| Time magazine is completely off. The entire article is made up of so many bs reports of what coulda, woulda, shoulda logic its unbelievable. The most important points are, Snowdens passport has not been revoked. Its not even legal per the US state dept website to do so. He has a completely valid US passport to travel with. What he IS doing is stopping in places long enough to tantalize local officials with the data he has to see where that might lead. Unless he travels to a country that the US can throw Interpol at him, he is a free man. That sounds easier than it really is. But its still a true fact. Rather than speculating that he's in a Russian suburb, being drugged by alleged KGB thugs, it might be more constructive to realize he could easily take a private plane out of Moscow and reach his destination if he has one. No entity including the US is going to kill the golden goose when it laid its egg before it could be hatched. As Julian Assange said, no state will be able to prevent the release of the complete trove of information. So if you want to play international poker, you had better be holding the cards. Place your bets.... |
Passport revocation may be effected when ... the person would not be entitled to a new passport under 22 CFR 51.70 (a) or (b)
When is a person not entitled to a new passport under 22 CFR 51.70 (a) or (b)?
A federal or state law enforcement agency may request the denial of a passport on several regulatory grounds under 22 CFR 51.70 and 51.72. The principal law enforcement reasons for passport denial are a federal warrant of arrest, a federal or state criminal court order, a condition of parole or probation forbidding departure from the United States (or the jurisdiction of the court), or a request for extradition. The HHS child support database and the Marshals Service WIN database are checked automatically for entitlement to a passport.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html
It is also common for a passport to be revoked when a child is abducted or in custody cases (to prevent the minor from being taken out of the country), see http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/family/family_864.html under "Assistance to Law Enforcement Agencies in Abduction Cases", so the entire idea that it is not legal for the State Department to revoke a passport seems to be based on incomplete information.
Also see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport#Administ... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_passport#Applicat...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haig_v._Agee
What is your source that it is illegal for the State Department to revoke a passport?