Former US President Jimmy Carter lambasted US intelligence methods as undemocratic and described Edward Snowden’s NSA leak as “beneficial” for the country.
Carter lashed out at the US political system when the issue of
the previously top-secret NSA surveillance program was touched
upon at the Atlantic Bridge meeting on Tuesday in Atlanta,
Georgia.
"America has no functioning democracy at this moment,"
Carter said, according to Der Spiegel.
He also believes the spying-scandal is undermining democracy
around the world, as people become increasingly suspicious of US
internet platforms, such as Google and Facebook. While such
mediums have normally been associated with freedom of speech and
have recently become a major driving force behind emerging
democratic movements, fallout from the NSA spying scandal has
dented their credibility.
It’s not the first time Carter has criticized US intelligence
policies. In a previous interview with
CNN, he said the NSA leaks signified that “the invasion of
human rights and American privacy has gone too far." He added
that although Snowden violated US law, he may have ultimately
done good for the country.
"I think that the secrecy that has been surrounding this
invasion of privacy has been excessive, so I think that the
bringing of it to the public notice has probably been, in the
long term, beneficial."
Jimmy Carter was President of the United States from 1977 to
1981. After leaving office, he founded the Carter Center, an NGO
advocating human rights. The ex-president’s human rights
credentials won him Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter has frequently criticized his successors in the White
House. Last year, he condemned the Obama administration for the use of
drone attacks in his article "A Cruel and Unusual Record"
published in the New York Times.