> Until and unless he is granted a pardon or some other form of immunity from prosecution, it seems that Snowden's best interest ...
Isn't that the rub? The rational action on Obama's part would be to pardon him, just to get him back. Instead, he is vindictively pursuing him across the globe and devoting resources that seem absolutely disproportionate to what was revealed.
Pardoning him would create a pretty bad precedent for everyone else with a security clearance. How do you tell the next guy that dumps a stash of classified documents in some journalist's lap that, no, that wasn't juicy enough to get a pardon, so he's going to jail?
Despite the public interest in what Snowden revealed is, the position of the administration can only practically be that whatever you think about it, if it's classified, it's not up to you to decide that it should be public.
Isn't that the rub? The rational action on Obama's part would be to pardon him, just to get him back. Instead, he is vindictively pursuing him across the globe and devoting resources that seem absolutely disproportionate to what was revealed.