Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the US or is he an ethical whistle blower?

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Is Edward Snowden a Traitor or an Ethical Whistleblower?
Edward Snowden formerly worked for the CIA and was also contracted by National Security Agency. He was a computer scientist who gained fame after leaking of several top secret documents from the NSA to many media houses (Kelly 2016). Through these actions, many have considered him to be a hero and whistleblower of the country, while others have found him to be a traitor that is aiding the enemies of the state. However, in my opinion, I consider Snowden to be a whistleblower for the country because his action revealed a lot of secrets to both the world and the U.S citizens.
Snowden, through his action, has helped the American citizens to realize that the government was spying on its citizens without their knowledge. The public was angered since their right to privacy had been infringed by the same government that is supposed to protect them (Kelly 2016). It is seen as a patriotic action since Snowden had helped to uncover some deeply kept and uncomfortable truths and therefore he should be offered protection like the manner in which whistleblowers of corporations are given. Furthermore, his action makes it hard for the government of the United States to continue spying on its citizens, thus maintaining their privacy (Trapper 2015). The work that Snowden undertook to expose these secrets may be regarded as treason since it appeared like he was aiding enemies and terr…