It's been purported here that the media is coloring its reporting to paint Snowden in a bad light. But when the bias favors Snowden, everyone looks the other way. For instance, they conveniently left out any mention of this quote by Binney:
"But now he is starting to talk about things like the government hacking into China and all this kind of thing. He is going a little bit too far. I don't think he had access to that program. But somebody talked to him about it, and so he said, from what I have read, anyway, he said that somebody, a reliable source, told him that the U.S. government is hacking into all these countries. But that's not a public service, and now he is going a little beyond public service.
"So he is transitioning from whistle-blower to a traitor."
I read the transcript to this interview a few days ago, before Snowden did his recent Q&A session. In that session he seemed to directly address the charge of being a traitor, he said:
"Second, let's be clear: I did not reveal any US operations against legitimate military targets. I pointed out where the NSA has hacked civilian infrastructure such as universities, hospitals, and private businesses because it is dangerous. These nakedly, aggressively criminal acts are wrong no matter the target. Not only that, when NSA makes a technical mistake during an exploitation operation, critical systems crash. Congress hasn't declared war on the countries - the majority of them are our allies - but without asking for public permission, NSA is running network operations against them that affect millions of innocent people."
A traitor is someone who says "Hey China, we are hacking you and here is how." Someone who says "I have heard/read that the US is trying to hack China" is everyone on the internet. At worst that is libel.
Binney also said he should be prosecuted... 'after all the leaders of the previous administration...after the current administration.. and the leaders of the NSA, in order, then perhaps Snowden', so I don't think your quote above out of context really does his views justice.
Personally, I think Binney has a difficult time speaking and, if he had written out his response, would have chosen a different word than "traitor," just based on the way he stuttered and struggled to complete that sentence.
I think you're right, and I think grey-area's quote (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5902353) is probably more indicative of Binney's view. But his tentative way of speaking is for me one of the things that makes him both charming and compelling. I may be naive, but he strikes me as a decent person. (Actually, all four of them did.) I also love how Binney can't help but blurt out what goes through his mind sometimes, and the geeky passion with which he launches into his plan for how to do things better, if anyone expresses the least interest.
"But now he is starting to talk about things like the government hacking into China and all this kind of thing. He is going a little bit too far. I don't think he had access to that program. But somebody talked to him about it, and so he said, from what I have read, anyway, he said that somebody, a reliable source, told him that the U.S. government is hacking into all these countries. But that's not a public service, and now he is going a little beyond public service.
"So he is transitioning from whistle-blower to a traitor."