Various sources are mulling over the question "Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower or a Traitor?" For what it's worth, here is my opinion.
A traitor is someone who takes secret information and gives it covertly to his nation's enemies. A whistleblower is someone who takes embarrassing information and makes it public. Ergo, Snowden is a whistleblower.
Can a whistleblower damage the national security? Certainly he or she can. The intent is nevertheless different; by making information public the whistleblower hopes to create enough embarrassment to bring about change in his own government's behavior.
Will Snowden succeed in bringing about change? Doubtful. The American public doesn't seem all that put off by what they learned from him about the NSA. I'd guess some of us will be more careful about what thoughts we entrust to electronic media.
