DER SPIEGEL - Jimmy Carter: Snowden's Leak "Useful", US Has No "Functioning Democracy"

In an article appearing in the German-language, Der Spiegel, former US President Jimmy Carter expressed his support for whistleblowers and had sharp criticisms of the Barak Obama Administration. Carter called the disclosure by Edward Snowden "useful" and said that "the invasion of privacy" and "government secrecy" has gone too far.

The former US President noted that the leaks are "likely to be useful because they inform the public."

     "America has no functioning democracy," Carter stated.

The following is from Der Spiegel with a word to word translation from Google Translate:

    The Obama administration tried to placate Europe's anger over spying programs. Not as ex-President Jimmy Carter: The Democrat attacked the U.S. intelligence sharp. The disclosure by whistleblowers Snowden was "useful."
    Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was in the wake of the NSA Spähskandals criticized the American political system. "America has no functioning democracy," Carter said Tuesday at a meeting of the "Atlantic Bridge" in Atlanta.
    Previously, the Democrat had been very critical of the practices of U.S. intelligence. "I think the invasion of privacy has gone too far," Carter told CNN. "And I think that is why the secrecy was excessive." Overlooking the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden said Carter, whose revelations were long "likely to be useful because they inform the public."
    Carter has repeatedly warned that the United States sharply declined due to excessive restriction of civil rights, their moral authority. Last year he wrote in an article in the "New York Times", new U.S. laws "never before seen breach our privacy by the government" allowed the.

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/nsa-affaere-jimmy-carter-kritisiert-usa-a-911589.html