Protesters rally against mass surveillance outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Oct. 26, 2013. Cliff Kincaid, president of a group called America's Survival, says Edward Snowden is a criminal, not a hero.<\/p>\n
Conservative activist Cliff Kincaid told a small audience at the National Press Club on Monday that exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden helped cause two wars. <\/p>\n
We believe Edward Snowden is responsible in part for the rise of Putins Russia [and] the rise of ISIS, Kincaid told 20 or so attendees, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin andusing an acronym for the Syria- and Iraq-based Islamic State group. <\/p>\n
The religious fanatics recent murder of U.S. humanitarian worker Peter Kassig-who took the name Abdul-Rahman when he converted to Islam - is more blood on the hands of Edward Snowden,he said. <\/p>\n
Kincaid offered little evidence to support any of his allegations, including that Snowden-supplied information was given byPutin to the Islamic State group, which is fighting to topple the Russian-allied government of Syria.<\/p>\n
[READ: White House Ignores Snowden Petition for Full Year] <\/p>\n
But, Kincaid said, citing former officials, hes convinced the U.S. was unable to anticipate wars in the Middle East and eastern Ukrainebecause of what he called an espionage operation by the former National Security Agency contractor. <\/p>\n
Kincaid, director of the conservative advocacy group Accuracy In Medias Center for Investigative Journalism, said he wanted to push back against what he sees as treason and condemned theinvestigativejournalists who reported on NSA phone and Internet surveillance programs. <\/p>\n
These journalists should have been arrested, he said of writer Glenn Greenwald and filmmaker Laura Poitras. <\/p>\n
At times rambling, the speaker chided fellow conservatives for supporting Snowden, who is living in Russia after the U.S. cancelled his passport, and suggested libertarian groups including the Cato Institute and Students for Liberty are acting in the interests of international communists and\/or the Russian government.<\/p>\n
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