并被人寫成傳記?！彼f他擔心公開自己的個人詳細信息會使他看起來自戀而傲慢。但更主要的原因是他擔心這會在無意中分散人們的注意力，使人們不再關(guān)注他冒著生命危險去推動的事業(yè)?！拔沂枪こ處?，而不是政客，”他說，“我不想要舞臺。我害怕我會轉(zhuǎn)移那些評論員的注意力，給他們一些借口去破壞、抹黑這樣一個非常重要的運動，并否認其正當性。”

但當斯諾登最終同意談?wù)撍膫€人生活時，他所展示出的形象并不是一個極端、狂熱的煽動分子，而是一個嚴肅、真誠的理想主義者。在過去的幾年中，這個理想主義者對自己的國家和政府逐漸感到幻滅。

斯諾登出生于1983年6月21日，在馬里蘭州的郊區(qū)長大，那里離國家安全局總部不遠?！拔覀兗颐總€人都曾以這樣或那樣的方式為聯(lián)邦政府工作過，”斯諾登說，“我也想走同樣的道路?！彼怪Z登的父親曾對我說過：“我們總覺得愛德（譯注：斯諾登的昵稱）是我們家最聰明的人。”當斯諾登在兩次不同的智商測試中都取得了145分以上的成績時，他的父親并未感到驚訝。

小時候，斯諾登并沒有把大量時間花在看電視或體育運動上，而是愛上了讀書，尤其是希臘神話。斯諾登說閱讀神話在他的成長過程中起到了重要的作用，為他提供了一個應(yīng)對挑戰(zhàn)的框架，這些挑戰(zhàn)也包括道德困境?！拔矣X得我就是從那時開始思考我們該如何發(fā)現(xiàn)問題的。也是從那時起我開始意識到，衡量一個人的標準就在于看其如何解決和應(yīng)對這些問題?！彼f。

他從小就喜愛電腦，但現(xiàn)在這種喜愛更加深了。他開始在一個同學那里工作，這位同學經(jīng)營著自己的技術(shù)公司。巧合的是，這家公司的辦公地點就在米德堡，也就是國家安全局總部的所在地。

9·11襲擊事件發(fā)生時，斯諾登正在上班的路上。和許多有公民意識的美國人一樣，斯諾登也深受襲擊事件的影響。2004年春，當伊拉克的地面戰(zhàn)爭隨第一次費盧杰戰(zhàn)役的打響而逐漸升溫時，斯諾登志愿加入了美國陸軍特種部隊。“以前但凡涉及像伊拉克這樣的問題，我都非常樂于聽信政府的解釋——雖然這種解釋幾乎就是宣傳，”他說，“那時我仍然堅信政府不會對我們?nèi)鲋e，堅信我們的政府懷有高尚的目的，堅信伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭將會像他們所說的那樣，是一場有限的、有特定打擊目標的、解放被壓迫者的戰(zhàn)爭。我想盡自己的一份力量。”

從部隊退役后，斯諾登在一家絕密級的機構(gòu)找到了一份保安員的工作，這家機構(gòu)要求他必須獲得高級別的安全許可方可上崗。他通過了測謊試驗以及嚴格的背景調(diào)查，幾乎是在自己都沒意識到的情況下，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己踏上了通往秘密情報世界的職業(yè)旅程。在參加了一場以情報機構(gòu)為主的招聘會后，斯諾登在中央情報局謀得了一份工作。

2010年，斯諾登從中情局調(diào)往國安局，擔任技術(shù)專家。在那里他有了許多令他非常震驚的發(fā)現(xiàn)，其中之一就是他得知國安局會將原始的私人通訊記錄——包括通訊內(nèi)容及元數(shù)據(jù)——定期傳給以色列的情報機構(gòu)。在這種情況下，國安局其實沒有采取任何保護措施，甚至連美國人的通訊記錄也得不到保護?！拔艺J為這太不可思議了，”斯諾登說，“這是我們所見過的最嚴重的職權(quán)濫用。”

讓斯諾登最終無法容忍的是他所發(fā)現(xiàn)的一個秘密項目。那是他在了解國安局高度機密的大型數(shù)據(jù)存儲設(shè)備——位于猶他州布拉夫代爾的“任務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)存儲庫”——的處理能力時所發(fā)現(xiàn)的。每個小時，都有數(shù)以億計的來自世界各地的電話、傳真、電子郵件、電腦間的數(shù)據(jù)傳輸以及手機短信從這臺“任務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)存儲庫”中流過。有些數(shù)據(jù)直接流了過去，有些被短暫保存，有些則被永久保留下來。

這種大規(guī)模的監(jiān)控行為已經(jīng)夠離譜的了，但更令斯諾登感到不安的是他在這一設(shè)施中又發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個代號為“怪獸大腦”的新的網(wǎng)絡(luò)戰(zhàn)爭計劃。斯諾登認為“怪獸大腦”是對人類隱私的終極威脅，因為要使這一系統(tǒng)正常運轉(zhuǎn)，國安局就必須先秘密地獲取從海外發(fā)給美國公民的幾乎所有私人通訊內(nèi)容。

鑒于國安局位于布拉夫代爾的這一新型數(shù)據(jù)存儲設(shè)施，以及要對所有進入美國的通信內(nèi)容進行監(jiān)控的任務(wù)，斯諾登認為自己別無選擇，只能拿上手里的U盤，將他所知道的一切公之于眾。唯一的問題是：何時采取行動。

與此同時，他深知這樣做會帶來嚴重的后果。“走出這一步真的很難——不僅因為我有信仰，還因為我的信仰足以使我愿意引火燒身，哪怕化為灰燼。”但他覺得自己別無選擇。兩個月之后，斯諾登在口袋里裝滿了U盤，登上了一架飛往香港的班機。

泄密者的憂慮

在所有事情中，斯諾登最擔心的是，一次嚴重的失誤就會令為爭取改革而取得的所有進步都毀于一旦，而為了這些改革，他已做出如此巨大的犧牲。他說：“我并非是在自我毀滅。我不想把自己作為祭品獻出去并將自己從歷史的篇章中抹去。但如果我們不去冒險，就無法取得勝利?！币虼?，他費盡心思，要比他所設(shè)想的那些追蹤者快上一步——他不停地更換電腦和電郵賬戶。然而他知道，他最終很有可能會陷入危險之中?！拔铱倳惺韬龃笠獾臅r候，那他們就能通過黑客手段找到我。這是遲早的事?！?/p>

斯諾登的另一個憂慮是他所謂的“國安局疲勞癥”——公眾對大規(guī)模監(jiān)控行為的披露漸漸感到麻木，就像在戰(zhàn)爭期間習慣了對戰(zhàn)斗死亡的報道一樣。“一個人的死亡是悲劇，而一百萬人的死亡則是數(shù)據(jù)。”他說。

最后，斯諾登認為我們應(yīng)該相信技術(shù)，而不是政客?！拔覀冇懈鞣N手段和技術(shù)來終止大規(guī)模的監(jiān)控行為，而無需任何立法行為，也無需任何政策上的改變?！彼f，問題的答案就在于使用強大的加密技術(shù)?！耙獜母旧线M行改變，比如讓加密成為一種通用的標準——所有的通訊內(nèi)容都要默認加密——那么我們不僅能終止美國的大規(guī)模監(jiān)控行為，在世界范圍內(nèi)都將如此?！?/p>

在實現(xiàn)這一步之前，斯諾登說，泄密事件還是會不斷發(fā)生?！拔覀冞€沒有看到結(jié)束的跡象?！彼f。的確，就在我們見完面的幾周后，《華盛頓郵報》就報道說國安局的監(jiān)控計劃所捕獲的無辜美國人的數(shù)據(jù)要遠遠多于其所針對的外國目標的數(shù)據(jù)。那里仍有成千上萬頁的秘密文件在等待披露——更何況還可能會有其他已經(jīng)受到斯諾登啟發(fā)的揭秘者。但斯諾登說，將來的所有泄密事件會披露什么樣的信息幾乎無關(guān)緊要?！皩ξ覀儊碚f，問題不在于還會有什么新的真相被揭露出來。問題在于，對此我們將做些什么？”

1. lay bare：揭露;揭發(fā);使暴露

2. ACLU：American Civil Liberties Union的縮寫，美國公民自由協(xié)會

3. South by Southwest conference：指西南偏南大會（簡稱SXSW大會），是每年在美國得克薩斯州奧斯汀舉行的一系列電影、交互式多媒體和音樂的藝術(shù)節(jié)與大會。

4. disembodied [?d?s?m?b?did] adj. 似脫離人而存在的;無實體的

5. jumbotron [?d??mb??tr?n] n. （電視機的）超大屏幕

6. gaunt [ɡ??nt] adj. 瘦削的

7. square-toed：方頭鞋的

8. loafer [?l??f?（r）] n. 平底便鞋

9. pepperoni [?pep??r??ni] n. （常放在比薩餅中的）意大利辣味香腸

10. lopsided [?l?p?sa?d?d] adj. 懸殊的;嚴重不平衡的

11. tally [?t?li] n. 計數(shù);比分

12. keep tabs on：密切注意，嚴密監(jiān)視

13. talking head：（在電視討論或訪談節(jié)目中的）專家，權(quán)威的評論家

14. wild-eyed：極端而狂熱的

15. firebrand [?fa??（r）?br?nd] n. （總是煽動事端的）狂熱分子;（尤指）政治煽動者

16. clearance [?kl??r?ns] n. （官方的）批準，許可

17. polygraph [?p?li?ɡrɑ?f] n. 測謊（試驗）

18. clandestine [kl?n?dest?n] adj. 暗地里的，秘密的

19. up to speed：了解情況的;掌握最新信息的

20. mausoleum [?m??s??li??m] n. 大而陰森的建筑物;陰冷的大房間

21. thumb drive：拇指驅(qū)動器，U盤

22. compromise [?k?mpr?ma?z] vt. 連累;危及

23. slip up：出小差錯

24. inured [??nj??（r）d] adj. 對（令人不快的事物）司空見慣的;習慣于……的

25. beside the point：不相關(guān)的