I've worked in defense and I've worked in intelligence collection in the service before that. We might disagree but I don't think I'm naive on this topic.
Whistleblower protections are set up in such a way as to protect the whistleblower. This means you don't hear about a majority of whistleblowers.
We can agree to disagree since we are ultimately arguing a hypothetical (what would have happened) but I think Snowden should have at least tried to go that route.
Look at what happens to other whistleblowers destiny.